Two birds, one stone. [Demonsgate mining, ask to join]

[Miss Blonde]

Miss Blonde was on Demonsgate once again at her mining facility, it had been a while since she had come to the god forsaken planet but it did have what she needed. That being a butt load of phrik, she had to obtain the ore for what was going to be her last little piece in her current phrik catalog. Then she'd be ready to proceed with her plans.

It had been months in the making but it was almost time to move forward, they had acquired the necessary pieces of the puzzle and hopefully it would be enough to influence parts of the galaxy to bend to her will, or perhaps even topple a few governments here or there. Regardless the woman was a cutthroat businessman and she was happy that she had back up.

The Serpent was to meet with her in their office so they could discuss a few things. Patricia rewarded loyalty and made sure it was payed forward, Dyxra'a had done many services for her and now it was time to repay the woman with a few things to help her find her own way in the criminal underworld.

So sitting in her office the woman booted up her Holotable and got ready to begin the digging process while she waited for the serpent.

[member="Dyxra'a"]

 

[Dyxra'a]

Walking swiftly through the halls of the mining facility established by Miss Blonde upon the hellish looking planet Demonsgate, the rhythmic sound of wooden cane and heeled boots impact on the metal flooring echoing off of the walls, Dyxra'a cursed towards her Diety, the Goddess, praying upon the planet further damnation and complete destruction and eradicated as the harsh smell of the acrid ash and gasses within the atmosphere continued to burn at her nose.

Clad in her usual dark brown leather coat and stetson hat pulled low over her head, barely any features of the deformed Falleen could be seen. Only her scaled lips and green tinged lips were easily visible unless someone was to drop to the floor before the small, barely five foot tall, woman and peer up at her face. Grasped within her hand as it usually was was a metallic cane, the one causing the rhythmic tapping, that was in fact a weapon that Dyxra'a had commissioned upon becoming a member of the Black Tie Syndicate; Janus.

Eventually Dyxra'a came to a stop before the door that she had been directed towards by the directions sent to her, the lack of Datapad containing said directions caused by the excellent memory of the woman that was attempting to carve out a section of the criminal industry for herself. Raising Janus, Dyxra'a knocked gentle against the door with the handle before slowly cross the threshold of the room and closing the door behind her upon being bade to enter by the woman she had come to meet, Miss Blonde.


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Dyxra'a"]

"Hello Serpent, so nice to have you join me today." Miss Blonde said as she loaded her holo table.

The display of the table opened up and Patricia scrolled through the functions to pull up a work order requisition form, first shift was about to come on the clock and the woman needed a few hundred pounds of phrik to get everything going. So with a few swift taps the woman pulled up the digital form and filled it out then soon after sent it up to processing.

"How's the cane, bracers, and coat treating you?" She asked trying to make a bit of small talk.

"Please sit." The woman then pulled up the mining droid bay watch list and would soon have to select a droid to head outside.

 

[Dyxra'a]

"I would be without forethought or general intelligence if I was to refuse the request of the woman who is my superior, Miss Blonde. That way only leads to creating disadvantages down the line."

The sentence was delivered in Dyxra'a's often confusing and perceived to be insensible manner, her exotic accented voice expressing no emotion, keeping flat and bored. Temporarily ignoring the questions Miss Blonde had asked of her, Dyxra'a bowed her head at the woman's offer of a seat. Hooking the tip of the cane around the leg of the offered chair, Dyxra'a dragged the chair backwards with a slight scrape before lowering herself into the seat without once placing a lace glove covered hand upon the piece of furniture.

Crossing her legs, Dyxra'a removed her stetson with her right hand, revealing her deformed crests along the top of her head and steely blue eyes, while continuing to hold Janus in her left. Placing her hat in her lap, Dyxra'a began to tap her left forefinger against her thigh in an alternating pattern before she answered Miss Blonde's question.

"Indeed, the items you have provided to me have, and continue to, serve me well. You have my thanks for supplying them. But, I do not believe that this is what you had in mind when you asked to see me, especially by asking me to come to this," here her lips twisted into a snarl, the only emotion shown so far on her blank face, "revolting planet that is so out of the way of normal hyperspace lanes. A much more comfortable environment, for both of us, could of been arranged easily. Meaning, i am forced to assume that whatever you ask to speak to me about is either of an urgent importance or is some how involved with this wasteland. So, shall we get straight to the point?"

Never once during the small monologue did Dyxra'a's voice shift or quiver, keeping an abnormal flat tone throughout.


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

"The planet starts to grow on you after a while, nothing like a good fresh breath of sulfur in the morning." Patricia said with a chuckle.

