Setting Up Shop (Metal Lords)

[Noah Corek]

[member="HK-36"]

Denon
In Orbit

Noah looked out over the expanse of Denon. This was a type of planet that Noah was familiar with, hell this was the type of planet he loved. The planet was covered with a planet-wide city. Though of course growing up on Coruscant and living on Fondor brought Noah a love for such planets because they reminded him of the two aforementioned planets. Today Noah was here to make a deal that would propel the remnants of the Omega Pyre into a new direction and while Noah doubted they'd ever be even a shadow of their former selves one could hope.

It was for this reason that a few hours ago Noah had jumped into orbit around Denon with some unique equipment in tow. That equipment was one Ro-class Trade Station and three Doaba-class Light Orbital Defense Platforms. These space stations had a ew purposes in mind. The trade station would act as a new headquarters for the Omega Pyre with almost half of it's cargo space being converted to the necessary equipment needed for a entity like the Omega Pyre. The defense stations on the other hand were a offering to the government of Denon to let them know that the Omega Pyre was coming in peace and was contributing to the planet.

Now here Noah sat waiting for an old friend of his to arrive and greet him. It was new day and that day would be brought in with good greetings.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Noah Corek"],


Denon,
Capital of Droid Space,



HK has long awaited Noah's arrival within the territory of Metal Lords, overjoyed at the news of his old companion becoming active in the Galactic political scene once more and what's even better, retaining the old ties to the Omega Pyre that the machine himself mostly forgot in favor of forging new connections first with Galactic Alliance and then the Metal Lords while neglecting in a way his OP past. Big factor that fueled that was the fact it often felt like HK was the last member of the Pyre left, with Tegs and Siobhan moving onto other projects with Firemane, outgrowing the current state of the Pyre, Dells knocking around with her own private contracts but little contact with the droid, Ayden presumably dead, and Cira and Sarge being mostly lost to the droid outside of an occasional run-in with Sarge, although the man was not the type to exactly catch up and reminiscent about the good old days, in fact it seemed like he was actively avoiding the droid.

Either way, HK would finally receive confirmation that Noah was phasing into real space soon and when he did, well it was hard to miss multiple stations sailing in through the void towards a planet,

"Welcome in Droid Space Noah,"

HK begun by greeting his old associate,

"Come meet us on the Space Bazaar."


Once Noah arrived at the station, she would notice that it would be a sight vastly different from what he could remember. Well the planet itself would have been unchanged, still glimmering with the many industrial lights, still covered by the red and black veins of streets and buildings that covered the entire city-planet. The new addition, however, was the ring of ships encircling the planet as if laying siege to it, and the many stations being build in its orbit with hustle and bustle of smaller vessels and drones.

Noah would have been directed to dock with one of the larger and opulent of these stations and come aboard. While the other stations were strange constructions that almost seemed to be cobbled together from skeletons and corpses of other stellar structures, repurposed many times over and added on top of each other, like jigsaw of starship wrecks and durasteel plating woven together to form the new presence over the planet, the one he was directed to, the Space Bazaar, was newer, more refined, more seamless and perfected, a real jewel of wealth and commerce given by the droids to Denon. Other systems would have probably faced similar projects as Denon was not alone in still adjusting to the new power within that sector, planets like Nubia, Loromar, and Hakassi too had similar rings of spacecraft around, they too had new spacestations and bases build around them. The droids asked for relatively little of their subjects, they did not enslaved them, they did not force them to fight for them, some did not even overthrew their previous governments. What they did ask however was one of the main reasons why they decided to lay claim on territory. An armada of new, larger ships, and a lot of them.


Aboard the station HK and others would be waiting within one of the larger hangars, lavishly decorated with gold, bronzium, and silver, where Noah could land a dropship or a shuttle, even a corvette, freely and exit his craft to come greet the droid representatives. Among those who would be willing to greet the Omega Pyre's arrival in their space [member="Macharius Solaire"], the Prime Minister of Denon would be especially invited to attend, using a promise of expanding Denon's defensive arsenals within orbit and giving the government on the ground control over them to lure him in. It wasn't a lie, of course, but it also seemed that the Prime Minister and Iron Lord Above did not spend much time with each other unless it was necessary.

