Faction Shadow Empire: A New Dawn (Bakura) | Eternal Empire

[Th'edar Kolbert]

Location: Corporate District, Capital, Bakura

Equipment: Personal blaster pistol (hidden), Elegant clothes, K Corp DataPad

Tag: Ingrid L'lerim , Kahlil Noble | Open

Kolbert found it strange, that only they were present on this meeting, maybe other companies could help, but it seems this was a one on one, maybe intentionally. Since they went over the goals it was time to speak about some details, get some real options.
"If you give permission for us to bring extra CMFs here and use K Credit to finance our extra operations we can get things done more easily."
Cooperation was a good idea in Kolby's view, but how was the big question, he imagined the HPI Consortium or the ZU would coordinate.
"And how would the different corporate entities coordinate with eachother? Is there a platform for that? Naturally we would try to stay out of the other's operations and share information, or are you suggesting a stronger coordination? Also K Corp would like to offer bounties for anyone who is helping our effort in a meaningful way, information is key here and we can buy it from the locals. I expect some degree of cooperation from them."
That was for now, he was curious about the answers, and he saved some talking points for later. The only big question in his head was, who are these people they are up againts and who is behind them,

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Location: Corporate district, Capital, Bakura
Equipment: The Soulsabers (hidden) | Brynja coat | Hersir Imperial Uniform | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | G1 OmniLink | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland
Tag(s): Th'edar Kolbert | Kahlil Noble | Open

[ Back in Control ] ​

Kahlil said nothing now; Ingrid was sure the man wasn't so interested in business; which was not a problem. If she could, the woman probably wouldn’t have dealt with that either, but would leave it to the board of directors, which consisted of executives from various companies and subsidiaries, and a few other people. The Empress was the person who represent them. Especially since she was the Empress, she left things to the board of directors and only conveyed it to the outside world and negotiated on behalf of the entire HPI. But the actual decision was in the hands of the board of directors. There, too, especially in “Tyrant's” hands.

"Is that a good idea, Mr. Kolbert? The situation here is quite volatile, and K Credit is a foreign currency within the Empire. In order to promote stability, would it not be more appropriate for K Credit to be converted to Imperial Credit outside of Bakura and for you to continue your own operation here with the local currency?"

She was interested; it was not her intention to be hostile, she just saw it as simpler so that people or other companies might not have to go to the bank to convert the other company’s money into the official imperial currency. Pondered the next question for a moment, in fact, in terms of the state form of the Empire, it was a fairly simple question. At least for the woman for someone else might not really. But many companies were nationalized in the territory of the Empire; they did the same with Tacitus companies after the man's death.

"Through the traditional Imperial network. This is the most practical. I would suggest close cooperation, but I typically think in a military way in this area. That’s why I’m curious about other leaders’ ideas of what you think is appropriate. What would you consider the best solution, Mr. Kolbert?"

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Location: Corporate District (Streets), Capital, Bakura
Objective: Investigate recent ritual murders
Equipment: One(1) shoto lightsaber, One(1) standard E-11D blaster carbine, One(1) industrial-strength syntherope (50m), Three(3) standard thermal detonators, One(1) Imperial trooper helmet with standard comm connections
Ship: Standard-kit HWK-290 light freighter
Tags: Subject 73 Red , Ingrid L'lerim

Long ago, back in the days of the Old Republic, the stories always maintained that the Force affected the universe in ways that could not always be predicted by neither Jedi nor Sith. The ripples of its influence could stretch out in ways too hard to trace, too seemingly mundane for even those trained in its mysteries to follow, too far from a nexus of power to be seen as anything other than coincidence. These, the stories would say, were the true shape of the Force: not the flashy powers or supernatural senses; but the subtle, natural rearrangement of the universe along the necessary paths to make things happen.

As Na'an slipped through the streets of the Bakuran capital, she couldn't help but wonder if that was why those strong in the Force never struggled to fight against foot traffic.

She was moving among a crowd of salarymen, taking in the sights of the city on the way towards...somewhere. She'd gotten a feeling about this district. Something about the crisp new high-rises and old tenements, the anonymous rush of the crowd, carried with it the faintest whiff of something she regretted finding familiar. She'd left the clue from Batuu with Leigh, knowing she would take it to the Rebel districts safely, and before long found herself thick in the crush of bodies. None of them touched her, of course; her small frame slipped through the streets like water, with only the briefest ruffling of her cloak in her wake. Commuters were good cover--they never looked up, and crowds of people taller than her provided good cover for Na'an to let her senses range out and find what had brought her here.

