The Main Monkey Business

[Darth Osano]

MAENA
THE NEW CITY

Maena was a planet deep within the Unknown Regions. Like most planets native to that region, it was barely remarkable. The only time people of importance had visited the world, they had tried to destroy it. They were partially successful. The planet was now a miserable, volcanic, literal hell hole. The natives that remained clung to a meager existence as miners, laboring under the oppressive cloud of a Dark Side Nexus. What little food they had was imported from nearby worlds, worlds with generous government or cutthroat merchants. That the populace of Maena had survived for this long was a testament to their resolve. Or maybe their foolishness, Maleagant could not quite decide.

It was not Syndicate business that brought Maleagant this far out, but he traveled with a pair of Helix Syndicate Specialists regardless. Muscle always came in handy on expeditions like this one. Even if Maena was remote enough that no one knew what the Helix Syndicate was, they could recognize a pair of nasty bodyguards when they saw one. The Dupre-Class Shuttle descended into the gaping maw of the inactive volcano which housed the oh-so-imaginatively named "New City." A vacant landing pad was allocated to the newly arrived ship, the foreman of which stepped out to greet Maleagant and his guards.

Despite its backwater status, or perhaps because of, authorities on Maena liked to keep track of what brought people here. The foreman had a datapad and stylus ready to take note of this, asking Maleagant. "What brings you three to Maena today?"

"[member="Onley Xiangu"]."

The foreman coughed furiously, inadvertently scrawling a jagged, nonsensical line into the screen instead of a proper sentence. "I, uh, I'll let someone... Know."

He scurried back to his office, probably placing the appropriate call.

 

[Onley Xiangu]

No one had really asked anyone’s opinions on the naming conventions on Maena, but the New City was Onley’s preferred haunt on the otherwise lifeless planet. This place reminded him of Coruscant’s underworld, or perhaps some parts of Nar Shaddaa. Crime had not yet found a decent foothold within the newly populated streets and teetering walkways but it was inevitable. He would hasten it, if he had his way. Considering some of the experimentation being done elsewhere - quiet and without fuss - he wondered if he couldn’t start harvesting organs from the leftovers. Black market organ trade was a business he’d only dabbled in but it was foolish to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He was still following a stream of consciousness when one of the exceptionally quiet droids that could be seen all over Atrisia glided in to his room. Originally he’d thought about sending this one back - it seemed to be defective since it never listened to him when he told it to knock. But it’s ‘personality’ won him over.

It ignored his disheveled appearance as he looked up at with one eye, the other still closed and pressed against the mattress as he lounged on his stomach.

“My Lord, Foreman Amine forwarded a message letting you know there is a gentleman here for you. He is accompanied by two others.”

Despite all appearances, Onley was exceedingly responsible when it came to business and he couldn’t recall having a meeting. Considering telling the droid to relay to Amine that he wouldn’t be showing up, something told him to think better of it and he sighed in response. “Alright. Tell him I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

Rolling himself in to a sitting position, he rubbed at his face to wake up. He felt something shift behind him and nearly turned around to murder whatever it was when he remembered he’d gone to bed with someone. Looking over his shoulder, he saw her running her eyes over the hundreds of tattoos that all merged together to cover him from head to toe. Standing up, he got dressed and made himself presentable without talking to her. The only words he spared were “You can find your way out,” as he disappeared out of his bedroom to the stranger and his friends.

_____________________​

He certainly didn’t know the man he found waiting at Customs, at least not by sight. His species wasn’t one Onley could place either. His two men flanked him but not in the sort of way that suggested the stranger needed them. They were a statement - one Onley read clearly.

“Can’t say I was expecting you Mr...” he ended in a query, drawing up the man in front of him. When people knew his name he took notice. He thought it would be rather foolish to attack him on his homeplanet surrounded by his people and a Sith army, but who knew what this stranger had up his sleeve.

Foreman Amine was watching the two with barely concealed tension, the stylus snapping in his clenched fist. Stifling a rather off-putting squeak of surprise, he busied himself with finding a replacement.

[member="Maleagant"]​

 

[Darth Osano]

"Maleagant." He replied, in that sort of abrupt forwardness that implied he had been introducing himself to a lot of different people these past few weeks. If he had a surname, he did not list it. Some words were better left unsaid to certain people. Family feuds tended to cross lines and Maleagant was dubious on where Onley stood in regards to his own.

That Onley hadn't been expecting him was a good sign. Maleagant did not need another turncoat in his Syndicate, flapping their gums about private matters. After the rumors about what happened to the last employee of his that started informing on the Helix Syndicate's activities, Maleagant would have hoped there would be no more. They were contradicting rumors, mainly differing in how the informant had been snuffed. Fed to Nexu, fed to Rancors, set on fire and tossed in a ravine, fed to Anzati (there was a lot of alleged feeding going on), disintegrated, enteched, and so forth. Some variations included his family. There was, in reality, no such informant. But the Syndicate was now at a size where such stories could be circulated with no authenticity and still keep everyone quiet. Especially when it came to Maleagant's personal business.

Not that he would have been opposed to a more commercial arrangement if it proved necessary. It simply wasn't at the forefront of his mind.