"But you would be correct in assuming that this is not the reason why I called you here." Patricia said as she focused on her holoscreen.

With the work order approved she selected mining droid 36 and powered him on. The machine sprung to life and in the droid docking bay the creature let out a mechanical roar and groaned as it began to walk towards the door. Patricia began to run through its diagnostics and scans to make sure nothing was going to explode. Everything came up clear but she received a reminder that the droid did need an oil change soon, but for now could handle the movement out to the mountains.

"I've noticed you around Serpent, you have been good to me and to this syndicate. I repay loyalty and good work. So I'm here to offer you a very lucrative deal to put you in a position of power within the syndicate." Miss Blonde said with a serious tone.

"We have been wanting to extend into Nar'Shadda for some time now however I can not return to that planet due to personal reasons in my past, too many friends lost. But you seem like the perfect fit for such a venture." She said with a smile.

"I want to set you up with your own operation, you select your crew, you run it how you see fit, all we want is a collection of ten percent that goes towards the syndicate. Speeders don't travel through space after all." she said with a small chuckle.

"I also wanted to reward you with some phrik bars. Very valuable."

[member="Dyxra'a"]

 

[Dyxra'a]

A brief flash of satisfaction ran through Dyxra'a's veins as Miss blonde finally got down to the core of the reason behind the conversation, her dislike of small talk and avoiding a topic whenever it was not necessary, she could easily admit that it was needed at time, famous among the lieutenants of the gang she had ran on Nar Shaddaa, T.O.L; The Outlaw's Law.

Leaning forwards in her seat, Dyxra'a let Janus rest against her knee next to her stetson as she propped her elbows on top of the armrests of the chair she was sat in while pressing her fingertips together and rested the point formed by her claw tipped fingers against her lips, emotionless eyes locked on Miss Blonde as she ran both the advantages and disadvantages of the offer she had been given, her genius level intellect, the one that distanced her from most, running full speed behind her emotionless expression.

Starting slowly, the small woman's voice began to drift and fill the silence of the room that had settled after Miss Blonde had finished speaking. "I will not deny that I would be able to extend the reach of the Syndicate into the business of Nar Shaddaa, nor can you from the fact that you approached me about this. I will not deny that with your backing, any operation I set into place will be started and completed at a much more faster rate than whatever I could predict utilising current resources. I will not deny that the supply of Phrik is not tempting, the versatility and uses of such a material obvious and plain to all that know of it. But," Dyxra'a's eyes drifted shut, her eyeballs flickering behind closed lids as she fell silent for the moment, "I refuse your offer."

Leaning back in her seat once more, Dyxra'a wrapped both of her hands around the handle of Janus. "Three percent of profit is funneled to the Syndicate, Phrik remains on the table - as does the backing, and all deals done between the corporation and Syndicate are done at a reduced price, three quarters full. I refuse to simply give supplies to the Black Ties, money must be made."

A spark of competitiveness had flared to life in Dyxra'a's eyes as she challenged Miss Blonde with what was an obviously ridiculous offer, eager to see how the Crime Lord would respond.


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Miss Blonde gave a genuine chuckle at Dyxra'a, she honestly thought that she could be swayed down to three percent. Some people honestly just cracked the woman up, but she'd let the small fit of laughter be exactly that, small. But if the serpent wanted to play ball then Patricia would play hardball, hopefully the woman would accept the circumstances and move on from them.

"Tell you what, it's ten percent. And I'll throw in one of our battle groups. That's three cruiser sized warships about nine hundred meters each with isotope five reactors and a crap ton of guns and troops." Patricia said with a genuine smile.

"You take that and I'll even knock it down to nine percent. You do that and we'll have ourself a deal. It's either that or you can walk away from the table and be on your way back to doing basic leg work. I'm offering you a seat on the black council, and I would hope you can take it." Miss Blonde said as she received a ping.

Mining droid thirty six had started the run to the mountain range and had crossed the five hundred meter Mark, in another five hundred he'd arrive and start to do their business of mining and fracking the mountain. It was all a very simple process and even though it was hellish and horrible out there the massive spider droid could handle the extreme heat and conditions.

[member="Dyxra'a"]

 

[Dyxra'a]

Dyxra'a let a small smirk cross her lips at Miss Blonde's response, the only sign of how pleased she was to be doing business with someone who couldn't be taken for everything they could offer. While Dyxra'a had done deals with those type of people, she only enjoyed dealing with them when she managed to own them completely, bend them to her will and take everything they owned as her own. But, those type of people made bad business partners, which is what Miss Blonde was to become.