Either way, once Noah would disembark he would be allowed to have the first word to greet the Metal Lord representatives.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Realty, she should probably change her address here to the Space Bazaar rather than Imynusoph at this point. Since the battle for the Hydian Way, she had been reluctant to make her way back. Also, her ship had been destroyed while ramming a space station. Fortunately, some droids had picked her up and brought her here. They’d patched her together again.

Now here she was, standing as a representative of the Metal Lords. Ironic, really, given her dislike for governments. Yet now in a way she was a government, which was very peculiar. But she had helped Corek move his company here. So, it felt appropriate to be here for this part as well.

The Prime Minister was here. Aeshi ignored him and let her arms crossed. There was no need. She would be leaving for the hyoerlsnes as soon as the chance arrived. Scmoozing it with planetary leaders was her least favorite hobby.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Aeshi Tillian"] [member="HK-36"]

Noah chuckled at the comm he got from HK. Old habits die hard, he remembered that HK like to make him meet him places and he guessed that he was doing that exact thing now. Turning Noah saw none other than his own daughter Melissa sitting next to a M47 Illaria Dropship. Walking over Noah kicked her foot a tad to get her attention. Looking up she had a pair of aviator shades and a standard black Alliance flight suit on. "What?" She asked her father. "Come on. Your uncle wants us to meet him at the Bazaar." Noah said as he stepped into the dropship and got into the co-pilot seat. Following quickly behind her father, more from wanting to see her uncle then anything else. Sitting down in the pilots chair Melissa went through a quick pre-flight check and then without even requesting permission to depart she took off, piloting the Illaria towards the space bazaar.

After about ten minutes of flying they finally came upon the Space Bazaar to which Melissa had to whistle. It was impress indeed. Finally reaching the main hangar she set the Illaria down and began to conduct some quick post flight checks before hopping down to join her father in the rear compartment. As the door opened Noah stepped out and immediately bypassed the Denon government and came straight for HK. When he was about half way to him he was pushed out of the way by Melissa who began to stride towards HK with open arms. "Uncle HK!"

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Mechanicum Smithy
Space Bazaar Over Denon

Lord Calixis could not help but feel an irrational sense of peace every time he gazed out the viewport of the Mechanicum storefront and down onto the surface of Denon below. In a few hours their orbital trajectory would bring them directly over the location of the great Forge of Denon, a massive facility planetside from which Archim's technoservants reverently mass produced goods and material for both the local populace and droid crewed Void Fleets throughout the system. If his calculations were correct, the Forgeyards from which they constructed their drones and starships was now practically on the other side of the planet, but just being close to one of his movement's shrines to the Maker was a comforting thought to the last vestiges of organic sentiment in him.

A few seconds of exchanged clickwise with the smithy's cybernetic workers was all it took to inform them of his appointment elsewhere in the Bazaar marketplace. The Iron Lord Above, [member="HK-36"], had sent him a text-only message moments ago informing him of organic representatives from Omega Pyre's impending arrival on the station. While ordinarily the Chief Hierarchitect was not one to involve himself in the frivolities of biologic diplomacy, Archim had heard much of this Alliance based megacorp, indeed they had already ascended to such heights of iron tribute to his Machine God as the Metal Lord hoped one day his own Mechanicum would achieve.

Certain of his safety in the heart of their territory, on a station that was reverently considered neutral ground by otherwise occasionally squabbling Void Lords, the cyborg's mechadendrite appendages were folded back into the depths of his billowing red robes, giving the appearance of a slight hump but otherwise leaving Calixis mostly unremarkable to the casual observer. Especially on a station so used to cyberkind, Lord Archim maneuvered through a bustling crowd that remained ignorant of the fact that one of the most powerful beings in the system had just passed them by.

Approaching Lord Hunter Killer's designated rendezvous, the cyborg was somewhat perturbed to see his colleague and liege lord engaging in human greeting customs with one of their larval forms. It left him uncertain how to react. Archim held great respect for the Iron Lord Above, but for all his efforts to achieve artificial perfection, it was sometimes disconcerting for him to witness HK behaving...so much like an organic.

"I appear to have intruded upon a private...encounter," he commed the droid on their private line, uncertain whether or not to approach, "Perhaps I should return another time."

