Live Together, Die Alone (Levantine Sanctum Dominion of Etti IV)

[Jorus Merrill]

The Corporate Sector had gotten the shortest end of the stick of any place since Contruum, far as J.Q. Merrill was concerned. This whole region had been Voracitos' personal demesne before being shuttled from Sith Lord to Sith Lord like a hot tuber in tinfoil. The Sith Council had taken a shot at bringing Etti Four to heel, the Republic had jumped in with the sort of off-the-cuff Senate-condemned Jedi invasion that had made Daella Apparine famous before her big reveal as a traitor, leverage had been brought to bear, and everyone had forgotten about this particular world. Capital of the Corporate Sector, headquarters of Cybot Galactica, home of many light-blue persons, trade nexus of the region-

And right next door to the New Order.

The contact had been unofficial but urgent, and substantiated through multiple sources. The government of Etti Four wanted Levantine help in fortifying their star system, training their elite soldiers, implementing best practices for trade convoys, securing hyperlanes and starports, and placing powerful weapons to keep the Sith at bay. [member="Seydon of Arda"], the legendary monster hunter, and [member="Jaxton Ravos"], former Sword of the Jedi, had been requested by name, as had Jorus and several others. It was rumored that [member="Danger Arceneau"] was providing her good offices for the deal, and offering her expertise in facilitating trade security. It was even rumored that the Tion Hegemony was backing this play, aiming to fortify free trade against the regulation of the New Order.

Requested Services:​

Help place and install defensive systems, including surface and orbital weapons, improved planetary shield generators, minefield checkpoints at hyperroute exits, etc.​

Train elite soldiers and police in the capital on the best ways to counteract Sith attacks.​

Hunt down a Sithspawn threat in the capital's slums. Sithspawn is believed to be left over from the Sith Council era if not before.​

Implement improved security for commerce.​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Silk was not, all things considered, a weapons manufacturer. It was, however, thoroughly capable of showing up with two-klick Connestoga bulk freighters loaded with hundreds of thousands of CSA mines. The mines were in shipping containers, each of which slipped out of the Connestogas in its turn and was guided into a holding pattern for further unloading. Break freight kept unloading times low.

The mines were destined for various points -- hyperroute endpoint beacons, primarily, though other mine formations could be employed. They'd be placed carefully, by the CSA and these Levantines, in accordance with established customs station-monitored routes.

 

[Velok the Younger]

Ultimately, AEL and Mohc Extractives sold trinkets in small amounts for high prices. Rarely, however, had AEL/Mohc been requested to import supplies en masse; precious few of their products matched large-scale needs.

The Dauntless combat blade was apparently one such, curio though it was, a mass-produced entry-level alchemical sword that apparently suited an assortment of formal guard units. Likewise, LeviaCan tinned meats appeared to fit their needs for elite units.

Rave put Vjun out of her mind. This couldn't possibly go wrong. LeviaCan was meant for mass consumption, after all, the processed flesh of leviathans, terentateks, and Force-sensitive jakobeasts. It was meant for this sort of thing, and the CSA leadership had quietly swept its FDA clearance issues under the rug.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Etti IV
Corporate Sector


Arceneau Trade was no small name to this side of galaxy, and it was that exact name that Danger Arceneau was banking on providing the means for the Corporate Businesses in Etti IV to branch out into her two favorite words; Free Trade.

Her connections with Black Sun and the former Sith Empire allowed Arceneau Trade to have contact with the previous and current administration. All she had to do now was provide the venue for discussion, and in that Danger was all too willing to provide it. Playing hostess was no stranger to her, and she knew that if Etti IV managed to get under the protection of an entity to promote free trade with the galaxy once again... well, for the first time in a long long while, the Corporate Sector would be able to do it's business without the tyrannical overruling of a government.

And if this paved the way into bringing South Systems Business Bazaar and a few Arceneau Trade Stations.. well... all the better.

So, without further ado, the scene would be set. Her offices on Etti IV would be converted into an elegant area for the deal as well as providing trade security with her own security details. Ensuring a neutral area and ample security. Once this deal went through... then the various businesses registered in the SSB would be able to take advantage of Free Trade within the Corporate Sector.

Exotic foods, beverages, and even a smartly clothed Danger would soon greet the emissaries of Etti IV and those of Levantine Sanctum.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

Slum grounds were built on multi-tiered shanty hab-blocks sixty meters in soaring height, grafted with innumerable additions including jettied flooring that bunched like tree gall, wrapped copper piping glistening with advanced verdigris, wreathed in cable-bundles draped like dirtied trestles. Urban planning consisted of chaotic zone designations overlapping various districts together in a broad, indistinguishable mosaic. Seydon asked an air-taxi to swing him round where foot traffic and sentient activity seemed most focused. The pilot dropped him off in an industrial neighborhood lit with neon sign-glows advertising hosts of after-shift activities. Eyes looked up.