Humming softly, Dyxra'a's face returned to being emotionless. "I will accept this offer on one consideration. Are you willing to indulge me for a moment and answer my following questions with single word answers? After all, lies are woven into every sentence that every being speaks, to find the truth we must look at the singular word as the truth shall always be, and always has been, singular."

Falling silent, Dyxra'a cocked her head to the right, a soft smirk pulling at her lips and exposing the pointed teeth hidden behind them. She had released her grip on Janus with her right hand and now held it against the right side of her face, fingers spread so that two were under her eye, two were by her lips and her thumb was resting against her jaw bone.


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Dyxra'a"]
"Serpent, let's get a few things straight. The Syndicate isn't your personal little game. This is a business and when you do good work you get promoted, this isn't wheel of fortune, this isn't charades, this is a collection of hundreds of different gangs supporting one another. Now I can easily promote the black hats, Raka's crew, anyone else and they will be my little yes men." Patricia said with deadly intent.

"Hell I could of even choose Runner. But I chose you because you are not a little yes man, you are a leader and have a vastly superior intellect than most people in the syndicate. So I expect you to treat this as serious as I do. So no I will not be playing your word game because we have work to do." Miss Blonde again spoke in that same serious tone.

"Are we clear on how this works? You take the deal or you walk." Miss Blonde was not one to be played with.

She had don't more things in her life than Dyxra'a had. She ruled Nar'Shadda under the Red Ravens, she controlled millions of men, she ushered in a new clone army for the republic and had toppled governments. The fact that some upstart nobody had the gaul to play haggle time when she was offering her a position of power was insulting to say the least.

Now the smart thing to do was let Dyxra'a take the deal let her walk out the door then have one of her men put two in the back of her head and leave her outside to burn. However that would be rude and Patricia wanted the Serpent to be elevated into a position where she could do more than simply shoot people or go on a raid.

but as business was going on indoors the massive droid had reached the hot box mountains and Patricia quickly gave the go ahead for the next step. The droid began to scale the mountain until it reached a very nice pure vein of Phrik, the droid gave a roar and started to drill into the side of the mountain.

 

[Dyxra'a]

Dyxra'a chuckled lowly at Miss Blonde's response, seemingly unaffected by her speech. Inclining her head, she straightened her posture, sitting tall within the seat. "You are, of course, correct. Please do forgive me for my folly in approaching this meeting on the assumption that you were could be likened to the ingrates I have had dealings with in the past. I was wrong to do so and shall, of course, repay the dept my insult upon your character and position has created."

Placing her stetson on her head, once more hiding her crests from view once more. However, this time the hat wasn't pulled down as far as it had been previously, as such her eyes were still visible. "I humbly accept the deal you have offered in all but one way. Seventeen percent of all profits will be funneled towards the Syndicate for the first two years of its existence, decreeing by one percent for every following year until the amount reached ten percent of profits. Is this satisfactory for you, Miss Blonde?"

Although no major reaction had been shown on Dyxra'a's face to how quickly Miss Blonde had shut down her request, inside her mind the scorched portrait of her loyalties to the Black Tie Syndicate, represented by the painting of a featureless being wearing a black suit jacket, white shirt and black tie,worsened in its condition as a new set of flames licked at the intangible canvas. Although many in the past had seen Dyxra'a's request for one word answers to questions as a game or as a distraction, for Dyxra'a it was the continuation of a philosophy taught to her by the man that had taken her off of the streets of Nar Shaddaa and helped her grow into the woman she became. She used it as a test of loyalty, as the restrictions placed upon the answers forced people to think long and hard in how they responded. It was her method of determining who to trust and until such a test was taken, she would never devote herself to any cause or person.


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Dyxra'a"]

"I don't want to take any more of your money than I have to. Ten percent keeps the lights on and ensures that we can keep our businesses afloat. Those ships, these facilities, pay offs, greased palms, ten percent isn't me being greedy it's simply what's necessary for us to continue." Patricia would voice her concern to the woman.

"If you want to give us more money then I'm not against it all I'm saying is you are welcome to not have to pay the added seven percent. You have been good and I do not wish to step on any toes or insult you either so I do deeply apologize for my previous tone." Miss Blonde said with a friendly nod.

"From one professional to another I know you understand the need to be frank and put aside small matters." Patricia then reached into her desk and pulled out a requisition form.

"But now that business has been dealt with and agreed on I'm going to give you a hundred pounds in phrik ingots and while I fill out this form we can play your word game." Patricia said as she grabbed a pen and started to fill out the form.

