Private Profits and Prophets

[The Auditor]

The room was dark, the only light coming from the dim glow of the console interface. A hooded figure bent over, hands moving across the controls with purposeful slowness. The screen flickered as he activated the encrypted Holo-Call hail; a soft, mechanical chime acknowledged the transmission.

As the call cycled, he leaned back and turned away from the console, his posture changing to become deliberately contrived control. A cascade of holographic lattices unfolded around him, interlocking in an intricate display of shifting geometry. Fractals pulsed outward, their colours bleeding through each other-deep blues melting into violent reds, spectral golds laced with threads of electric violet. The projection wrapped around him in layers, weaving a new silhouette until, at last, the transformation reached its threshold. The process completed.

Now clad in the holo-disguise, he stood and waited. The encrypted hail pulsed across the screen, unanswered. His hooded form didn't stir, except for the rhythmic pulse of the artificial aura cast around him. He was patient. He had all the time in the galaxy.

Kalen

 

[Kalen]

The Crimson Veil had a mysterious benefactor. Kalen had made a few quiet attempts at uncovering their identity, nothing too obvious, but they had been unsuccessful. The stranger remained strange.

He wasn’t about to look a gift bantha in the mouth, though. Every encrypted holocall was answered without question.

“You’ve caught me at an opportune time,” Kalen muttered as the masked figure appeared on his projector. “The iron is still heating up, not quite ready to be struck.”

He had murdered Prince Astor Daaray and his would-be bride only three days ago. Their blood was still fresh on his hands, which he steepled in front of him as he leaned back in his chair.

“What is it you want?”

The Auditor​

 

[The Auditor]

“You’ve caught me at an opportune time,” Kalen muttered as the masked figure appeared on his projector. “The iron is still heating up, not quite ready to be struck.”

He had murdered Prince Astor Daaray and his would-be bride only three days ago. Their blood was still fresh on his hands, which he steepled in front of him as he leaned back in his chair.

“What is it you want?”

The holographic figure flickered, revealing a face obscured by a shadowed mask, its features angular and unrecognizable. The faint hum of the transmission barely cut through the thick silence before words were spoken.

"Glad to hear it. That was quite the display, Kalen," the figure's voice was distorted, rigid, even still one could pick up stark approval. "Your application of the weaponry and supplies we provided was... inventive. You've certainly made an impression on Hapan and myself as well." The holograpic figure replied.

" Congratulations are in order. I have arranged additional shipments to your drop off points. More exotic and heavier equipment for your cause," There was pause. " I am also here to inquire the statuses of the numerous bunkers that were promised. How many are currently ready?"

Kalen ​

 

[Kalen]

"Glad to hear it. That was quite the display, Kalen. Your application of the weaponry and supplies we provided was... inventive. You've certainly made an impression on Hapes and myself as well."

Kalen's reception of the praise was stony, his expression unmoved. The work was hardly done. If he ever did bask in praise, it would be at the end, when their victory was secured. When House Daaray lay dead and the Consortium was no more, they would be free to build a better world.

"I have arranged additional shipments to your drop off points. More exotic and heavier equipment for your cause."

"Exotic," he echoed the word with a thin smirk. "You'll have to be more specific." He expected it was disruptors, though he wasn't sure how far the Auditor was willing to go.

"I am also here to inquire the statuses of the numerous bunkers that were promised. How many are currently ready?"

"Two hundred." Kalen eyed the hologram. "You never did tell me what you wanted those for." It served obvious practical applications in wartime, but it was an odd thing for their benefactor to specifically request.

The Auditor​

 

[The Auditor]

"Exotic," he echoed the word with a thin smirk. "You'll have to be more specific." He expected it was disruptors, though he wasn't sure how far the Auditor was willing to go.


"Two hundred." Kalen eyed the hologram. "You never did tell me what you wanted those for." It served obvious practical applications in wartime, but it was an odd thing for their benefactor to specifically request.

" Weaponry mostly. Paricle beam rifles, sonic carbines, disruptor pistols, cryoban bombs and various other chemical payloads. Dioxis to list one." The hologram paused and tilted its blank faceless head. " The bunkers will be for the storage of organic and inorganic materials and persons. In time my associates and I will use these bunkers personally and your supplies will become even more lush than they are now." The distorted voice explained. Behind the guise the figure lifted a hidden brow at the Hapan male question.

Getting more and more curious I see.

" Was there something... specific, you were ...looking for?"

 

[Kalen]

"Weaponry mostly. Particle beam rifles, sonic carbines, disruptor pistols, cryoban bombs and various other chemical payloads. Dioxis to list one. The bunkers will be for the storage of organic and inorganic materials and persons. In time my associates and I will use these bunkers personally and your supplies will become even more lush than they are now."

Kalen listened as the masked figure rattled off a list of nasties. All of it would no doubt prove highly destructive. They had been using the Auditor's supplies without issue; he had no reason to suspect the next shipment would be any less effective in destroying their enemies.

The bunkers, though. The description of their purpose remained vague. They were for storage of materials and persons, but for what?

"Was there something... specific, you were... looking for?"

Kalen stared at the hologram. "No," he replied. "Only curious." Surely the Auditor didn't think he was stupid. Once the Crimson Veil took control of the Cluster, they would no longer have any need for his help. He would find out the true reason why the Auditor was helping him and what the bunkers were for, and if he didn't like it, he would have them destroyed.

The Auditor​