Maleagant stared at Amine after he snapped his stylus and slunk off. While the Foreman was faffing about, the Acolyte continued. There was little reason to dress any of this up, considering the locale and the two parties involved. "I am told you are well versed in Sith arts. I would seek your guidance in similar matters."

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

The man’s straightforward nature was appreciated and spoke to someone who was weary of pleasantries. Perhaps he’d shared too much of them lately or merely didn’t like them at all. Either way it worked for Onley who would sooner leave Foreman Amine long behind them lest he was forced to replace him. Waving the now-named stranger along with him, he moved from Customs towards one of thousands of sprawling walkways overlooking the tunneled city. Duraglass walls kept them mostly insulated this high up, but the drop was still dizzying to look at - safety precautions or no.

Onley didn’t take any particular care to shield himself from infamy but still, this Maleagant was either particularly well-informed or the Sith Knight’s work in the underground of several planets was reaching farther than he’d initially assumed. He guessed that is was some of the latter but most of the former as even if one had heard of him he was careful not to conduct business out of the planet he called home. It would be easy enough to assume he was on Maena however, a world rebuilt to the Xiangu image. The carnage had been a necessary evil, perpetrated by those more...inclined to meting it out. And yet they reaped the benefits.

“True enough,” he said, though he made no claims to greatness yet. He refused to rest on the laurels of his parents, instead looking to forge a name of his own. “I see what’s in it for you, and I’m not opposed to the idea.” They crossed the walkway and passed through the threshold of a rocky passageway circling around the mouth of the volcano that would lead them downwards. The place was something of a maze, advantageous to those familiar with home-turf. “But what’s in it for me?”

[member="Maleagant"]​

 

[Darth Osano]

With a wave, the Specialists opted to remain with the ship while Maleagant followed after Onley. There was a degree of risk associated with that move, but for the most part there was only so much the two could have done if confronted with violence from a Sith of moderate standing. They left the Foreman behind, crossing a transparent walkway. Clearly the architect had a sick sense of humor exposing people to the sight of a drop like this one. Maleagant's stomach churned uncomfortably at the thought of a fall from here, but he ignored it.

As usual, there was to be some amount of bartering. That was to be expected when dealing with a Sith who was running a similar enterprise, albeit a far removed one. Fortunately, Maleagant would not have to grovel or offer such abstractions like "loyalty" or "a favor" or something equally insipid. Most people Maleagant knew in this business preferred things more concrete. "I'm quite powerful in certain sectors." Maleagant replied, less boastful than his wording would have implied. "Name your price."

Back in the Pentastar Sectors, there was nothing beyond his reach. Outside of the Pentastar Sectors, there were quite a few things beyond his reach, but nothing so far that the distance couldn't be closed with the right phone calls and a healthy application of elbow grease.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​

 

[Onley Xiangu]

He didn't think much of the heights as they walked. It was less out of a sense of invincibility as genetic apathy. The city glittered beneath them, a glistening maw to swallow, and he just considered Maleagant’s answer.

Information was the first part of the bargain, already answered. Quite powerful in certain sectors. A good person to be ‘friendly’ terms with then, as long as their business remained well in their own realms of influence. “For now I'll settle for knowing the favor is there at a later time,” he decided. Despite his penchant for throwing himself in to a fight, he was more cautious where his livelihood was concerned. If this man was as powerful in his circles as he claimed, Onley didn't feel like getting in to bed with him - metaphorically speaking of course - until he was sure it wasn't holding out a hand only to be pulled underwater.

The lower they went the more bustling the place became, reminiscent of many other cities throughout the galaxy in its ability to make one feel anonymous.

The building they entered after crossing another walkway was non-descript, seemingly multi-purpose though it had no labels or anything to denote what it may have housed. Airy and modern, it felt somewhat empty. “What do you know of the Force? Is there some part of it in particular that interests you? Or is it rather what you want to accomplish with it that matters?”

[member="Maleagant"]​

 

[Darth Osano]

A light grimace found its way to Maleagant's features. He did not like favors, particularly when they were made out to anyone that wasn't him. They had a nasty habit of popping up when it was least convenient, typically to demand a radical change to something that was working in his favor. All the money and power in the world, and Xiangu wanted favors. But Maleagant wasn't in any position to demand that he pay Onley up front. There were precious few others with the kind of skillset Onley possessed that would be willing to meet with and take bribes from an upstart Acolyte nobody had ever heard of.

Maleagant glanced around the building, ever-wary of an ambush or some other unwanted surprise. When he failed to sense anything suspicious, he answered Onley. "I know the basics." Maleagant replied. He had enjoyed some good success in frightening or persuading random mooks through some applied mentalism, but it wasn't enough. The most he could do beyond that was run a little faster, lift a little more... He could levitate small objects if he grimaced hard enough, but neither of those were relevant to what he had come here to do.

"Enemies of mine have a tendency to drive their foes mad through the Force. They cripple their minds." The fact of the matter was that those psychopaths who slaughtered Maleagant's family could turn him into a vegetable just by thinking nasty thoughts at him before he ever had time to draw a weapon. "I need to be able to defend myself from this."

[member="Onley Xiangu"]​