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[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori retook her position as Arken Dobson refused her help. She didn't give him a nasty look in return. Instead she just kept her expression blank.

That is until he started talking. And blaming this all on her. She took a step forward towards him. "Hey! Red and I were friends from a while back! He deserved that punch and he knows it! That's why he didn't react. It's not my fault that everyone else overeacted!"

She became silent as Cruk Tuk chimed in, more or less agreeing with Arken. That didn't surprise her, for the two had appeared to be chummy a short while earlier.

But then Heath Valhoun surprised her in a most pleasing way. He had Arken arrested! Lori couldn't help but smile a little as Heath seemed to exert his power over Arken and put him in his place. It was such a sight to see! Hopefully someone was holo recording it. She wanted to be able to replay it over and over again for the laugh.

Maybe it wasn't a wasted trip afterall....

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Cruk Tuk Arken Dobson Dorthea Dobson Heath Valhoun Var-Sulis

But how are you? What are you doing here? What are you working on?

Pitt shrugged. "I'm doing pretty good! Mostly just been doing stuff with Red here and there. He has a very busy schedule! As for why I'm here, well I am here to help set up! Plus, you never know when you need a mechanic!" Pitt said excitedly.

I propose that I should speak from now on for the corporate side of our empire, as I have been helping to manage our commerce since the beginning.

Veinstein chuckled at this. He could see what Dobson was trying to do, it was nearly clear as day. First trying to arrest Loreena, then saying that he should lead the corporate side of the Empire, it was quite obvious. Dobson wanted power, he wanted control. No doubt the others could notice it too, it was quite obvious. Then, suddenly, Heath had Dobson placed under arrest. Well this was an interesting development...

"Hey! Red and I were friends from a while back! He deserved that punch and he knows it! That's why he didn't react. It's not my fault that everyone else overeacted!"

Subject 73 Red nodded. "Yes, I did quite deserve a good punch. Besides, I can take a hit. I've been hit by bigger enemies than Loreena." Red told them.

"Well, now that was an exciting distraction," Veinstein said. "Now, have we all gotten everything out of our system?"

I am not saying we should stay absolutely silent, but a head would likely be better as the primary speaker than for every business to do their own talking."

Veinstein nodded. "The Geonosian is right. Now, I propose that Heath stay as the main speaker. If any of us have anything to interject, we can, but Heath can do most of the talking. Agreed?" He proposed.

 

[Var-Sulis]

Hearing the order shouted to Sulis, he was already in the process of sliding his fingers back and forth on the stun cuffs he had on his side. Looking up with a simple nodding gesture his eyes locked on to Arken Dobson . "Yes my King." He responded and readied himself for anything to follow. It was in his nature to obey commands. Especially when it benefits him in the long run. "Let's not make this any more complicated than this needs to be." He would let a gestured wink escape his face before surveying Arken and everyone else in the area.

Heath Valhoun Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Dr. Veinstein Cruk Tuk

 

[Arken Dobson]

Arken just stood there, ignoring everyone. Cruk Tuk Dr. Veinstein Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Var-Sulis Dorthea Dobson , everyone. Everyone except the King. Arken just stared at him. His face was impassive. His posture was unassuming. There were plenty of deep emotions swimming behind his grey, blood-shot eyes. Too many emotions for even himself to make sense of. His breathing was deep, but surprisingly unlabored. He let his own silence linger for a second, not caring if Var-Sulis would interrupt his gazing at all.

Finally, he spoke. His voice, deep, gravelly and somber, “Very well then, my king. I must caution you against emotionally irrational actions in the future. Such actions will destroy everything that we have done and built. However, I am what I always have been, and that is whatever you need me to be. If you need me to hold your empire together, I will wrap my arms around it. If you need me to be your architect, I will build. If you need me to be your villain, I will scheme. And if you need me to leave, I will disappear as if I was never here. I am an old man and there’s far more to me than you can understand, but my time is limited and it always has been. I simply cannot afford to be holding your hand forever.

“Just promise me that you will not let everything I have built go to waste. I love this empire far more than you can possibly imagine. You will have very few chances to prove to the galaxy that the Elysium Empire is the kingdom that you envisioned. I can no longer protect that vision.” He looked to Var-Sulis , “I guess this is long overdue.” He extended his wrists to the man for the stun cuffs he just presented. He now kept his gaze away from the king, but he smirked with amused mirth, “Farewell, King Heath Valhoun . I hope you don’t make too many mistakes like this one.”

And with that, he was gone.

 

[Cruk Tuk]

Cruk tilted his head at Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and her talk of her explanation as to why. "It was an act of aggression regardless. The only reason I also didn't get involved was because I saw it had stopped there, and stabbing is also generally not approved of, though punching usually doesn't seem to be either." he said simply. In his mind after the punch there was no reason not to escalate things. To him, Arken's reaction was fine. Though he didn't want to get involved himself. That said, things definitely got out of hand fast. Dr. Veinstein agreed with him on the matter of needing a singular face, however Heath Valhoun had his own bit to say. And it included having Var-Sulis arrest Arken Dobson .

