Swords, Soldiers, and Shekels

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal tapped his datapad, perusing the numbers before him. So far, RMIA looked like they were in the middle of some rather mixed signals, business-wise. On one hand, they now had more assets than they had before to work with. As far as military units went, they were up higher than ever before, the garages were full of tanks, and there were now more locations across the galaxy with their name blazoned on the side than ever before. After two successful bouts with the Dominion at Chiloon, and Mandalore, they were now increasing in fame, and morale was at a high.

But, the coffers were empty. Really empty. Chiloon had done a lot of favors for RMIA in terms of money, and the warriors were able to see that their new line of tanks could stand up to all they were advertised to do and more. But Mandalore had been expensive to win back from those aruetii in lives, and in money. Soldiers cost money to hire, and tanks didn't just come out of nowhere. And then there was Pzob, which had been great for expanding the influence of RMIA over an entire planet to cover their new hub, but it was horrible for them in fiscal terms to continue setting up the new infrastructure.

Ardgal set the datapad down and rubbed his eyes. Neither were his own, at least not in a literal sense. One was a cyborganic creation, the other was vong mock up look-alike. They weren't tired, but there was something about the gesture that was sort of just--consoling.

He sighed, tucking the datapad in the left cargo pocket of his fatigues. This meeting with the queen [member="Lady Kay"] of Commenor would hopefully put RMIA into the black.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Another business meeting. Kay was used to those. As this was with a company instead of a government or a planet, she was happy to tend to the matter herself. And it was through an ally, [member="Ardgal Raxis"] . Since he had been helping with the Praxeum and made [member="Bradshaw Ku"] 's speederbike, it wasn't as though she needed to be surrounded by bodyguards. Still, in lieu of a recent misadventure, she notified [member="Macoda Haberon"] and let him know that Ardgal was coming to meet with her. As her new Head of Security, he needed to know. And she promised herself and him that she'd do better for him.

Inside her office she prepared some Sapir tea as always, yet had Commenori Brandy on hand, just in case. Water was also available. Kay poured herself a cup of tea and leaned back in her chair at her desk, with her datapad in hand. Was she going over details of RMIA's products? No. She was reading a holonovel instead. There was less to prepare for for this meeting.

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

A servant came to Ardgal and informed the warrior [member="Lady Kay"] was ready to see him. He strode through the great open halls, following after the servant. His eyes carefully took everything in of the palace, making a mental map of the place. His paranoia knew no bounds.

He entered the lady's fine office and removed his duty cap in respect, tucking it under his arm as he gave a smart salute. "Ardgal Raxis, ma'am, here to meet about the protection and safety of Commenor, I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me."

He retrieved his two weapons for this oppreation, a stylus and his datapad, "What would you say is the primary need of Commenor's forces that RMIA can supply for you?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Ma'am. That made her feel old. But then again, given that she was younger than her husband, looking a little older wasn't too much of a bother. Kay put down her datapad and bowed her head to [member="Ardgal Raxis"] . His demeanor caused her to raise a brow as he now began to act like a reporter or secretary. It was a far cry from what she was used to from him.

"Well...They could use a little updating. Commenor has been out of the Galaxies conflicts for such a long time, and they were neglected in the past. I know that others are far more advanced when it comes to weapons, armor and vehicles. There are a number of companies that have approached us, and each is unique. So what seperates RMIA from the others?" A common question that he has no doubt heard many times.

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Fair. He was operating in a high-competition market. After all, ever farm boy could modify an E-3, and most when they did so got the idea they should go in as a mercenary and sell guns on the side. Then, even his own people were prone to the same mindset. Mandolorian, have gun will travel wasn't exactly the most unique thing this galaxy had ever seen.

The warrior appreciated [member="Lady Kay"]'s candor, it made him smirk slightly.

"Adamantly, arms dealing is something of an over-saturated market," he said with a wave of the datapad in his hand, "However, at RMIA we take Quality over Quantity seriously. We believe in providing the best possible weapons and the best trained soldiers that credits. I'm sure you have heard that all before of course," he said with a slight sigh. "To be frank, it would be more profitable for us to pull production and employ ourselves elsewhere," he gave a wry smile, "It would decrease the cost of employer-provided healthcare. But at RMIA we keep going because we believe that there are some things money cannot buy--the first of those being a galaxy where fathers and mothers can put their sons and daughters to bed safely, on streets guarded by soldiers wielding our products," he quirked a brow, "Does that answer your question?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked as [member="Ardgal Raxis"] used the usual salesman tactics in his pitch. Best weapons and training, add in trying to make her feel as though she needs them more than they need her, the assumption that employees pay for healthcare rather than the gov't and the different medical companies that have opened up research facilities and schools, as well as the false pretence that their soldiers patrolled the streets. This wasn't a war mongering nation, Commenor had no enemies, so there was no reason to act as though they were under threat. She figured that he knew that. But perhaps his travels had made him forget.

She sipped her tea and tilted her head to the side a bit. "Not quite. Nice touch with the theatrics though. But I want something real. What gives RMIA's weapons an edge above the rest? Is it their accuracy rate? Their durability? The amount of charge that they can carry? I need details, not blanketed statements."