The droid outside would continue to pound itself against the mountains drilling into its side and causing phrik ore to fall down the side in large amounts of rubble. This was only going to take a few more minutes and they would have enough ore to take back to the refinery to begin the next step in the process. The time was almost upon them and Patricia was rather exited.

So with another mechanical roar the droid struck the vein of phrik and dropped more of the ore down into the bottom collection zone.

 

[Dyxra'a]

"Irregardless of the fact that I do not have to pay the additional seven percent, I insulted you and, as such, incured a debt and I do not believe in letting a debt lie for someone to take advantage of in the future. The seven percent addition will stand, it is the least that I can do." Falling silent as Miss Blonde began to fill out the requisition form, Dyxra'a instead of vocally expressing her gratitude simply inclined her head in her appreciation for the gift of the phrik ingots.

"Forgive, Miss Blonde, but please do not refer to my previous request as a simple word game. It is a test of whether I am to devote myself fully and entirely to cause or being borne from a philosophy taught to me to a man who has earned my respect above all overs. It casts a sour taste within my mouth to hear it referred to as a word game as if it has no importance to self nor past." Taking a deep breathe, Dyxra'a calmed herself, releasing the anger that had welled up within her during her brief monologue.

"I'm afraid I must ask for forgiveness again, I should not have lost control over something as redundant as my emotions. Regardless, the test, if you please, is easy. A single worded answer to a question. An honest answer, if you please. I was going to ask why me, but I do believe you have previously and unknowingly answered that question. So, instead, I shall restrict my questions to a single one, so as to prevent meaningless talk. Why? Why should I devote myself to you in this partnership between this future born corporation and the Syndicate. And, beyond that, why should I fully devote myself to the Syndicate? Do not misunderstand, my loyalty is given, but devotion above loyalty has not. So, why?"


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Dyxra'a"]

"Wasteful." Patricia said with her single word answer.

"I apologize as well, I had no clue it meant so much to you. If you still wish to continue with it I am more than game for it, I do wish to ensure your happiness here at the Syndicate and normally happy and content people are easier to deal with." There were a few more strikes from a pen as Patricia filled out her form.

"But if we aren't doing your little test it would simply be wasteful if I didn't place you in a position of power. You are cunning, capable, tough, and to be honest to keep you on your current track would be a complete mistake. But as to why you should devote yourself that's honestly between you and your God, all I can do is offer you more power and resources, and if that's not enough incentive for you then I'm not sure what else I can do for you." And with one last scribble of a signature Miss Blonde placed her form on the holotable for a scan them sent it down to the requisitions office.

"Form is sent, simply pick it up on your way out, it's by the hanger." Patricia then turned back to her table.

Checking the progress of the mining droid the massive machine had gathered up the phrik at the bottom of the collection point and shoveled it into its inside cargo hold. With enough phrik to last the refinery a week of processing the massive droid began its trip back to the refinery.

Fire and ash whipped against its sides yet it pressed onward through the fire and volcanic winds of the hellish planet. Patricia watched over the machine going over all it's vitals to make sure it wasn't going to break down. If there was anything she hated it was a shipment being late to the facility and broken down droids, there wasn't time for that today.

 

[Dyxra'a]

"Thank you for indulging me in my request."

The words were uttered as Dyxra'a pushed herself out of her seat to stand on her feet. Lifting the hat off of her head and pressing it to her chest, Dyxra'a bowed a shallow bow before replacing the stetson wth grace that only came from practicing the same move over and over.

"I shall not waste any more of your time now that out business is concluded."

Turning on her heel sharply, Dyxra'a made her way to the door in measured strides, Janus gently tapping against the floor. Pulling to door open to leave, Dyxra'a hesitated for a moment, one foot over the threshold, as she twisted her head to stare at Miss Blonde.

"Ah. One final question, if you do not mind. Purpose of creating the company on Nar Shaddaa?"


[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Dyxra'a"]

"Regret." Miss Blonde said in a completely different voice as the door closed in front of Dyxra'a leaving her outside the office.

And that was it, the meeting between the two was over and Patricia sat back in her chair looking at her holotable. The woman looked down and could see the droid had crossed the field of fire and had made it into the loading bay. With a sigh she watched as the droid dumped it's phrik ore down.

With a few more signatures the woman sent away the confirmation forms and was finished. Now the phrik would go through the refining process and be crafted into ingots. Dyxra'a just had to pick hers up and leave. The woman's mind flashed to that of those kids on Antecedent and Nar'Shadda, how things had happened and how deeply she wished that it didn't go down that way.

But now all she could do was move forward.