Public Return of the Corporate Jedi

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

STAR DESTROYER INTERVENTION
Orbit of Vaynai | Former Sith Imperial Systems | Outer Rim Territories
SOR-JAN'S THEME
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"Action stations. Repeat, action stations. Set condition one about the ship. Repair lockers, make reports to damage control central..."

The diminutive Anzat was not in the board room. Instead, the child strolled along the hauntingly familiar command walkway of the ship's primary bridge. The familiar sound of the ship's alarm harkened him back to the Clone Wars, except he had not come to Vaynai as a Jedi General.

He no longer wore robes of a Jedi. He was not attired as a captain in the Levantine ExplorCorps, New Republic, Silver Navy, or even the Outer Rim Coalition. Instead, he was dressed plainly in a dark suit with an Epicanthix style collar.

The collapse of the Sith Empire heralded new opportunities on the Mara-Perlemian Trade Corridor. But only for those willing to take risks is seeking those opportunities.

Vaynai was one such opportunity. Before the Sith Empire, before the Dark Times when the Silver Jedi had forgotten who they had pledged themselves to protect, Vaynai had been a picturesque resort. A vacation getaway. An escapist utopia, tucked away in a little slice of the Outer Rim just a short jump from the hyperlane.

Corellia Digital had invested substantially in developing a resort on the planet. A Corellia Digital store. Communications infrastructure. Holo-Net relays. It had all been a safe bet then. Vaynai had been a Silver Jedi world. A proud member of the Silver Sanctum Coalition -- the Heavenshield's bold experiment.

Quite honestly, Sor-Jan had supported it.

Then there had been Ruusan. And doubt. There was no adversary as formidable as doubt. And, perhaps, they had succumbed to doubt. The Order of the Silver Jedi reasserted itself. And then the Jedi Council voted to leave the Outer Rim. Voted to leave Vaynai, Shri-Tal, Voss abandoned and undefended as the Sith swept from Bastion down the Mara Trade Corridor as an unholy crusade.

Maybe if they had remained the Coalition, things would have turned out differently. Maybe things would have turned out the same. Made a last stand against the Sith and made no difference, save to go out in a blaze of glory. Or maybe they could have halted Carnidex's advance then and there. They would never know. It simply hadn't happened that way.

Never mind his personal feelings toward the Jedi, overnight Sor-Jan's company had nearly gone bankrupt. The entire economic infrastructure that had been built within the sancruary of Jedi space just vanished. And then came the Sith Imperials. And they had seized everything as illegal under the laws regarding Jedi owned companies.

Sor-Jan was Corellian. He'd managed to make business work even when Corellia had been occupied by the One Sith. But these Sith Imperials? There was no marketing strategy in the world to have made that work. And, while Sor-Jan was not the best salesman in the galaxy -- he'd give that nod to Danger Arceneau -- the fact that the boy had made inroads to the First Order said at least a little something about his acumen for turning former adversaries into lucrative business partners.

The Sith Empire? Not so much, no.

But that was all in the past. This was a new day.

And now Vaynai found itself abandoned once more. The only question was, would the planet continue to champion for their deposed Sith Emperor? Or would they be willing to listen to reason?

Of course, there was also an open question of what competitors might be out there. The vacuum created by the Empire's collapse were sure to invite corruption, bounty hunters, pirates, and probably no small amount of criminal organizations.

This was the Outer Rim, far beyond the reach of the Sector Rangers. So what was going to be the price of doing business?

Time to find out.

"Launch one squadron of starfighters," the youth instructed flatly, as he glanced over at the battle analysis droid that served as the vessel's CAG. The Anzat might not be there as General Xantha, but he certain relied on his experience as he navigated what was no small amount of risky business. "Maintain a combat air patrol around the ship."

Shifting his attention over to the navigator, the boy added, "Helm, move us into a high polar orbit. I want to minimize our blind spots with the planet."

Mitigate the blind spots and... give themselves ample room to maneuver in case they needed to make a hasty departure. With that in mind, the boy paused to survey the bridge. "Everyone stay alert. Until a few days ago, this was part of the glorious Sith Empire," the youth noted wryly. "Let's assume some of these nerf herders still have their heads up Carnifex's ass and be prepared should someone do something stupid."

