Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Mercenaries, Come one Come all (Open to Mercs)

It all started with a message….


Greetings sentient! Welcome to the Cerberus homepage.

Are you looking for employment, or a contract negotiation?

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Welcome potential employee! Here at Cerberus we value all of our workers. Each employee must meet a specific and rigorous set of requirements. If you specialize in any of these fields Cerberus may be right for you, Wetwork, Sabotage, Espionage, Soldiering, and finally Physician. We will be hosting open recruitment on Nar’Shaddaa should you be interested in finding out more!

Causstik sat in the Hawk’s Den. A casino that generously allowed the use of its facilities to Cerberus in exchange for some of Causstik’s more “exotic goods”. Causstik had recently given up slaving, but that didn't mean he took his whole hand out of the metaphorical underworld pie. The Casino was grandiose and luxurious. Tall intricate chandeliers hung from the ceilings illuminating the rooms. Smoke ventilators made sure people could smoke the spice Causstik had generously supplied without choking on a room full of the stuff.

Exotic dancers stripped away on the occasional table, while beings with a little more clothing meandered the walkways serving drinks and the like. The whole place was patrolled by plenty of bouncers generously supplied by the “Hawk’s circle” (A part of The Cabal) and automated turrets scanned the crowds constantly. With all the mercs filing into the place the extra security was needed, but not necessary. Causstik’s own warband sat all over the Casino.

While they weren't actively looking for a fight should someone try to start one they would meet a swift end. Causstik sat on a plush cushion in the VIP area. It was here that mercs seeking employment would be directed. The room was dim, unlike the rest of the casino. Their was a scantily clad dancer on top of the singular table. Two large booth seats sat to either side of the table. Neon lights blinked away providing the only light in the place. Causstik idly puffed on a cigarra and patiently awaited the mercs who wanted to sign up.

[member="Sol Damerin"]
 
Grandiose was one word for the Hawk's den, gaudy was another. Sol wasn't a monk, he didn't think people should live in a small room with a straw cot and eat nothing but rice. But he did think that smoking spice, drinking far too much alcohol, watching strippers, and gambling all well surrounded by displays of wealth that miss elegant by a mile going right for tacky was a bit much. But he did get why Cerberus set up the meeting here, to your average merc this was heaven. Most mercenaries Sol had known spent money on four things and three of them were here right now. If Cerberus had an armoury in tow for recruits then they'd hit all four.

Guns, drugs, booze, and guns weren't Sol's speed though. Most of what he earned went into his accounts and he just sat on it, he lived out of a single bag and hitchhiked from job to job. He was a loner, a nomad, and when he wasn't being a mercenary he was a philosopher in his own weird way. This all raised the question of why he was here. Mostly because he'd gotten an email directing him to a site and while joining things wasn't normally his thing, it didn't hurt to have a middleman sometimes. Depending on the deal they offered it might be worth it if he could get access to some additional resources. Thus here he was sort of wishing he stood out like a sore thumb but really he blended right in.

Directed to the VIP area Sol looks around, one dancer, dim lighting, but the only smoke was from a cigarra being puffed on by the guy who was likely the boss. Following instructions, he takes whatever seat he is directed to and settling down. Folding his arms over his chest he waits for the sales pitch. His expression was perfectly neutral, his gaze stony, it was impossible to tell from his bearing if he was interested or annoyed. Sol had an excellent Sabacc face.

[member="Causstik Rahn"]
 
Causstik Rahn idly smoked his cigar as the Twi’lek danced away. He beckoned to a serving droid and it swiftly approached. He set his cigar down on an ashtray then took a mug of potent smelling liquor and began to take greedy gulps of it. As he finished the cup a man with a solemn face entered the lounge. The neon lights were arrayed to either side of Causstik so that he could see some semblance of who ever walked in, but it would be fairly hard to make out his own face. The only thing that might have given away any detail of his facade was the cherry from the cigar, which he had just placed on the table.Causstik beckoned for the man to take a seat in one of the many fine cushions arranged across from where he sat.

“Tihaar?” The Trandoshan growled from the dark.

Casually offering the Merc some of the most potent liquor in the galaxy. “It’s an aquired taste. Something I picked up while running with the clans of Mandalore…” Causstik paused a moment awaiting the mercs reply than whether he refused or partook Causstik would begin.

“My name is Causstik Rahn. You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for work. See these fine things around me? Do you think they are free? No. We paid for them. That’s what this is about,” Causstik growled as he beckoned the Twi’lek closer and she did as told “I have enough money to make this woman do whatever I ask… I got this money by selling my services to the highest bidder,” Causstik said as he gave the dancer a playful smack on the rump.

She giggled playfully then went back to dancing. Causstik picked up his cigar and relit it. The flame from his lighter revealed a one eyed Trandoshan, with scars to match. His singular yellow eye was not focused on the dancer, but that of the newcomer and the eye portrayed that of an aware madness.