They saw a man, tall, broad shouldered, dressed oddly in a dark suit of patterned leather hooked with a black cowl over the skull and brow, resplendent with paired swords harnessed to his back and further implements hanging off his belting. Another stranger; more hired on muscle, though there was something terribly off in his demeanor. Seydon attributed it to his Farwalker apparel, alongside his own intrinsic natures. He pulled at a cloak thrown over his shoulders and pressed on into the hustle of sidewalk traffic. Air-cars whistled past. A woman with four eyes, a wriggling belly, and practically translucent garb propositioned him. He strolled by, earned her scorn with a belted series of insults aimed to emasculate, scenting at the air. There were wreathes of ammonia, petrol, ozone. Seydon turned off the main roadway and stalked into interconnecting alley-tunnels.

 

[Alisha'ven]

Silk Holdings would not be the only one aiding in setting up defensive systems on Etti IV. Along with Miz Arceneau providing a local venue, she would also instruct Alisha'ven to oversee the delivery and set up of several surface weapons and orbital weapons purchased by the collective corporations on Etti IV.

Bulk Arceneau Trade Freighters and tugs would first begin by transporting the surface planetary weapons. Specific sites had been previously selected and cleared for the delivery, and ATC freighters would soon deliver their cargo. An inspection of the items would come next, and once approved, will begin the unloading and then assembly of the surface planetary weapons.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The Ithorian herd ship Chodo Habat, named after an ancient and worthy priest, rested over Etti IV. It had taken up station around the fifth Lagrange point, and now a handful of unarmed shuttles broke away, aiming for the surface. Boolon and the other Priests of the Mother Jungle might believe that this move could provoke the New Order, but regardless, Etti and the Corporate Sector were certainly on the agenda of that august body. Violence would come regardless, and thus, the Ithorians prepared. They had come to help train trauma response teams and bolster the CSA's medical capacity.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Seydon of Arda"]

At Seydon's back stalked a cyborg Twi'lek with a blaster pistol in each hand. Her lightsabre, a battered old thing from her Sith days -- feth, she'd even served in this system once -- was stowed in the small of her back. Admittedly, she would be of more use in orbit, helping to coordinate system defenses, but too many cooks spoiled the bedjies. That, and Seydon reminded her of Lyn in a couple of ways, though other differences were vast. It had been too long since she'd been on a proper hunt, cleaning up the mess that she and others had made under old regimes.

 

[Nohemi Allaneh]

[member="Boolon Murr"]

The [background=#232323]Ithorian herd ship [/background]Chodo Habat would not be left unprotected. Several Fallanassi Adepts under the instruction of Nohemi Allaneh, would be actively weaving the currents of the Force to cloak the herd ship from any ill will.

Prudence was a virtue that would be well met, and while the philosophy of the Order of the White Current stated that one should let the galaxy fall as it may, her pacifist nature and sensibility stated that at the very least, the herd ship would hold a measure of protection that every Fallanassi adhered to in their new home within Levantine Sanctum space.

Quietly meditating with the rest of the Fallanassi adepts, Nohemi would submerse herself into the currents of the Force, lids half shut. It was also the perfect opportunity to practice her craft and to train others as well.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Nohemi Allaneh"] had the right idea. Je'gan, admittedly, had the wrong one. Various sites had been nailed down for installation of planetary hypervelocity guns, planetary turbolasers, planetary ion cannons, planetary everything. This site would be one of the former, a HV gun with a minimal firing arc and a ridiculous range. Je'gan knelt in meditation not far away, preparing the groundwork for an eventual illlusion that would make the HV emplacement pretty much impossible to target with any accuracy.

 

[Mother Arg'garok]

Ithorian herd ship Chodo Habat

[member="Boolon Murr"] would not be the only one to help train trauma response teams and bolster the CSA's medical capacity. Nun of G'aav'aar'oon, Mother Arg'garok would quietly waddle her way over to the Ithorian Boolon Mur, her great girth swaying side to side with each step.

Beady black eyes would latch upon the Ithorian with pleasure, the damp wet snout glistening slightly as it gave a twitch. Finally, coming to a halt beside him, a toothy tusked grin would beam down from the older Gamorrean Nun, one healer to another.

A series of grunts, squeals, and snorts would convey her greeting.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

Seydon called a halt Ia'raklane close, halting to a brief stop at the back of a noodle-and-beef-soup shack squeezed between two small textile factories. His hand fished out a length of dataplate and keyed on the holotslate, drawing up a map overlay provided by orbital topographic imaging. Red splotches discoloured blue-white gridding; reports and reports of reports detailing rashes of physical mauling and death by trauma. The patterning was random, but skittered the slums on a due south course, projected to soon haunt through a set of hab-block neighborhoods.

"It's making for the sewage treatment plants here - " Seydon scrawled his thumb along, pointing at a tight knot of upraised buildings on the overlay. " - So I think. If we can cut it off here - " He scrolled the slate up. " - Round these fabricate houses and their back lots, maybe we can spare it from ripping through any crowds."