In many respects, this felt like 900 years ago. The atmosphere on the bridge was tense. Clasping his hands behind his back, the child merely stood at the forward window and watched as the ship maneuvered. Behind him, the crew carried out the navigation of the ship. Waiting for something to happen. Anticipating the unexpected, and fearing what that might be.

Casually, the boy turned to regard the protocol droid at the communications terminal. "Send a transmission to Matsu Ike " the boy instructed. An afterthought really. "We're near Shri-Tal. Ask if she would like us to... make inquiries while we're in the sector."

He'd visited Shri-Tal once.

It had been where his business relationship with Sasori had been forged. In many respects, Shri-Tal had been the genesis of Corellia Digital. The investment capital that had started the company had come from that meeting that day, on Shri-Tal.

So many worlds now out from under the oppressive yoke of the Sith. Some would be great opportunities, others were likely to require years of work to be made economically stable again. He feared Shri-Tal may be in the latter category.

...but to the present. One challenge at a time. And, right now, what was in front of him was Vaynai. And all the uncertainty or promise it might hold.

 

[Audren Sykes]

A more subtle means of transport would have been far preferable. It would also have been impractical. Like so many of the other systems on this trip Vaynai was on the border of Bryn-controlled space, a very dangerous place to be when the next advance occurred. Thus, rather than a lone starfighter or shuttlecraft, Audren was traveling on a heavy cruiser. With all the personnel on board - the ship was fully-staffed and provisioned - it was a very expensive trip and it would get even more so if combat was presented.

The trip had been prompted by the collapse of the Sith Empire. Ceredir Industries had been founded on Voss when it had been the capital of the Silver Jedi - though never seriously contracted with the galactic organization - and in the time that the Silver Sanctum Coalition had held the territory contacts had been made on more than a few planets. While they'd had an orderly withdrawal from Voss and had taken most everything with them there were still relationships with some of the locals. Cautious feelers were put out: most of those contacts had vanished in one way or another. So from Voss they'd continued on; Vaynai hadn't been an original location but one of the ship's crew had mentioned that many of the islands were combed with caverns. With how close this was to the Bryn border there was thought of creating a listening post similar to what the Underground had done at Volik.

The Rachathren dropped from hyperspace a respectful distance from the planet. The approach time would allow the planet's Traffic Control - if such a thing existed - to detect and contact them. Not coincidentally the distance also allowed for a quick return to hyperspace if they found something undesirable present. Running was absolutely an option since there was currently no investment here.

"Sir, Star Destroyer in orbit over the planet."

That caught the attention of the bridge crew. Those who had been somewhat relaxed now sat up straight and refocused on their stations. The cruiser slowed and sensors immediately began gathering information. Before long that information spilled onto the captain's display; Audren was standing at the station as well and read it over even as the captain did, even as the captain absently vocalized important bits.

"Venator-class star destroyer, polar orbit. Weapons charge is indeterminate at this distance, starfighter patrol is in the air. The transponder return marks it as the Intervention, registered to Corellia Digital."

An eyebrow arced as the Jedi took that in. It was a name he hadn't heard in a while; the product lines from the two companies didn't compete in any circles. Last he'd heard the other company had been headed by a Jedi, one that was much older than Audren though he appeared to be decades younger. Corellia Digital was likewise older than Ceredir, and much larger. Though it had also been heavily involved with the Silver government before it was renamed and moved, as an outsider and someone who didn't watch the market much it would have been nearly impossible to tell if or how that had affected the other company.

"Go ahead and approach the planet, Captain. Your call on response to threats."

With the captain's nod the ship resumed the drive towards Vaynai. The Sephi was quite banking on two things: a self-serving aristocracy and a ship with powerful shields. Last he'd heard the local government didn't have planetary-grade weapons but recent data was understandably sparse. The cruiser's own transponder was active and would provide both name and affiliation to any queries; the lines declaring it an ally of the Silver Concord were not currently needed - might in fact be detrimental with the locals - and so were not included.

Sor-Jan Xantha