[member="Noah Corek"] | [member="Macharius Solaire"] | [member="Aeshi Tillian"]​

 

[HK-36]

If [member="Archim Calixis"] was surprised to see HK being hugged, then HK was even more so, considering that he was first giving Noah a soft nod in a greeting, waiting for his old companion to descend down, only for them to be pushed aside as the young woman rushed out towards the machine with her arms open. HK stepped back slightly, jerking one of the side of his body away, quickly glancing to [member="Aeshi Tillian"], then Noah, then Melissa, then Aeshi, and Melissa again, just to make sure he was not being attacked right now. Either way, by the time Archim arrived the girl would have her arms wrapped around HK's torso as he awkwardly patted her on the back,

"Alright, hello there young one, be careful of the armor plates, they are made of material that can take your face off."

The droid warned trying to get Melissa to step away off of his body armored in Vong-shaped biot armor carefully. Truth be told he could not recall Melissa, or Noah having kids, it may have been something that the man told HK during their last mission on Coruscant, but if so it was not something the droid paid attention. So he would have to just fake it till he made it.

"No, it is alright, this is customary among familiar young organics."

HK informed Archim, glancing at him and motioning towards the cyborg,

"This is Lord Technomancer Archim of the Mechanicum,"

He introduced the Metal Lord to Noah and young Melissa,

"And this is Metal Lady Captain Ash,"

HK then motioned to Aeshi on his other side before motioning to Noah in turn,

"Captain Ash, Lord Archim, this is Colonel Noah Corek of the Omega Pyre and his child."

Stepping closer towards Noah HK would extend his hand out to greet him, adding in,

"My old friend and companion in battle against the Sith."

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Noah Corek"] [member="Archim Calixis"]

Honestly, it was quite adorable, this ancient war-droid trying to engage with a kid. Aeshi smiled at the girl and got down on one knee.

"Hi, Melissa." The woman held out her hand. "I'm Aeshi. Nice to meet you."

She looked up as HK introduced the man. "Pleasure to meet you. How old is she?"

"HK," she said after a moment, "You need more practice being an uncle."

Not that she really had any room to talk. She'd not spent more than a month with her family after being separated for the majority of her life. It had felt... odd. They treated her as such a fragile child still, as if she had never grown up. Yet, that wasn't her.

Kids didn't do that though. They treated everyone the same and there was something in their joy. Something that touched her soul, something that she missed. Something else pierced what was left of her heart. She'd never have kids of her own. Not that she had wanted any before, but she'd spent too long among criminals and the scum of the galaxy.

Her world was cynicism and children were not part of it. Nor was she a part of that world. And surprisingly, it hurt. She blinked away a quick tear and pushed herself to her feet.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Archim Calixis"]-[member="Aeshi Tillian"]-[member="HK-36"]

Noah wouldn't have faulted HK for not remembering Melissa. You really couldn't remember someone you had never even meet. Melissa had never met her uncle but much like Mara she had grown up on the tales of the Omega Pyre and their bravery or as Noah and HK would probably refer to them, 'The Good Old Days'. Melissa let go of HK and then shuffled her feet a bit, for a nineteen year old she still had the spirit of a kid. Noah frowned as he thought of that, he had read reports from her squadron. In a dogfight she had shot down three TIE's, Noah knew that on the outside she seemed fine but he knew on the inside she was a wreck recently, one of the main reasons he had brought her along. "Sorry! You've never actually met me before but I've always heard stories about the members of the Pyre. You, Jorus, Kerrigan, Alcori, Ventai, Sekario, Cater, Sarge and of course Cira. I grew up idolizing you guys." Melissa stated as she stopped shuffling her feet and looked up at HK with a smile. Looking to the woman who had spoke to her she scratched her neck and smiled. She understood why the woman thought she was younger than she was, well except for height wise because she was almost six feet tall. "Nice to meet you."

The clearing of one's throat would be heard as Melissa turned around to see her father standing there with his hands on his hips. "As much as I love this I am here on business." Noah looked towards Archim and bowed a little and then gave Aeshi a nod. When HK extended his hand Noah smiled took it and shook it firmly. "Yeah and I've pulled his ass out of the fire more times than he'd like to admit to." Noah quipped with a chuckle.