Unconventional Clientele

[Riamah]

Ra was a little reluctant to take on the business of her newest client. Her fear of robots had only grown with time and while the two of them had crossed paths before, they had never met. HK-36 needed her services and had approached her. It had been a while since her name had been circulated, but her reputation was flawless. Maybe that was why he contacted her.

She decided to meet with him and hear his proposal before making a decision on taking the assignment. Through messages they agreed on a meeting time and place. While it was a public place, Ra arranged to have a private area for them to talk in.

For a sith lord to show fear was a weakness, but it lived in the pit of her stomach and made it churn. The nervous sith paced the room, almost chewing on her fingernails as she waited for HK-36 to show up. He wasn't late or anything, Ra liked to arrive early and make sure everything was ready.

Her cloak hung in the open closet of the room. Under that she wore black pants, dark brown boots that hid knives and instead of a black shirt, she wore a maroon one. Her only visible weapons were a blaster on one hip and a double bladed lightsaber hilt on the other. Shor saber hilts were hid up her sleeves and there was a spiked ball at the end of her braid holding it together.

When the door opened, Ra turned to see if it was her expected and potential client.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Ra'a'mah"],

The door to the conference room opened, and just as expected HK came through. The machine brought no guards with him this time, at least not into the room where the meeting was to take place, all the droid really needed, he thought was his slender tall Phrik body, in appearance resembling an armored skeleton, clad in black organic armor of flesh-like membrane covered in thick chitinous plates, resembling the organic armor suits of Vong, his lightsaber, and two magnetic revolvers by each of his hip.

"Hey, how is it going?"

HK greeted the secret Sith Lord bussinesswoman casually as he barged inside the room. It was seldom that the machine agreed to venture into others' territory to make deals and weave offers, especially since as useful as Ra's services of cargo transport were, they weren't completely necessary, with other companies already lining up and very much willing to fulfill that service in the Metal Lords' space, attracted by their rather loose commercial laws and willingness to invest heavily into start-up companies. However what Ra had over others, and why HK was willing to make the journey rather than have her come to meet him aboard his own station, was her condition. It was not often that someone had an intense phobia of machines, a fear that HK was aware off just from hear-say and research about the woman before hand. If anything, even if the machine would not reach a favorable deal with Ra, he was sure that the meeting would still be rather entertaining.

For now he wouldn't say much more, curious to see the woman's reaction to his presence and visage, and letting her take the lead as she was the host at the moment.

 

[Riamah]

Ra was already facing the door when HK entered. His appearance was odd, but he was clearly a robot. However, he didn't want to immediately kill her, so he had that going for him. In an almost familiar manner, he asked how she was doing and caught her slightly off guard with his demeanor.

In an attempt to hide her discomfort at the fact she was speaking to a robot, Ra clasped her hands behind her back and looked at him before speaking. He was taller than her, but that wasn't unexpected. He wore armor protecting his body and she wondered why. Figuring it wasn't polite to ask, she left it alone. Upon just meeting him and until a relationship could be established, she would keep as much of her curiosity at bay.

"I'm well and you?"

To ask a creature that wouldn't die such a question was probably odd, but it was only polite. Deciding to at least play along like she was afraid, Ra held out a hand for him to shake if he chose to.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

"Pretty good."

HK nodded at first before adding,

"Devoid of any soul, emotional attachments, ethical reasoning, or a moral compass of any kind like always but pretty good."

The droid quipped before reaching out to Ra's hand, the black material covering his limb peeled back and the chitinous armored plates shifted, revealing the pale light Phrik skeletal hand, with its six outstretched fingers which reached out to take Ra's hand and shake it lightly,

"So your company,"

HK tried to move things towards more professional direction and keep them on tracks,

"My research suggests that it specializes in cargo transports and hauling. I would love to hear more about it, that is why I am here after all."

 

[Riamah]

Ra gave herself a mental kick in the rear end after she asked how he was doing. As he pointed out, he had no soul, the ability to have an emotional connection and a few other things. He did answer as politics worked that he was pretty good though. With an almost proper handshake he initiated the conversation to the task at hand and the reason for their meeting.

"Yes, though since the Dominion died, I can only offer my own personal ship now. It's a classic YT-1300 though with quite a few areas for cargo and a few passengers. I'm surprised at the contact though, it's been a few years since my name was circulated."

As she thought about though, she had set her name out not that long ago. Maybe he had picked it up then and waited until now to contact her. With them on the track of business, her nerves started to subside. While far from being relaxed inside, she was less tense.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,


HK nodded to Ra'a,

"Yes the Dominion's fall has touched.."

