Private Mutual Beneficial Business

[Scarlett Zann]

Scar was unsure if this was too good to be true. She had received an encrypted subspace message from the Empire. It said the encryption key was the name of the founder of the Zann Consortium, her great ancestor, and when the message was unlocked, it played a holocron that only played once before the codex fried. She seemed to believe if someone would go through this much trouble to hide the fact that they wanted to meet, it in fact had to be true. However, to be safe, Scar brought a fourth of her gang and all the muscle that she could muster in case it was a trap by one of her competitors. When she landed, she left six with the ship so that it was ready for take off at a moments notice, three at the space docks entry way to help secure a hasty retreat, three patrols of three randomly throughout the small spaceport, and finally two with her.

She entered the small and hidden warehouse, finding it empty except for a table in the middle, with a light and two chairs. There were only two entrances to the building and she had one of her men stand at each entrance while she waited for her contact to arrive. She took a seat in one of the two chairs at the table and pulled out a data pad to sort some business while she waited.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

The scratch of a match striking sounded in the dark corners of the old Outer Rim Supply Co. warehouses and lit the square face of a man in civillian clothes calmly emerging from the shadows with a cigarette on his lips. He lazily rose his hands in submission to the immediately pointed guns of the sentries standing watch over their boss.

"Quite an escort for a meeting." he remarked as he approached the white-haired woman he'd summoned to meet. Scarlett Zann, the heir to an ancient legacy that once sowed dread across the stars. "Better safe than sorry, I reckon."

The agent took a seat on the other chair, his back straight as an arrow -- old Allied Marine habits die hard, "You can just call me Hunter." he introduced himself, then shifted straight to the point, "I believe we have mutual interests we can pursue, Miss Zann."

Scarlett Zann
​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

"Quite an escort for a meeting."

"Can't be too careful when dealing with the Empire. You know this as well as I!" She replied.

She set her datapad down and sat up and attentive as he sat across from her.

"I believe we have mutual interests we can pursue, Miss Zann."

"Consider me interested, as I am here, what interest due you refer to?" She asked with a raised brow.

She was still hesitant to trust an agent of the Empire, but she would at least hear what he had to say.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

Hunter ashed his cigarette to the side before he spoke, "There's a crew out here in the Outer Rim that's been making some more ruckus than usual - Blade's Gang. Heard they've been a thorn for your fine gents." he jerked his head at the escorts at the entrance, "And recently, they've gone into the business of dealing a certain... product the Empire's not keen on falling in the wrong hands-- or rather in any hands other our own."

Producing a holoprojection from his wrist pad, the shape of a crystal formed, "Kyber crystals. They've been running an operation out here which's been making them some solid cash, naturally." the agent explained, "Now where you come in, Miss Zann, is shutting that operation down and getting rid of Blade's Gang for good."

Scarlett Zann ​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

"Ah, yes.... Blade's gang... A thorn for sure! Did not know they were causing troubles with the Empire, however. Yea, we can get rid of them for you.... For a price, that is...." Scar said to the mysterious man. She saw him change expressions and begin to speak but she cut him off and said "I know what you are going to ask... Why pay us when he is a mutually beneficial thorn to remove? Well he's been a thorn of mine for a while now, and a manageable one, for you however, is a much greater thorn if you are reaching out to me for assistance."

She then grabbed her data pad and entered a number on its screen and showed it to him. "This is the required fee for dealing with the Blade Gang, unless you have something of similar value to trade?" She hinted at him to reveal what he had in mind for payment or incentive.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

"Perceptive." he pointed at her with his cigarette before stubbing it off in the leg of the table, "Good."

The agent slid the datapad away, not bothering to look at the number written there, "Tsk, correct me if I'm wrong but I doubt your ambitions end with a simple one-time monetary transaction." he leaned in closer to her, clasping his hands, "What the Empire offers you, Miss Zann, is the operation itself as a reward. Rid it off Blade and start managing it for yourself on one condition only--" Hunter raised a finger, "--that the mine will do business solely with the Empire going forward."

Scarlett Zann ​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

Scar had already thought of the idea that he had presented, but wanted to see if she could pull one over on him and double dip a bit.

"Yea, that sounds about right...." She said as she grabbed the data pad and began to crunch some numbers as well as map out locations of where she knew the Blade gang had representation. "I know of the mines and their locations, and I will take care of them, but I do not know the extent of their sale and business fronts. Here is a list of what I know, and I know it is at least a third incomplete. If you can fill in the gap, with any of your own intelligence, I will take care of the problem for you and even give you the first shipment of crystals at 50% discount." She said with a smile as she once again slid the data pad in his direction.

 

[Cromwell]

"How generous of you." a sly smirk curved his lips, before standing up from the chair. "Very well then, Miss Zann, we have ourselves a deal. The Bureau will take care of any intelligence gaps while you and I take care of Blade. I'll rendezvous with you and your crew at the mine tomorrow night."