“I’m looking to expand the fold. Sign on with us and we can get you the contracts that you’d never be able to get on your own,” Causstik gestured to everything around him “Then you, could live like this,” He said between puffs of his smoke, gesturing with his arms at everything around him. “Hell you could save your money for all I care, but the fact is… You'll make millions,”

[member="Sol Damerin"]
 
Eying the offered liquor Sol shrugs and accepts the glass. Then he raises it to his lips, tips it back and downs the entire cup in a single swallow. He flips the glass over and sets it upside down back on the table, throughout the entire process his expression hadn't changed. Of course, that was only through extreme force of well and help from The Force. The liquid literally felt like it was burning a hole through Sol's stomach and he kind of wanted to die. But hey if this guy was going to try and look all cool and bad ass by having a cloud of obscuring smoke Sol had to do something to match it.

Causstik's entire display was about on par with what Sol had expected. "This big expensive casino costs money and I have it. This gorgeous girl costs money and I have it. I lean forward to reveal my one-eyed face and explain that I have money because I take big expensive jobs. Join me and you too can do big jobs for millions!" Sol wonders ideally if the next part would be Causstik explaining how Sol could start earning additional profits by recruiting new members and getting paid a part of their commission! Okay, that was unfair this wasn't a pyramid scheme, closer to a timeshare pitch but it was probably not quite as bad as even that. However...

"So you are saying I could move up from low-class spice dens, to the high-class spice dens? What a deal." His tone is as dry as Tatoonie at noon, his expression utterly deadpan. It appears as though Causstik had a smart ass on his hand, on the bright side Sol may snark but he was the type to snark and get down to business. "Filthy lucre and whores may appeal to your average merc but I am in the, for all you care save it category and because of that, I am not hurting for credits. You can get me in on million dollar contracts, sure that's great more money for the pile, but what you'd do for a million and what I'd do for a million are probably worlds apart."

A brief pause as he leans in but Sol clearly hasn't finished speaking yet. His deadpan tone lacked respect and his words were snarky but he wasn't trying to bully, threaten, or otherwise measure dicks with Causstik. It was obvious from Sol's bearing that he knew that the Trandoshan was in control, after all, this was Causstik's home turf so to speak and he had Sol outgunned and outnumbered. However, his tone and bearing also conveyed that Sol was competent and not willing to deal with any Bantha poodoo, like bowing and scraping to the other merc.

"You want to expand the fold? That's fine, but I am not some young yahoo from the outer-rim that gets a hardon for all this." Sol waves around the room not dignifying it with an epitaph. "Contracts are easy, I've never had any trouble getting work. The jobs I get may not pay out in the millions but when I don't have anyone taking a cut I make out just fine. So I've got two questions. First, what can Cerberus do for me? Don't tell me about contracts, I want to know about resources. Weapons, armour, ships, speciality gear, intelligence. What are you making available for me on company jobs and for my own personal use? Second, what does Cerberus want in exchange? I already know middlemen take a cut out of the contract but what expectations do you have? How many jobs am I expected to do? What other tasks might I be asked to perform? Tell me what I am agreeing to if I sign on."

[member="Causstik Rahn"]
 
[SIZE=11pt]Causstik watched the Merc carefully from his one good eye. The man wasn’t some farm boy looking for adventure. That much had become apparently clear. He drank the moonshine with ease and Causstik was surprised to see he finished his cup before even the Trandoshan had. The burning alcohol was stronger than paint thinner, and probably worse for your health. Causstik took another drag from his Cigar and blew the smoke in the man’s general direction. Causstik was either going to love this man, or beat his face into a bloody pulp. He was running a very fine line talking to a warlord of what used to be one of the most ruthless bands of marauding pirate, slaving, murderers in the galaxy. The old man had a mouth on him and that amused Causstik. Causstik came to believe this man to be a crotchety old spacer. He was past his time, or at least it seemed it was growing short soon. Still men like Sol were hard to pin down. But, Causstik thought he had an idea.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“I tell you what hotshot, you take the contracts you want to take. There are no obligations beyond do the job and do it to the employers exact specifications. As for armory… We got guns boy…” Causstik growled as he slid a datapad detailing the status of Cerberus’s [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]armoury[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]. At the top of the list were [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]two[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] of Causstik’s [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]favorite[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] tools of mayhem. He didn’t wait for to see if Sol read them instead opting to continue. “You can keep most of the poodoo listed there, but if you do something bad, you didn’t get ‘em from us. We got ships too. They should be listed in the armoury… Hell we’ve even got one of the biggest [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ships[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] in the galaxy, but to be fair you won’t find that one in there,” Causstik paused to take another greedy gulp of his Tihaar, all the talking was making him thirsty. “As for intelligence we’ve got some of the fastest [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]AI’s[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] working our security and an even faster droid behind them. Needless to say we could probably breach quite a few private emails if we wanted,”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Causstik downed the last of his drink and set the mug on the serving droids tray. It swiftly came back with another and Causstik took it gratefully. This was turning out to be more of a business adventure than he had hoped. At least as far as business went for the three hundred pound seven foot tall warrior. He sipped his new cup of liquor and was thankful for the buzz that quickly washed over him. “Now what do we want from you? Nothing, aside from a cut of your contracts. I’d tell you how much [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]we’d[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] be making from the contracts, but that’d be a breach of protocol. Also I see that you’re a man of more experience, perhaps occasionally you’d agree to show the rookies a thing or two once in awhile?”[/SIZE]