The droid paused then calculating,

"Well, you, and at least one other person that I know of. I was not a fan of that particular government truth be told, even though I lead to their conception in the way. I was the one who lead the final assault upon the Sith elements on Atrisia who called themselves the Dominion you see, it was my droids who forced them off the planet and to reform themselves. I came to their help later on to fight Primeval but they turned upon me, long story short I stole some of their ships."

HK shrugged, perhaps that was how the droid came to know of Ra's company and what kind of business they conducted, by keeping an eye on his enemies and the corporations who supported them,

"Either way, if we are to use your services, you will need more than a single YT-1300 under your guidance. How would you feel about leading one of the merchant fleets sponsored by me and my mercantile brethren with the Metal Lords? We could grant you the Dominion naval remnants we were able to capture or who have willingly fled into our space to seek sanctuary, it would be only fair, in a way."

The droid proposed, after the handshake the black flesh of the biot would creep up and cover his hand once more with the chitinous plates shifting back into their proper place.

 

[Riamah]

"That was before my time with them actually. I was aware you assisted in the fight against the Primeval, I was there as well."

What she said was true about herself and that she had known he was there. That was their first passing, though they had never actually met. Ra had not been aware of what happened to HK there.

"I'm not sure if I should thank you or not."

Moving onto business was the best move, but what he suggested almost made her want to choke. While they were getting along, she had no idea how well she could work with other robots. If he could read people, then only her eyes might show something of her concern. Her face remained quite neutral.

"What are you looking to carry? Working with old people from the Dominion would be a change for sure. Most of them didn't know me sadly."

His hand went back and was covered over again and she found that ability of his quite curious.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

At her comment about thanking him or not the machine would shrug,

"Half the Galaxy after all this time is still debating whether I am a blessing or an abomination, you would be surprised how often opinions shift in the grand scheme of things. Organics are fickle and forget easily, droids do not, we are much more set in our ways."

HK pointed out, as she asked about what the cargo would be, HK replied swiftly,

"Various trade goods, we produce a lot of weaponry, armor, and drones, but there will be more civilian commercial transports as well. If that works out I will be looking into expanding those services to provide people of our space with free public interplanetary transport as well. We will pay you of course, but you would not charge the citizens directly."

The droid explained,

"If you would need new ships, that will not be a problem, however your situation with the Dominion remnants sounds like you would have a new start with them, a clean slate."

HK quipped,

"You know, a lot of people would kill to have the same chance, any mistakes you made among them would be forgotten."

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a little snort of real amusement at the comment and shrug from HK, she did listen to what he had to say as an answer to her question.

"That business is certainly something I can get behind and support. There was a time in my life where I did just that and off and on since then. Both before I joined the Dominion, while I was with them and one or two after they died."

This happening even though she was a sith lord. Not making a big deal of that though and leaving it out of the conversation. His offer of a clean start was very tempting. Even within the Sith Empire, her past was a mark against her. Maybe why she wasn't fully welcomed by them.

Placing one arm across her chest and resting the elbow of the other on top of her hand, she rubbed her chin thoughtfully and carefully considered his offer. Not just a one time job, but something more permanent.

"I think it was just a mistake to have even been there in the first place. They made too many enemies."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

HK nodded as he listened to Ra's response,

"Well hopefully you will not find the Metal Lords to be a mistake, we have enemies as well, but unlike the Dominion, we are not immediately surrounded by them."

The droid quipped, in fact he tried to push for increasingly positive relations with Metal Lords' immediate neighbors- Alderaan, Commenor, and the Galactic Alliance,

"In fact to help your merchant fleet along, I am willing to give you one of our new commercial ship models, a Commerce Hulk, it is a massive cargo hauler, I am sure you will find some use for it."

HK offered as he took out one of his holoprojectors, offering it to Ra so she could have a look at the design of the Metal Lord Space Hulk personally,

"Of course should you accept this gift, I expect you will be more than a mere merchant in our territory, we would welcomed you to take a more active role in the way we manage and shape our territory."

 

[Riamah]

"I've grown and changed since those days. Much more careful where I put my alliances or to whom I give my word."

It may or not be a known fact that when Ra gave her word, she did her best to keep to it. Even when she knew the Dominion was going to die, she had made a vow to the Archlord that she would stay until the end and she had. So now, she was far more careful to who she did that with.

"May I know who the enemies are? Of course, in time I'm sure I would learn this on my own. It is nice to know before hand though so I can be prepared for hostilities if anything is directed at me. I would then know which areas of space to avoid."