The agent plucked out a small data chip and left it on the table for her, "If there's anything, you can reach me through this."

--

Out in the wild foothills, a couple of klicks away from where they had met, a crouched figure camouflaged among the trees scoped the facility nestled on a slope. Sentries dotted the walkways of the mining installation, lazily patrolling the perimeter. Waves of laughter echoing in the night meant a few of them had abandoned their posts to drink and play sabacc.

"They're complacent." he lowered the electrobinoculars and threw a glance to Scarlett, "Is your crew in position?"

Scarlett Zann ​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

"Is your crew in position?"

"Yes, I have them stashed behind that grouping of trees." She said as she nodded in the direction of their left flank, a large grouping of trees to the left of the mine entrance. "They are awaiting my signal." Scar pulled out her own blaster pistol and examined it to make sure it was battle ready. As a boss, she actually used it a lot more then most would think and it was always in pristine condition. She also reached into her bag and pulled out a chain of thermal detonators. She saw Hunter look at them "They are strictly for outside of the mine. I wont be bringing the thing down on us." She assured him.

She nodded at him with the scope, "How many do you make out?" She asked him.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

The Imperial agent tracked her nod to the left where her crew was supposed to be. He couldn't make out anyone. Good -- they were well camouflaged. Hunter had expected far less from the band of criminals. Perhaps the white-haired heir of Zann could truly live up to the legacy of her predecessors.

A movement in her bag took his attention and when she produced a chain of thermal dets, the agent raised an eyebrow. Her assurance sounded true so he did not voice any suspicion that lingered at the back of his mind.
​

"How many do you make out?" ​

"About half a dozen on the walkways and probably twice that number lingering about inside the facility itself." he replied, "The longer we wait, the more intoxicated they're going to get by the looks of it."

Turning away from the binoculars, Hunter asked, "You're going to go in with the rest of your gang?" crime heads, whether swoop gang bosses or intergalactic crime lords, usually left the dirty work to their henchmen.

Scarlett looked as battle-ready as the blue-eyed agent.​

Scarlett Zann

 

[Scarlett Zann]

Scar was glad that her crew was well camouflaged, a good sign for early mission success was surprise. Less then 20 individuals as opposition was another good sign, and not only that, but drunk ones too.

"The longer we wait, the more intoxicated they're going to get by the looks of it."

As he spoke, Scar calmed her nerves a bit and sat back more in a relaxed state but with her eyes on the perimeter all the same. "Then let us allow them to get a bit more drunk before we move in." She said before starting a bit of small talk.


"As the saying goes, if you want the job done right.... I cant afford to make mistakes at my level of business, plus this job needs a bit more finesse then my typical enforcer is capable of. " She said with a sigh. She had recently created an enforcer academy at her home base just for this purpose. No longer would she employ brainless brutes or as least not very often because they do sometimes have a use. Finesse is now a word that would be associated with the Zann Enforcer, as things need to be done correctly the first time on every mission.

"So you look like a pretty capable individual yourself, why be a laky of the Empire?"

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

Hunter nodded to her decision to remain patient. Good choice. The risk of casualties on their side would substantially decrease when Blade's goons inevitably end up reeling around the facility. He followed suit and pulled his legs up, leaning back on the ground of the rising mound behind, and plucked a hand inside his vest looking for a pack of cigarettes. Tsk, he clicked his teeth when he found nothing and put his hands behind his head.

"So you look like a pretty capable individual yourself, why be a laky of the Empire?"

"Solid retirement fund." he snorted, looking away from the starry night back to Scarlett. It was the first time he could get a really good look at the crime lady without the tunnel vision of a mission clouding his sight. Her otherwise cerulean eyes seemed to gleam silver under the stars above. Hunter's leer lingered a little longer over her before he blinked and said, "Frankly, Miss Zann, I do not think you would understand. You're on your way to building a cash machine in the shape of a syndicate.... Some people don't see credits as the be-all and end-all." he shrugged with his shoulders, there was no judgment in his tone, "Questions is -- why are you doing all this? You look smart enough and pretty enough to make it out in the galaxy without looking every other minute behind your back for a blaster barrel aimed at your head."​

Scarlett Zann

 

[Scarlett Zann]

Scar looked back at Hunter as he reversed her own question on her. "Haha yea, to each their own, I guess." She smiled before continuing with "For me it is a bit of a bundle of things. For one, it is how I was raised. My entire life has been built around one day taking over the family and each generation has a chance to return our family to where it used to be, the same stories most of the galaxy remember of the Consortium. On the other hand, I enjoy...." Her words filtered off as she caught herself from spilling off her life goals and dreams. She liked the man, but she did not fully trust him enough to share exactly why she was like how she was. She saw him sigh in disappointment as he reached into his pocket, most likely trying to find a smoke. She reached into a pocket on her pants and threw him a death stick or two that she had won in a gamble game and she does not smoke herself. "All I can say, is....I don't do it for the credits, glory, or even fame.... But there is something about the life style that drives me on to complete the next step in my journey."