She caught a smattering of familiar scents. Imperial, many of them were, with the icy signature of the Empress dulling them almost to uniformity, but a few others were more identifiable. That Red fellow was nearby; that was good. If her intuition from before was right, they'd meet each other again today whether she looked for him or not. The people around her were heavy, dolorous, the stress of their workday barely masking the awareness that they were living on what everyone knew was a planetwide Imperial graveyard.

And...sharper against the low mournful buzz...

Oh. Oh.

A warehouse. Two blocks away to the left. On the...ceiling? A coppery smell, durasteel and old blood and something, something old, something rotting...

Na'an swallowed reflexively against the bile that rose in her throat. It was with a hand on her shoto at her back, under the cloak, that she separated from the camouflage of the crowd and made her way to what...she hoped...was a murder being planned, rather than one in progress.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Arla landed "Good As Gold" just at the outskirts of the town where Lori's friends were. As the engines died down, she headed out of the cockpit and began packing up her own gear. She was already dressed in the same coveralls as her charge, and the look that she gave Lori clearly said that there'd be no argument. In Arla's mind the pair were going together, no matter what. Enough bad luck had befallen her charge and stepping foot onto Bakura was a highly risky move.

Just before they had landed, Lori picked up the message from LE-03 (Leigh) , as well as the symbol provided. She didn't recognize it, but surely some of her friends might be able to. "Good to hear from you. We've just made landfall. I'm going to do a little snooping and see what I can learn." She pocketed her commlink and really, really wanted to take The Hornet with her, but just resigned to taking her blasters instead. Bows and arrows were far less common and it could identify her among her enemies. She didn't need that.

The Bakurans on the other hand, had enemies of their own. And yet she couldn't understand why this was happening. Why Bakura? What had they done? Didn't they suffer enough? There must be something here that some group of people is after. That was all that Lori could guess at for now. She needed to know more.

Without a word, the pair exited their ship and headed into town. It was eerily quiet, yet they knew where to go. They had been there before.

 

[Th'edar Kolbert]

Location: Corporate District, Capital, Bakura

Equipment: Personal blaster pistol (hidden), Elegant clothes, K Corp DataPad

Tag: Ingrid L'lerim , Kahlil Noble | Open

Lady Ingrid had a fair argument, for business-as-usual the best option was sticking with the local currency, and in turbulent situations preserving parts of the status quo is important, monetary expansion has to wait then.
"You're right, keeping everything smooth should be a priority right now, and a little increase in the price of local currencies wouldn't hurt the local economy either."
However the Muun had other "tricks" up his sleeve. The question of cooperation with other corporate entities seemed to be settled, at least they don't have to spend on this solution.
"This question is settled then. About my plans... I think the best approach is to make the local populus interested in catching these terrorists. Offer high rewards for information, and use a police force to conduct investigation, of course the police can be assembled from different sources, corporate or others we previously mentioned, but it have to feel genuine. When we know who are these individuals, what they want and where they hide, we can strike. My Coporate Forces will be ready for service. One more thing, speaking of networks, if you let us install communication hardware we can monitor the local communication and conduct surveillance, we have the hardware and software to do this easily on large scale."
That was it, then Kolbert waited for the woman's answer.

 

[LE-03 (Leigh)]

Objective: Consolidate defenses of Eclipse sectors
Equipment: Passive/Active Holonet comm system, multi-phase arm cannon (part of chassis), Five (5) standard thermal detonators, One(1) 50-meter syntherope coil
Tags: Loreena Arenais-Valhoun , Vidalu Na'an , Subject 73 Red , Ingrid L'lerim

Just before they had landed, Lori picked up the message from LE-03 (Leigh) , as well as the symbol provided. She didn't recognize it, but surely some of her friends might be able to. "Good to hear from you. We've just made landfall. I'm going to do a little snooping and see what I can learn." She pocketed her commlink and really, really wanted to take The Hornet with her, but just resigned to taking her blasters instead. Bows and arrows were far less common and it could identify her among her enemies. She didn't need that.

::Roger. Keep on the lookout for that symbol and alert me if it is located anywhere. I will rendezvous with you in held territory when you are ready.::

Leigh kept the comm line open, even as she muted it on her end, to leave her easy access to any reply Miss Arenais might send. The borders of the safe zone were only a few blocks ahead, invisible by most means of detection. She diverted a little extra power to her sensors to ensure she knew when she crossed them, and allowed herself to once again people-watch.
Watching a cluster of women passing off the main thoroughway and into a market, not once speaking to each other, she found herself wondering again what Bakura had been like before Imperial occupation. Loreena Arenais always spoke of the place in transmissions with such tenderness, it did not compute for the city to be this...colorless. Or quiet. In most urban centers, the average droid could count on picking up snatches of no less than thirty-seven distinct conversations just in passing. Here, however, the only consistent sound was the tinny music emanating from open shop doors, the electric whir of traffic, the low thunder of feet.
Without realizing it, the droid resolved to bring this up with Miss Arenais as well. Perhaps the Eclipse would need to provide more to this world, with its drained spirit, than mere physical defenses.