She wondered if the ship was going to marked so people would know which faction it belonged to. Accepting the holoprojector from HK, Ra looked over the ship designs and handed it back to him after a few minutes of looking it over. What he said, made her raise an eyebrow slightly.

"What would you have me do? I have no issues assisting in expansions of territory."

The Metal Lords were fairly new and still rather small in comparison to other factions and she thought they pretty much kept to themselves. In taking the chance to reach out to her, maybe they were looking to expand more.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

HK shrugged at the question of who his enemies were,

"Well pretty much the usual- we really hate the Sith. In fact it is my personal quest to hunt down every Sith in the Galaxy and kill them, and if I may say so myself- I have gotten quite good at it. I believe I have a holoprojector with a recording of me beating that Zamboni fellow down with a chair, and another of breaking a Ren's back in my hands after less than a minute of fighting or so."

The droid boasted for a bit, not knowing that he was speaking to a secret Sith,

"But as far as I know we are not on their radar, one of the perks of being a rather small state and keeping mainly to our own space. Other than that, the Imperial Remnant has been causing trouble with our neighbors, which we intervened in, then fairly recently I fought alongside Galactic Alliance against the First Order, and then there are various local threats we deal with fairly commonly, like pirates, terrors of the deep space, Bando Gora and the cult of the Machine God."

HK went through the list of various enemies to Metal Lords,

"Alliances and wars with us are a bit tricky though, we have no central government to really command each Lord, we just kind of usually agree to go in the same direction. So an alliance is forged or a war is started whenever one Lord declares it, but then how strong the alliance is or how long the war lasts depends on how many Lords back the first one and rally to his cause. Usually we just get involved as mercenaries."

The droid explained,

"As to what you would do, it would all be based around the job you have already signed up for, commanding your own merchant fleet, carrying cargo, civilians, maybe even troops in time of need, maintaining your own security fleet as well and personnel to protect and manage your assets. You would have an access to more resources and ships, perhaps even your own planet or station to govern from in my name as a vassal, but in return, should it be needed, I would call upon you to muster your forces as my reinforcements."

 

[Riamah]

Ra let out a rather neutral sounding grunt when he mentioned the dislike of the sith. She was now rather glad she did two things in her past, kept it secret she was one and considered herself an unconventional one. Not one to go out and make large displays of her power, she would rather find more mundane ways to solve problems before using the Force.

"Huh, I didn't know the Ren were considered sith. Dark siders yes, but don't they make a vow to their Supreme Commander or something? The Sith and Jedi for that matter have their own codes to follow. That of a Ren is to follow the will of their leader and the Sith code won't allow for that."

She assumed the codes were fairly common knowledge and didn't think her mentioning she knew of them to be out of the ordinary. Listening to his answer on who else was on the list of enemies, Ra nodded and made a mental note.

"At the dying days of the Dominion, I had an encounter with the Galactic Empire."

Learning the way the government worked was of an interest to her. In time, she would have to get a feeling for these Lords and see if she could get along with them as well as she did HK. Her fear of robots or at least what concerns she had for him having faded slightly as the time of meeting grew longer.

Giving a nod at his answer, she raised a finger for a moment and lowered it to allow him time to finish speaking.

"Would the finances come from what you pay me to maintain the fleet or would I need to fund it myself? Of course, I would respond to any call sent to me if I was in a position to do so."

Location was everything and Ra hoped HK would understand the difference of being able to respond or in a position that it would be impossible.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

At Ra's words HK gave out a mechanical grunt in turn,

"Because Sith have never followed the will of some sort of a Dark Lord or Emperor like the Ren follow their Supreme Commander? The Ren may be just a whiny offshoot of the Sith playing with greater powers and knowledge once forgotten they do not understand, but if they want to act like Sith and delve into the Dark Side at the cost of innocent lives, then I will treat them like Sith, and I will break, rend, and crush them like Sith."

The droid explained before adding,

"But I mainly mentioned them because I made one of them cry during a fight."

HK would shrug then and fall silent as he listened to Ra's question,

"If you will need funds to maintain your ships in working order and could not sustain them yourself, then I would give you the funding or divert the ships to my fleet for a time being so they could be supported by me until you can fund them yourself. However, you would be subjected to the code of Metal Lords as I am, one of the points dictates that each Metal Lord has to have enough income or manufacturing facilities to maintain and supply their drones and servants, enough servants to crew their ships and run their facilities, and enough ships to protect their facilities and servants."