@Ia'raklane Beorht

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@Mother Arg'garok
Boolon burbled an appropriate response. His double throat was capable of Basic, even eloquent Basic, but that had taken years of practice. The standard Ithorian speech mode was a burble which corresponded well to Gamorrean phonetics. <We must be sure to avail ourselves of translation droids when we reach landfall, friend,> he said, watching the planet's curve through the shuttle viewport. <I hope the trauma surgeons and response teams have a place for us.>

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Seydon of Arda"]

"Sensible. If you give me five minutes once we reach this thoroughfare-" Iara tapped the holoslate. "-I can listen for what we're after. I'd say that there'd be no reason for you not to press on regardless of what I'm doing, but, ah-"

The former Sith, former Jedi, former just-about-everything glanced away. A comfortably hot, gritty wind played with her lekku. "Well, you sound like what I'd be listening for. No offense."

 

[Mother Arg'garok]

[member="Boolon Murr"]

A grunt and squeal of affirmation would follow suit. This would be an excellent time to utilize Salicia L1-AL Series Protocol Droid, provided by [member="Judah Dashiell"]. How exciting.

The L1-AL series protocol droids are designed to provide a link between languages and cultures. With a VerboBrain, L1-AL protocol droids adapt to unknown languages with the ability to learn and translate on the go. While fluent in all forms of communication, the L1-AL excels at ancient and dead forms of communication. In addition to its ability to verbally communicate, L1-AL units have the ability to cross cultural lines. Cultural programming is included to insure no accidental mishaps(such as an out of place fork or clothing design) will be an issue for the end user.

Despite a skeletal looking appearance, the L1-AL unit is quite the pacifist. Regarding its duty to translate and often mediate between users, the unit does not interject its own opinions or ad lib translations, remaining neutral as possible. Which was perfect for the healers who were here to provide trauma training to the CSA medical capacity.

A series of snorts and the guttural language of Gamorrese would relay that the nun would go secure a protocol droid for their use.

 

[Seydon of Arda]

@Ia'raklane Beorht

Seydon grunted nonplussed but ducked from Ia'raklane's way, jogging behind her strict pace. They followed through a long wind of sectioned back passages linked via brief vault-hallways barred with rusting durasteel and chipped prefab ferrocrete. Ahead swung the snaking thoroughfare, winding arterial traffic from eastern industrial zones through into cheap, urban hab-blocks sprawling with sentient immensity. Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of bodies, if not millions, jockeying for living space. Seydon waved her on, pausing behind a collection of discarded signing stacked haphazardly against a run-down dance school.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Hyperroute Exit 42
6 degrees above the ecliptic
2 AU from Etti IV

The Gypsymoth took up station near '42 and the antique customs platform. The CSA had been a backwater for centuries before taking a place of pride in Voracitos' blank checkbook. That said, certain elements of the Corporate Sector had flourished, both under and after Voracitos' reign, and military spending was up there. They had the resource capital to take care of setting up proper defenses, if guided by the experienced.

"Captain Merrill? I'm Captain Tarbill. I understand you've prepared some draft security arrangements for Platform Forty-Two. Do you happen to have those available, or will you be taking command of the restructuring and mine deployment personally?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Seydon of Arda"]
The dance school caught her eye, injected reminiscence of her original legs. These ones got her to the rooftop with satisfactory speed, all things considered; few of her prosthetics had been better. She took shelter from the wind behind an air conditioning intake and closed her eyes. The Theran Listeners had honed their skills of remote perception in the deserts of Nam Chorios, her homeworld, plagued by Force storms and sandwalls half a mile high. Iara had further honed that skill in the Dune Sea and the Jundland Wastes and the busy corridors of Imperial command ships. Now she tuned out the city's cries for help, tuned out the sound of Seydon's heart -- sithspawn, sithspawn, sithspawn went the beat -- and listened for the monster.

Seven minutes after her ascent, she rejoined the master hunter in the shadow of the dance school. "I have it," she said, "but I've never heard a heartbeat like this. I have the lock, but this wouldn't be something I could do alone."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@Mother Arg'garok

Boolon nodded gently as the shuttle touched down on Etti IV. The hatch cracked, injecting hot air, and Boolon held his robes' hem before his mouths. <You should have my communicator frequency already,> he said. <I will go to the medcenter to begin setting up for the training seminar; please comm me if there is any difficulty obtaining a suitable medical droid, friend.>

That said, he struck out through a gritty warm wind, and quickly vanished into the city.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton headed over to the office of one of the most powerful business moguls in the galaxy, Danger Arceneau of Arceneau Trade Enterprises. He had never met the woman before, nor any other large business moguls in truth but he was unafraid of the task. Beneath all of the money, ships, power and resources people were still people, and Jaxton could actually understand people in a decent capacity. Plus, she had been one of the ones to contact the Levantines and request their aid for Etti IV in the first place. So he walked into the office of the "Danger of Trade" to find a ridiculously pulchritudinous woman before him. Jaxton however was a gentleman, and didn't waste time with half-cocked advanced or lewd remarks, instead getting down to business, amicably so.

"Hey, I'm Jaxton Ravos." He said, extending a firm hand to shake the woman's as he entered the office. "I'd like to thank you for contacting us, getting us over here."

[member="Danger Arceneau"]