[member="Sol Damerin"]
 
Sol's entire response to Causstik's second pitch is to take the datapad from him and start reading. He is quiet for several long moments after the Trandoshan finishes as the mercenary reads everything he'd been provided. Sol wasn't actually as old as he looked or presented himself as being, just over thirty he still had plenty of good years left in him even if he didn't have The Force. But spending more than a decade in this line of work tended to age you in one way or another and to be honest he'd always been a serious kind of guy, always thoughtful, always preferring his own path.

When he is finished reading he slides the datapad back over to Causstik. The deal he was being offered was good, almost on the border of being too good. Thinking it over for several moments he finally comes to a conclusion. "I'll still be taking contracts independently, if I request any Cerberus resources on one of my own jobs I'll pay a fee but if I don't I won't pay a cut. You put me on a job with a rookie, I'll show them the ropes no charge. You want me to run a boot camp for some rookies, I'll expect a fee since that is time, I could have spent working a job. I'll also want my contract in writing, hard and digital copies."

Folding his arms he waits for The Trandoshan's response. This was in part a test, if Causstik gave into Sol's demands without haggling then the old Mercenary would suspect something was fishy and take his leave. If the other merc tried to haggle then Sol would be more confident that this was legitimate. People didn't get rich by giving into every single demand that potential employees made, even if they were head hunting.

[member="Causstik Rahn"]
 
Causstik listened to the grizzled merc carefully. He drove a hard bargain, but Causstik felt he held all the cards. He stared into his Tihaar for a moment as if contemplating what he was going to say next. After a moment's pause he lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip. The buzz was turning into a nice drunk and Causstik’s thinking became more abrasive.

Little welp believes he can bargain with me? He thought angrily.

Without realizing it, he had nearly crushed the tin metal cup in his hand. The sound of crunching metal brought him back to reality, liquor pouring over the sides and spilling onto the ground. This is where Sol had put a whole in Causstik’s plan.

“I said your contracts. That means all of them… I’ll gladly let you access our armoury free of charge, and on top of that you can keep the gear in there,” Causstik growled vehemently obviously becoming frustrated with the man. “We’ll even pay you for the jobs in which you train our troops,” Causstik finished as if making a great concession.

Without waiting to hear the mercenaries counter proposal Causstik slid a piece of paper across the table with a pen.

“Now, please sign,” Causstik said bogusly nice.

If Sol were to read the contracts fine print he would find that it stated that Cerberus was liable to take seventy five percent of his earnings. On top of all that it stated should anything be checked out of the armoury than said person would become a permanent employee of the mercenary corporation. Causstik would be of course open to further negotiation, it just depended on how far sol would be willing to push a seven foot tall carnivorous Trandoshan.

[member="Sol Damerin"]
 
The display with the cup get's a blank look from Sol, who would have thought? The vehement declaration that Cerberus would take a cut from all his contracts, the casual mention of the armory, and oh so magnanimous tone implying concession on paying extra coin for extra work are met with the same blank stare. However, when he reads the contract the faintest ghost of smile crosses his face. Just the barest upward twitch of the lips. Causstik's display coupled with the contract told Sol at least one thing, Cerberus was at least somewhat legit and that meant they could deal.

When he finishes the contract Sol very deliberately crumples it into a ball, closing his hand into a fist around the paper and then tossing it to the side. It was a crap contract Sol knew it and Causstik knew it, he'd just been hoping that Sol would be so cowed he'd sign without reading. That meant that they needed to address something before the older mercenary would make his counter offer.

"Before you start getting angry and making threats." Sol says calmly, knowing that the open display of contempt for the offer would piss Causstik off. "I want you to seriously consider two questions. First, do you think I am the kind of man that can be bullied or intimidated? Second, if I was such a man would you really want to hire me? If your answer is yes to either then we are done here."

If Causstik thought he could scare Sol then that indicated that the Trandoshan mercenary didn't respect him. If Sol was going to work for anyone it wasn't going to be for someone that thought they could bully him around.

Additionally, if Causstik wanted Cerberus to be composed of a bunch of bootlicking thugs and punks that bowed to his every whim out of fear, Sol had no interest. Those kinds of mercs crumbled under the slightest sign of a disadvantage because they weren't fighters, they were just bullies with gun and in a serious fight they were next to worthless.

A good mercenary was just a soldier without a counter, someone with spine and honor. The kind of person who once bought stayed bought and worked to complete the contract until it was done or literally impossible to complete. If he was going to sign on he wanted to know he'd have back up he could count on to do their job. If Causstik was any good at his job he'd feel the same, if not then well as previously stated Sol was done here.

[member="Causstik Rahn"]
 

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