If there was an over-reaction to be had, that was the one he saw. But more importantly, it was one he saw as being unjust in the scenario. It wasn't actually that arresting arken was the problem, it was arresting just Arken. Arken spoke for himself first, however as he was giving himself up to be handcuffed and walk out, Cruk spoke as well. Clearly as he could, "This is an odd choice, assuming it is not privately motivated. The first to throw a punch was Loreena, regardless of intent. Next Arken, next Dorthea, and then this assistant with a datapad, and then Dorthea again at me instead of the assistant, and then me in self defense, and now you by proxy of Var Sulis. Yet the only one who is arrested is Arken? I may not yet be familiar with your empires laws, but I'm fairly certain that this incident does not follow with most systems."

There was a pause, obviously, there was already turmoil before he arrived, and he had no problem bringing it up, "Of course, if it is privately, or unofficially, motivated it makes more sense. It's just an out."

He would leave that as it was, whether for him to explain, or act, or for someone else to. Truth was, he had no issue with private motivation from a personal standpoint. He'd certainly done it, if mostly temporarily. But, when working with others it needed to be taken into account how far they were willing to take it. For the most part Cruk Tuk wasn't so quiet about any major actions and their goals, they were for the hive. Anything that threatened another geonosian or otherwise was typically blatantly for that reason and so the justifications matched. He would see how people reacted, and he'd attempt to adjust accordingly. If he could he'd keep his deal with Arken...but that was not looking like it was plausible.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori nodded in agreement with Heath Valhoun being the one to speak for them all for the most part. He was, afterall, the King, and so it was his place to do so. However seeing Arken Dobson try to assert the position to lead the delegation himself, well she didn't like that at all. It was probably clear as day that she didn't like him and vice versa. Trying to beat him at his own game was going to be extremely tough.

But then Hearh did something unexpected. He called upon Var-Sulis to arrest the elder Dobson. Lori couldn't hide the faint smile at the corner of her lips once that came about. She glanced over to Dorthea Dobson whom seemed nearly equally surprised that the King would go that far to arrest his right hand man.

Arken's speech was articulate yet laced with plenty of double-meanings. Maybe only those within the Elysium's political circle would understand, or at the very least, those outside of Arken's influence. Lori saw a lot of the venom behind those words, and she had little doubt that he wouldn't be in prison for long.

Another surprise came as Cruk Tuk suggested that more than one should be arrested. Her jaw dropped slightly fir a moment before she turned to Heath and waited patiently to see if she'd be taken away in stun cuffs as well. Lori had never seen the King mad before, so it was hard for her to determine just how he'd act or react in situations like this. Would she be safe? Or treated like any normal citizen would be and have to be punished for sucker-punching Red? Only time would tell...

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Var-Sulis]

Looking to Arken Dobson with a stone glare in his eyes he turns him around and simply pats him on the shoulder with his left hand. Clearing his throat before speaking..choosing his selection of words carefully he utters lowly. “Good man…You’ve done well to remember who the King is…” He looked around and simply nodded at everyone whilst moving on. He knew this was important. Politically and perhaps more so personally. He clears his throat yet again as if slightly disturbed while taking Dobson aboard the Shi Cho.

Heath Valhoun Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Dr. Veinstein Cruk Tuk Dorthea Dobson

 

[Heath Valhoun]

HMS Shi-Cho
Docked at the Sluis Van Central Space Station
Neutral Space
1440 Galactic Standard Time

​

The King stood silent as Arken let out a final speech to the group. The words hit home this time. The triumphant feeling of authority was gone just as quickly as it had spawned. It was true, arresting the man was a mistake, a huge mistake. While he had allowed himself to look past the repercussions a moment ago, he couldn't look past them now. Arken would bring The Empire to its' knees, already he was turning heads. Even Var Sulis let out an uneasy cough as he took Arken away. Cruk Tuk had his own imput, clearly aware that the arrest was personal, not logical.

Heath was turning the most important people in his Empire against him, and even if The Dobsons were corrupt, he needed them. They were too influential, too powerful, and too talented to sever. But what could he do now? Arken was already gone, and The group needed to get to the delegation and start the negotiations. It was painful, not just making such a mistake, but losing someone so vital to The Empire and not being able to do anything to help.

A little quieter than he had been when he scolded the group for the fight, and ordered the arrest of Arken, Heath again addressed the party. "Let's go, we have a shipyard to aquire."