Her sensors pinged as she turned the next block, and LE-03 nodded to the droid repair shop on the corner as she passed. The owner, visible from the window as a thick, walrusine specimen of a human, nodded as her encoded passkey was recognized. A few seconds later, she received the coordinates for Captain Marrow's headquarters for the day, and recalibrated her course.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Location: Corporate district, Capital, Bakura
Equipment: The Soulsabers (hidden) | Brynja coat | Hersir Imperial Uniform | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | G1 OmniLink | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland
Tag(s): Th'edar Kolbert | Kahlil Noble | Open

[ Back in Control ] ​

In fact, in this situation, the woman didn’t look at how her own company could get rich (because she agreed with Tubrok that Vex was already too rich); she looked at the interests of the empire. What serves the people; all other points of view were less important. In such a situation, it even adopted decisions that put HPI at a disadvantage. The companies were secondary, even if they were owned by her.

"This is not against you and your companies, Mr. Kolbert; if necessary, I issue a command that puts HPI at a disadvantage. I am more concerned with the welfare of the inhabitants of the empire in this matter than with the interests of my own company. I hope you understand."

If not, she will still act accordingly, because the woman considered this to be the right move. After that, she listened intently to the man, nodded. The plan was quite good, only the muun disregarded the laws. That is, it slipped over the major points. But she will draw the man's attention to this as soon as he has finished, the woman then speaks.

"A communication unit is a really good idea, but other ideas will run into difficulties. The police force is also the military; whom we are forced to deprive because of the wars of the NIO and GA, just as they are present in minimal numbers due to expansion. As for encouraging the population. The civilian population is the civilian population and they may not have weapons. Those who do, they are already soldiers."

Here she paused for a moment.

"That is why I have recommended the companies’ private soldiers for the task, and if necessary, the state will also pay the additional costs."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori didn't like the feel of the place. Everything had changed and not in a good way. This was not the Bakura that she had grown up knowing. As she walked through the near empty streets with Arla, she couldn't help but ponder on whether or not her Mom's cabin still remained. Lori's recent visits to Bakura never left her any time to explore. She wondered if Ghorua the Shark still had his home here as well. Probably not, given that the Herglic probably would of been right here to defend the populace too.

The pair walked side by side, keeping their heads down as most did. LE-03 (Leigh) had given them a symbol to watch out for and so they were doing just that. Well, mostly Arla was. Her droid mind was capable of multi-tasking far better than Lori's could. But still, the Arenais twin kept vigilant as well.

They arrived in a hardware store, which was perfectly fitting for their disguise. Only a few others were in there. Lori and Arla started to browse through the isles, waiting for their moment to be alone with the shop owner. He had caught their eye as soon as they had walked in. He was their contact. And soon it'd be closing time.

 

[Rath Nihro]

Peace was a lie, compassion was a weakness to exploit, and the naive were taken advantage of. Or so Rath's thoughts were plagued with such ill intent as what was once a pair of green eyes had turned into a pair of yellow eyes. A clear sign of corruption by the dark side as it were, but in his opinion it was a small price to pay in order to advance his growth to become a better asset to the Empire and to the Empress. Bakura was in a critical state of being rebuilt, but there were numerous obstacles in the way of that result. Obstacles that needed to be removed in Rath's opinion.

One such matter involved the deaths in a ritualistic manner. A matter that does raise a question in his mind as to what was the purpose behind the rituals. People often don't resort to such things unless it was personal or in pursuit for power. At least that's from Rath's past experience, and if it was in pursuit of power then what would their goal be? On this occasion, Rath came to the planet not in his armor or uniform. Rather he came to the planet wearing a black long sleeved shirt with a black-red jacket. Black slacks and dark leather boots with a holstered ace of spades at his left thigh. His short dark hair in contrast to his corrupted eyes sort of makes him appear to be some kind of a shadow. In which case, he technically was.

In the past as the typical rookie soldier in the Empire, his brothers-sisters in arms often suggested that he should head to a cantina for a couple of drinks and basically be social. However, social was never his strong suit so he never went to any of those places. It just never seemed appealing to Rath. However in this case he was willing to put his personal preferences to the side as cantinas often had their fair of trouble. Bakura was freshly rebuilt so there probably hasn't been enough time for any of the businesses to establish a bad record yet. However with unrest settling upon the planet, these things can drastically change if not managed correctly.

Upon entering the establishment, it was like a typical cantina filled with its share of aliens, dancers, drinks, and even some dim lighting. However his vision had set on the glowing light blue line at the entrance, and after a glance at the source it was a security alarm to detect weaponry. There was even a dropbox to put any weapons, so Rath took his ace of spades out and placed it inside of the dropbox before stepping up to the bar.