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal quirked a brow at her mention of theatrics. He looked her dead in the eye with a bland, emotionless stare, "I'm a cyborg, ma'am, programmed to cut the nerf osisk and shoot strait. I don't do theatrics. That's what separates RMIA from other arms companies. We do not sell our goods and services to criminal organizations. We are committed to empowering governments and protecting citizens."

He looked back to his datapad and tapped a few files open, "As for our products, I took the liberty of comparing the prices, damage rates, reported KIA's/MIA's and aliases them along a matrix with damage delt and kills confirmed as the y-axis," he presented the graphs presenting several of the RMIA's products against the competion. "In addition we are the only company in the market that trains armed forces as a third party. As the next graph shows, our troops excell in kills confirmed and survival rates against the average. Might I add that a 4:1 kill rate is considered ideal in land warfare. RMIA's troops hold a 9:1. We don't just sell arms, ma'am, we train soldiers."

It was a long winded pitch but, the warrior was winding down, and like any good businessman, he saved the best for last, "What sets our products apart is technology, pure and simple." he began counting on his fingers, "We do not make blasters, vibroblades, armor, speeders, fighters, or slug throwers," he counted on his other hand, "The market is over saturated with these. We make flechete launchers, heat beams, particle beams, disruptors, electromagnetic plasma cannons, tanks, and the most effective crowd control on the market."

He paused. "Does that answer your question, Ma'am?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Ardgal Raxis"] ' theatrics came with the sighing, and his play on words. Cyber parts or not, he was using the usual and commonly used salesman tactics that Kay knew quite well.

She looked to the graph and studied it as Ardgal continued, raising a brow slightly as he claimed that RMIA was the only company that trained forces. On the contrary, Kay had signed an arms deal with Corondex Arms a couple of months ago that did just that. It made their prices a little higher, but the added value of on hands training made it worthwhile.

Kay handed the datapad back to him, leaning back in her chair again. Well we haven't had the need for crowd control yet, but that isn't to say that we wouldn't need some of it in the future. I don't anticipate any violent uprisings, but with more worlds joining our territory, that won't always be the case. So yes, I think that it's in our best interest to set up a contract with you."

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

"An anti-toxin until was installed in my body as part of my cyborg augmentation," Ardgal said with a nod, "I haven't had to use it yet either, but its there for if and when I do need it, because its better than being caught flat footed."

Was it paranoia? Probably. But, then again, when you were tromping through the harshest environments the galaxy had to offer, facing down super predators with venom and poisons, or just risking the eye of a ner-do-well assassin, it never hurt to be ready for those sorts of eventualities. In Ardgal's mind, it was better to be prepared for everything than to miss that one-off.

"I am glad that is the case," he said, "I personally cannot stand civil unrest. Its bad for business, property damage harms the economy." He took the datapad back for a second and tapped out, opening up a different file for Kay to see, "As you can see here, this is our standard contract, with a few modifications for your needs. We have a sliding scale, the more you buy, the larger we will make your discount to account for over head costs such as delivery, labor, parts, tax purposes, and so on," he scrolled down past the details on that to the next section when she was ready, "Here we have details on what this covers. Basically anything purchased with Commenor government funds, ranging from training to just weaponry, which includes custom orders and our line of tanks and heavy machinery."

He gave the queen all the time she needed, "Any questions or clarifications?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Cyborg augmentation. She'd never have that done unless she started losing bodyparts. That wasn't looking to happen anytime soon, if at all. Anti-toxins were one thing too. Not all of them worked on everything. There were millions of different types of toxins, each working in different ways. As far as she was aware, there was no anti-toxin that could blanket them all. And there were side effects. "No need for an anti-toxin for us, thank you..."

Kay took the datapad and went over it, making mental notes of what needed to be purchased and what didn't. "I'll have to run it all by Santiago and Darlyn, but I'm sure that they'll know exactly what we need. Thank you. Do you need a contract signed?"

[member="Ardgal Raxis"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

It was an illustration, but she got the point. He didn't go around handing out antitoxin cyborg parts--but the warrior added that to the mental list of products to R and D. "Alright, that will be noted."

He waited as she perused the fine print. It was always important to read the fine print, anyone who didn't--well, they asked for whatever came to them. And of course, the natural selection could use that to clear out more of the stupid from the galaxy.

"Very good, ma'am," he said retreiving a pen and envelope from his coat pocket, The warrior offered both to the lady. Inside were two copies of the contact to be signed, one for her, and one for him. It would be the exact same thing Kay had just looked at on the datapad, only on paper. And signable. The warrior waited as she signed in the various blanks and the doted line on both copies, taking his in his own pocket when she was done, 'Alright, thank you very much, it is a pleasure doing business with you," he offered his hand, "I will send verification when we have this through our system, its just a formality, expect something within the next 2-3 business days, after which your orders will be cleared for the agreed on discount. Any orders before that, we will back pay with credits for future purchases." and he had no doubt there would be many, "We will be in touch."

With that the warrior turned on his heel and exited, beginning his homeward voyage to his home base.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took the envelope and pen from [member="Ardgal Raxis"] , tucking the pen behind her ear as she took out the copies of the contract. Again she looked them over, being sure that they were the same. One could never be too careful afterall. Luckily it was no different than what she had read earlier. So she took the pen and signed both copies on the designated line, handing Ardgal his copy when she was finished.

"Alright. Take care." After he had left, she filed the contract into her desk along with all the others and then carried on with the rest of her schedule.