With that he walked to the front of the line, exiting the ramp and entering The Sluis Van Central Space Station. Immediately he was greeted by two Sluissi dressed in grey robes fitted for their snake-like form. The one to his right spoke while the other one remained silent, looking over the group, "King Valhoun, we are pleassssed to welcome you to Ssssluiss Van Cssental Sspace Station. Pleasse, follow uss."

There was no irritation in their voices as far as The King could tell, and if anything there was relief. Maybe they hadn't observed the fight? He had assumed there were cameras in the docking tunnel, but perhaps not. If they did know, they certainly weren't showing signs of it.

Heath turned back, motioning with his head for the remaining members of the group to follow the Sluissi greeters as they slid toward what appeared to be a large elevator....​

 

[Cruk Tuk]

Well, this was messy. He watched the room, watched Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and her reaction, watched Var-Sulis as he took Arken Dobson away, watched guards or aids, but especially watched Heath Valhoun . Whatever power Arken had the king was the current turning point. He had to know what, if anything, would change. How he would react, if he did. It was so much easier for him to read geonosians, he'd gotten used to them the most naturally. But there were still things to watch with humans and near humans. They still had many tells about how they acted, he just needed to get used to those too.

Cruks statement was left unanswered. That wasn't too big of a surprise, it was not a matter addressed easily. And Cruk wasn't going to take the risk of getting himself imprisoned, or at least a conflict, for trying to make a show of it. He had said his piece, and they were moving on. He narrowed his eyes, but followed. The Sluis greeted them, and lead the way.

He would need to be wary. There were a lot of risks. He didn't know the Sluis Van, may have just made enemies, and even if he didn't have any immediate negative results, needed to ensure something was indeed accomplished. He wasn't sure how this would play out.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Dorthea Dobson spoke quietly to Lori as they followed Heath Valhoun . "Don't tell me that this was all part of your plan. You do realize that you've made things far more worse for yourself. And so has the King..."

Lori shook her head a little. "No, I wasn't planning on it. I didn't know Red was going to be here and I didn't know that you'd all over react and it'd all snowball. I'm just lucky that I didn't get arrested too." She chewed the inside of her cheek. "I'll do better next time...."

"That is if there is a next time..."

Dorthea kept pace with Lori as the delegation continued. She risked a glance to Cruk Tuk briefly before turning her attention back to the Sluis Van delegation. Now was the time to let the King lead the discussions and she had hoped that Lori would be able to control her impulses.

Mandalorian training had it's drawbacks, it seemed.

Lori on the other hand knew that she was a bit out of her depth. Her instincts weren't working well for her, yet her instincts on Arken Dobson was spot on. And now more was revealed, especially during his speech. He seemed to give Heath a veiled threat. And that made her wonder what would happen if they followed through with it...

 

[Heath Valhoun]

HMS Shi-Cho
Docked at the Sluis Van Central Space Station
Neutral Space
1445 Galactic Standard Time
​

The group entered the elevator, which ascended at a steady pace as the group waited. Heath took the time to consider what he would offer during the negotiations. Without Dobson, things would be a bit more difficult. Cruk Tuk was decent, but if Heath's actions had shaken Cruk Tuk's faith in The Empire, he may not be willing to commit too much. Then there was Loreena. MandalArms was an incredibly well known company. as were its' branches, especially MandalMotors. However Lori was still young, impulsive, and she wasn't a businessperson nor a politician, yet.

The Empire had many credits due to the credit exchange, and they still had some diamonds from the raid on the Agents of Chaos, but that would likely not be enough to purchase a shipyard that has been around for thousands of years. Concessions were needed. Perhaps a few seats on The Senate, or immunity to the laws of The Empire. But corruption...it was to be avoided. One of the staples of The Empire was a crusade against corruption and chaos. Intimidation was always possible though. The ends justify the means. If threatening one group means The Galaxy will be united and prosperous, then so be it. But that was the future...

It was very possible that The Empire would only get minor gains today due to the increasingly failed plan. The brawl, the arrest, their lateness...it was all stacked against them. Heath was sure that if a droid were around, it'd be quick to tell them how the odds were stacked against them in the negotiations. But it didn't matter now. They were nearly at the top. All that mattered now was the present. ​

 

[Elysium Eternal]

This Thread is To Be Continued due to several members taking unexpected LOAs of unknown length.

We have a good base for the part 2, whenever that happens...The King will have to maneuver past the loss of both Arken, his most skilled businessman, as well as Var-Sulis, his bodyguard and "the intimidator"

Meanwhile Loreena will need to deal with Subject Red, as well as try and show that she can be a responsible and effective negotiator.

Finally Cruk Tuk will have to determine how much he is willing to commit to the acquisition of Sluis Van's shipyards, and he will need to continue to decide where he stands after seeing The King arrest Arken Dobson due to obvious personal reasons rather than arresting Loreena, the instigator of the fight. ​