Her gaze returned to the direction of the base of their foes, as she listened to them howl into the night, drinking their lives away, or at least what was left of them anyway.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

The agent picked up the death sticks and snuck them inside his vest. There was an informer a couple of parsecs from here who sang every little secret in return for one of these sticks. Hunter's substance vices were limited to the occasional glass of whiskey and cigarettes. Bad habits picked up from his days as an Alliance Marine.

"Adrenaline?" he threw a guess at her, curiosity itching at his nose. Besides credits, glory, and fame -- what else was there to it than the thrill of it all. "Surely, there are better ways than laying in a forest, middle of nowhere, ready to exchange blaster fire with another crew, Miss Zann." Hunter smirked.

Scarlett Zann ​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

"Yes, you certainly are correct there, but I would not have the thrill of making new and interesting acquaintances such as yourself if I just stood on the sidelines." She quickly replied with a smile. She smirked at him as he pocketed her death sticks. She had offered them to him to smoke, but they were a bit more risky and addicting then cigarettes', or so she had heard anyway. She too was a whiskey girl, but passing her flask at the current time where they were trying to let their enemy drink themselves into a ill fate, it did not seem appropriate.

"Maybe it is the need to make a difference in the galaxy, but as a Pirate, that just does not seem like an appropriate answer, for now, lets just settle for the fact that I want the Consortium to be as strong as I heard in the stories growing up. To be recignized and feared in every corner of the galaxy, then maybe, at that point, I can make some good changes...." Her sentence trailed off as she heard less noises coming from the camp. This meant one of two things, they were sobering up or some of them had passed out.

"Must be that time to get things moving."

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

"I'm sure today's going to be another step forward for you, Miss Zann. What we do here can grow into a solid, mutually beneficial relationship between you and the Empire." he smirked, then narrowed his eyes in the direction of the facility, "And you're right -- I do think it's time."

Hunter stood up, cocking his pistol, and jerked his head at Scarlett, "Signal your men to move in caution, you take point and I'll have your back."​

Scarlett Zann

 

[Scarlett Zann]

Scar did not feel taking point would be wise in such a new relationship, but she did have the numbers in case he got hostile. Scar proceeded in front of him over the small slope, hunched over as she creeped further up the opening to the facility. when they were about the same distance as her stashed min, she pressed a button on her wrist pad which alerted her men to start their way into the facility. She signaled for her men to split up and most of them enter the facility straight on why some flank it to the left. She guided Hunter flanking to the right. Hopefully they would be able to catch those inside in a cross fire and end the situation quickly and without casualties.

Hunter Stark

 

[Cromwell]

They prowled towards the facility as Scarlett's men surrounded the building, covertly taking out the few remaining sober sentries on the walkways. With vantage positions overtaken by the Zann crew, the rest of the gang, including Scarlett and Hunter, entered the station. Blaster fire erupted at the first sight of the drunk guards who were taken by surprise could not adequately react and were swiftly taken out.

The agent caught a stray sentry rushing towards the alarm signal to call for reinforcements, aimed, and struck his head with one clean shot. The facility looked all but fully under Zann's control. Good. The news in the underworld tomorrow would be of a gang making a strong move against another, a rise in the Zann's reputation in these part of the galaxy and with no mention of the Empire.

It couldn't have gone better.

Hunter holstered his gun, a cocky smirk sliding over his face, "Well, Miss Zann, congratulations on your newest acquisition."

"Surely that deserves a toast. It's a good reason to celebrate--" he glanced around the empty bottles sprawled next to Blade's gang's dead bodies, "--perhaps with something more classy than this cheap liquor." he wondered if they had stashed away some expensive, smuggled or stolen, drinks around here somewhere.

Scarlett Zann ​

 

[Scarlett Zann]

As Scar approached a wounded Blade member, with Hunter on her flank, he looked up at her, and while spitting out blood indicating his inevitable death, he shouted at her "You will not get away with this you cow!" Scar simply looked down at him and raised her blaster and removed his head. "What was that? I did not hear you...." She said back to the headless man.

Scar then turned to Hunter, and said "Maybe this will do" as she attempted to hand him her flask of the good whisky.

Even though the camp was full of mostly drunks, she had thought it would be much tougher to accomplish then what they had done. She let herself relax while telling her men to go clear out the mine shaft and make sure there were not any stragglers hiding in it. As Hunter passed the flask back to her, she brought the flask to her lips but did not sip it yet as something had caught her eye. Just to her right was a small crate filled to the brim with Kyber Crystals. She thin drank from the flask and offered Hunter one last sip before putting her flask away and grabbing the box.

"Well, Miss Zann, congratulations on your newest acquisition."

"Yes, thank you. I should have the place up and running and producing for the Empire by the end of the week." She replied with a smile.

Hunter Stark