Sending a Message

[AMCO]

The debt was utterly insignificant, it mattered little to the continuing operations of his company, especially considering that they had bought it cheap from someone who himself had bought it cheap from the original lender. The cargo the smuggler had agreed to transport to clear his debt, a shipment of five hundred Blixus-pattern Shock Collars, was somewhat more significant, but lost merchandise was to be expected. It was part of running a company, especially one that occasionally skirted the law, at least the laws of lesser governments. What he did not, could not, tolerate, was that the cargo had not been lost. It had been stolen.

That duplicitous Hutt-spawn of a smuggler had taken his cargo. The scoundrel had made sure to flee as far and as fast from Sith-Imperial space as possible, of course. He had fled to the crime-riddled anarchy that was the Outer Rim Territories. It would do him no good. Adrian figured the fool was trying to sell his collars to some fellow degenerates, likely at a highly reduced price, to add insult to injury. That simply would not do. He wondered who would be willing to do business behind his back. Certainly not the Zygerrians, they were to close to him, both in distance and economically. The Hutts, perhaps. He hoped it was the Hutts. Not that he needed an excuse to exterminate those slimy vermin whenever possible, but it was always nice when personal and business affairs matched.

As his Gust-class Shuttle soared through hyperspace, flanked by two "Tsrotzhu" Gunships, he arose from his meditative stance and made his way to the conference room. The state of the art holo-conference table within would serve his purposes quite nicely. The harsh truth was that the Outer Rim was a chaotic and lawless expanse of vast proportions, and he was the stranger. He did not usually do business there. He hadn't even been there since his childhood, and then only briefly. No, he would need assistance from someone more familiar with the region, someone with skills which he, despite his power in the force, simply did not possess.

Seated in an expensive looking chair at the end of the table, his visage would be transmitted through a secured HoloNet channel at precisely the agreed upon time. As he awaited the response, he allowed himself a moment to consider the fate of the smuggler. Some would likely have killed him outright, or ironically slapped a slave collar on him, cut his tongue out, and dumped him a mine somewhere. Such wastefulness. Even a treacherous vermin like him could serve in other capacities. Yes, that would do nicely. The young Acolyte always needed more test subjects, after all.

[member="Thrask Morn Lorr"]

 

[Lief]

So many of his interactions these days were conducted in this manner, over a holo-feed, with piss poor connectivity.

It was enough to make a man mad.

As the call came through he took the moment to straighten up his suit before establishing the connection. As with Jast the technology he used to capture his visage had messed with his likeness, altering his face so that any attempt at tracing it and discovering his true identity - which in truth there was very little to discover about him, at least on the holo-net - would be fruitless. When he had seen the outcome for himself he had been disturbed to say the least, but the face it had overlaid over his own was not unnatural. Just strange for a man looking at his own reflection.

He was glad it was not his own visage he'd be forced to look at throughout the ensuing conversation.

"Mister Vandiir, I presume?"

Glancing down at his wrist, he checked the time of his chrono and smiled.

"Precisely on time. You don't know how rare that is in this line of work." At least where calls were concerned. So many people presumed he had no other pressing matters to attend to. While that... Was unfortunately true for the most part, it was still frightfully unprofessional of them to rock up thirty minutes late.

[member="Adrian Vandiir"]

 

[AMCO]

As the connection was established, the Corellian-turned-Serennian smiled amiably at the holoprojection of an unfamiliar face. The connection was secure. Exceedingly secure. The state-of-the-art software and hardware alike installed in his shuttle ensured that. Still, it was more unstable than he was used to, though the holographic stabilisers installed did wonders in dealing with that. There was, however, only so much even those could do.

No matter. The slicer hadn't been chosen for his looks and the vocal communications seemed to be going through mostly undisturbed.

"Indeed. You must be Storm."

He wondered if it was a pseudonym or a particularly odd naming choice. Most likely the former, though one never knew for sure, especially when it came to the Outer Rim.

"Oh, I'm sure. I, however, have never been one to lower my standards to meet the lowest common denominator." He had learned from an early age the importance of timeliness and precision, making a point to enforce it amongst his employees as well. He had very little patience for those who were unable to do something so basic, so fundamental, as to show up on time. Very little patience indeed.

"Well then, Storm. Shall we get down to business?" As he spoke the Slicer's pseudonym, he allowed a small spark of electricity to leap across his form, dancing across his head. One moment it was there and the other it was not. It would likely appear to be a small bug in the display, or a side effect of the poor connection. It might not even noticeable at all, unless the man truly had an eye for detail. He did so love it when they noticed the small things.

[member="Thrask Morn Lorr"]

 

[Lief]

"Please," he said, after the man referred to him by his online pseudonym for the second time, "Maxim will do. We are face to face, after all."

He had to wonder how many times that particular name had been used throughout the years, how many people in the Galaxy knew him by it... An odd thought indeed, but anything that would make his clients a little more comfortable was better in his eyes, more likely to let information slip, or to trust him a little more in general. He had a feeling this particular individual was not the sort to be tricked by such, of course, but it didn't hurt all the same.

When the flicker came through the feed Thrask had eyed it. He knew the typical signs his transmitter gave out when it came to bugs and interference and none of them were even remotely similar to that.

"Careful you don't shock yourself, Mister Vandiir, surrounded by technology as you no doubt are."

Straightening the cuffs of his shirt for a moment, now that he had no need to read the chrono, he gave the man a smile - a hint of amusement in his unnatural eyes.

"And by all means, let us talk business. What is it I can do for you?"

[member="Adrian Vandiir"]

 

[AMCO]

"Maxim, then." He said with a slight smirk. He doubted it. Slicers were a paranoid bunch, especially those operating out of more lawless regions. They were, after all, not typically known for their ability to fight back if someone they slighted managed to track them down in person.

He had no such compunctions, operating openly under his own name under all but the most extraordinary circumstances. Today was, of course, no exception. It served no purpose to conceal his identity when he wanted people to know what happened when they crossed him. He much preferred to maintain control through generosity, but that didn't mean he was going to let anyone get away with abusing his, frankly astounding, benevolence.

His smile widened slightly as the other man noticed his little trick. "Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine." A slight chuckle of amusement escaping his lips following the statement. He wondered if the slicer knew, really knew, who and what he was. It wasn't as if he kept it particularly secret, which would have been bad for business, but his PR department had a way of spinning just about anything into something positive.

"I happen to have a problem that needs to be taken care of but said problem has decided to... hide." At that, he gave a predatory smile, before continuing. "I want you to find a Rodian smuggler. Birth name Fogn Kirriq. Unknown current alias, though I suppose it's possible he is foolish enough to go by his own name, considering how he was also foolish enough to steal from me."

[member="Thrask Morn Lorr"]