 

[Riamah]

"A fair point and one I hadn't thought of. I almost wonder when the infighting will start happening."

When Ra spoke her last sentence, her tone was rather flat, but it was dry. Indicating her opinion of uniting under a single flag or banner of a lord or leader. She wanted to maintain her individuality and while she was within the Sith Empire, she didn't broadcast it or fly their banner. The fact she was Sith even, she kept secret. More for business dealings than for anything else.

Off this conversation though, Ra was glad she had kept secret. If HK learned she was Sith, then she had the feeling her fears would just kick up again. No telling how he would react. Possibly given time, he would learn, but she would maintain her secret for as long as she could. Face that day when it came and not before.

"How did you make a Ren cry?"

The question was genuine and her façade flickered for a moment before the business one she had been wearing was put back on.

His answer to her question about funding made sense and she nodded. Needing to learn how many would be under her was important to know, how many it took to crew the ships and all those details to take into consideration.

"Since I would just be getting started, I need to learn a few things before taking this responsibility on such a large scale. A fleet is going to be a large change from a single freighter."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,

"He tried to cast Force Lightning on me, but I predicted dark siders would use it against a droid, it was neutralized by my shield. He tried to throw me aside with the Force, but I anchored myself with my claws and density projector and still stepped closer to him. He tried to cut me in half then but my Phrik skin blocked the lightsaber. I did not need any weapons to defeat him, by the time he asked what I was I lifted him over my head and snapped his back in half."

The droid recounted the story to Ra'a'mah at her question, when she said she might need more time to adjust to the new responsibilities the machine waved her words away, nodding in agreement,

"I understand, it will be a new setting and the resources will be yours, you can take as much time as you need to adjust yourself. Does this mean that you pledge your support towards our cause and seek prosperity together?"

 

[Riamah]

Lifting a finger slightly as he told his story, wincing at certain points, Ra shook her head slightly before speaking when he was done.

"Remind me never to try to fight you. Maybe spar if that's something you do, but not a real fight. I don't relish the thought of having my back snapped."

Or anything else for that matter, but she kept that to herself. He then told her she would have the time needed adjust. Following that with a question on if she would pledge her support to the cause. Thinking a moment on wording so she didn't give a vow, Ra nodded.

"Yes, I can provide support to the cause. Once I get into the routine, of course."

It wasn't a vow and left some wiggle room if there ever came a time that they met outside of business dealings. When she might be on the other side. Not wanting that to happen, Ra would still go out of her way to prevent any of them learning she was sith at all.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,


"I do not see why you would try to fight me, you do not seem like someone who was trained in any martial arts."

Perhaps Ra would have a chance to show HK otherwise, or perhaps it would have been best to keep him without any suspicions towards whether Ra had some sort of Force using training and if so which Order teachings she follows.

"Besides, I do not act so efficiently in duels, those are more for enjoyment."

He would inform the secret Sith lady before reaching out to offer her his six fingered metal hand, with the flesh like black armor creeping back to reveal his metal spindly fingers,

"Excellent, so you vow your support."

The droid acknowledge, trying to bait her into saying those exact words for the sole purpose of messing with Ra's writer.

 

[Riamah]

"Well, it wouldn't be a real fight anyway. Why wouldn't you act efficiently in a duel anyway? If what you just said is true, you handle yourself perfectly fine. I learned how to fight on Coruscant before I joined the Dominion."

It was a half truth and those techniques didn't rely on her ability to use the Force. In fact, Ra so very rarely employed the use of the Force that it was unknown to most people she even could. Another secret she kept to herself until her trust was gained was that she was sith. It now being known by her that HK didn't like sith, she would continue to do her best to make sure it kept from him.

"I can vow to support my role within the Metal Lords once I am able to."

It was a vow, but only to herself and not fully to the faction.

The writer of Ra is too smart to fall for the bait and take it hook, line and sinker.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@Ra'a'mah,


"Because without challenges and possible shortcomings I would not be able to grow in power. Sure, I could implode a Sith's brain with a wave of my hand, but I will not always have these abilities at my disposal, and without limiting myself I would become stagnant. I still need to keep my edge sharp."

The droid would point out to Ra, especially the part about him imploding brains would reinforce Ra's idea to hide her identity as a Sith,

"Either way, I accept your vow to support the Metal Lords with everything you are able to commit."

HK agreed, twisting Ra's words a bit,

"So what is your next step? Are you going to be staying here or are you looking for a new place? There is a bed in my orbital palace that I never use."

The machine would propose,

"Because I am a droid."

He would explain to Ra,

"So I do not sleep."