"I like to get a bloodsour." Rath tells the bartender after he took a couple of seconds looking at the menu. The bartender, who was a female twi'lek that appeared to be tough as nails, raised a brow as she sized him up.

"Ye is not from these parts. A traveler for business?" She inquired as she processed his drink, and Rath couldn't help except to at least give a ghost of a smile in response.

"Something like that. I heard that Bakura was being rebuilt so I had to see it in person." Rath turned his head to glance over his shoulder, yet there were so many faces with different intentions that he couldn't even glean a hint of suspicion. Then again, most people who come here are often done as such for the sake of relieving stress.

"Not much to see yet I'm afraid. Tis unfortunate with all that's happening of late." She sets down the glass of bloodsour in front of him to which he nurses it. Savoring the flavor as it were.

"What's been happening of late?" The young man questioned the bartender. Her lips parted as she looked away for a moment before she started to speak.

"The murdering kind of happening unfortunately. People disappear only to be found mutilated beyond recognition in the alleyways." That summed up about what Rath already knew, but he feigned ignorance as if it was the first time hearing a thing.

"Sounds like you have some gang violence already in Bakura." However when the twi'lek shook her head, Rath got a feeling like she knew a little bit more. He took a sip of the bloodsour as he listened.

"If it was personal like that, the bodies wouldn't be mutilated like they were. Usually it'd be sent as a warning to the other gang, and incites a gang war in the process. This is different as the victims weren't always in shady business. The other day there was a journalist that was making an article of that clothing shop that recently opened up. She disappeared and was later found dead this morning." She explained in a hushed tone, and as she spoke Rath noticed that the bartender was pretty tense about it herself. However before Rath could press any further, from the corner of his vision there was a human drunkard that was getting a bit handsy with a dancer that was causing some sounds of alarm.

"Seems like your customers need to keep their hands on their drinks." Rath spoke subtly hinting at the growing commotion, and the bartender now fuming with annoyance barked with authority at the drunk. Leaving Rath by himself momentarily.

 

[Th'edar Kolbert]

Location: Corporate District, Capital, Bakura

Equipment: Personal blaster pistol (hidden), Elegant clothes, K Corp DataPad

Tag: Ingrid L'lerim , Kahlil Noble , A ARS VAMI | Open

Kolbert nodded, he understood the situation perfectly, everyone was representing their interests in this meeting.
"Naturally." - he answered briefly.
Installing K Corp communication infrastructure and software was agreed upon quite fast, Kolbert was happy about this, one of his objectives was this and he could now tick that off the list. After that there was a misunderstanding about the police forces, the muun frowned then answered.
"I think this is just a misunderstanding, the police forces could absolutely be made up from corporate soldiers, just called police for better PR. As I mentioned, K Corp forces are ready to help and we are pleased to hear about compensation too. These are fair terms, but I can only speak on behalf of my companies."
There was an open communications channel pointing at them, and someone was calling, the EVP of K Mining tried to ignore the communications attempt, but at some point it was impossible to ignore, so he had to mention it to Kolbert.
"Excuse me my Lady, an individual called Ars Vami is calling me right now, he has a cruiser in orbit. I think we should speak with him."
If it was alright, Kolbert answered on the holocom.
"This is Th'edar Kolbert, CEO of K Coporation."

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud
The Red Witch, The Night Queen, Lady Stuztala, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium, Archon of the Primyn Group​

Location: Corporate district, Capital, Bakura
Equipment: The Soulsabers (hidden) | Brynja coat | Hersir Imperial Uniform | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | G1 OmniLink | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland
Tag(s): Th'edar Kolbert | Kahlil Noble | Open

[ Back in Control ] ​

Ingrid was a person who admits she was wrong, so she nodded at Kolbert's words. She really misunderstood the man. Nevertheless, she could not violate the laws of the Empire or change them. The situation was too delicate, but she vowed that she would not be arbitrary and would not change the laws to her advantage.

"It was really a misunderstanding. This is indeed a viable path, but they must also obey the laws. They don’t get a bigger free hand than others. I hope you understand this."

She just wanted to clarify this so that they were already aware of the legal boundaries so that there would be no problem later. It would be uncomfortable for something to come up afterwards that hadn’t been discussed before. The red-haired woman liked to avoid such potential problems. It is true that it is not always successful, but it is good to strive for it. She nodded to the next, then let Kolbert turn A ARS VAMI into the conversation.

"Welcome! I am Ingrid L’lerim, currently representing the HPI Consortium, and I'm not here as the leader of the Eternal Empire. Why did you want to talk to us?" asked, as always, in a cold, military voice.