We Are Golden

[Hira Mitsae]

9:21PM Deep Space Station
Unaffiliated territory
Neutrality guaranteed

Accord grounds was a right of the ancient days, the weapons were holstered, the fleets left home and the muscle was allowed to go out and take a couple of drinks on that night. It was a sanction of the most holy, a law that was grounded in the old Tionese customs, back when they were the only civilization around and the thieves needed a common ground to organize themselves in. It was in this custom that [member="Amarant"] and Irani met, to discuss the basic instances of business.

Amarant had things that Irani wanted- not needed, but it would make the entire process much easier for him, costs could be cut and that, in a capitalistic world, was enough to attempt this in honest. They were seated in the corner of a seedy bar, rented out for the day, screened for bugs and other assortments before hand and swiped. This would be a meeting where both of them wouldn’t have to worry about those details.

‘Miss Amarant, I am pleased you accepted my invitation.’

Ever the gentleman.

‘To business then?’

There were several points on the agenda, a certain artificial moon bought by Ash back in the day- Ovmar had tried to buy it himself, but in the end he had been overbid, falling asleep during the auction had proven to be detrimental to the cause. Production rights to certain products that had been made exclusively for the Black Sun, the company that had made them was defunct, its owner lost to the annals of time and a deal could be struck here.

Thirdly, the ship. Ovmar had installed a tracking logarithm on it during the Styx-incident, as his successor Irani knew where it was. Jared would have simply taken the ship, the station and the rights without considering the feelings and wants of people like Amarant.

Irani wanted to try it a different way, make sure that both parties would get an agreeable deal. That was the least he could do for them.

 

[Amarant]

[member="Darell Irani"]


Amarant smiled, sipping her drink slowly. The HRD had inherited the legendary Mr. Ash's assets, and as Vigo of the Black Suns, had more assets than she knew what to do with. She had disbanded the parliamentary powers that held official power through the galaxy. The truth is that she was no longer the head of some grand shadow government. She was simply a professional criminals leading other professional criminals.


And Darrell Irani was, according to her intelligence, rich as all get-out. He was a successor as much as she was. Supposedly, he worked under Ovmar. And supposedly, he was as clever as he was. And just as loaded. All useful to Amy. All....practical assets in her world view. At the end of the day, the best thing she could do was hear him out.


She smiled like a cat who ate a canary. "Money talks, Mr. Irani. After my men vetted you for...any unforeseen troubles, I had to consider your interest worth noting," she said with a cheery smile. She raised her glass calmly. "To business."



She appraised the man before him with a relaxed posture. Both of them had a decent number of guards at the door, but forcing the issue would be silly. Frankly, this wasn't the kind of conference people pulled out weapons at. This was the kind of conference people pulled out checkbooks at.


"So, then, which of the proposals would you like to discuss first? We've got quite a few things to talk about here and there...." she said with a smile.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]

In many ways Amarant and Darell were the same, both of them had inherited wealth and status from their predecessor, both possessed a plethora of assets, but there was a key difference between the two. Irani had a certain vision, he knew what to do with the assets he had gained and he knew exactly what he wanted.

‘Let’s talk about the moon first, miss Amarant.’ Irani finally said after pondering a bit. It would be the easiest point of the discussion. The Suns had spend a lot of money on that particular object, but neither Ovmar nor Irani had ever heard of any terraform projects.

Which made him think they hadn’t utilized it yet. Huge money sink that, an artificial moon ain’t all that cheap of an investment.

But Darell had plans with it, big plans.

‘I am prepared to offer you the exact amount of money that your predecessor paid for it.’

It was a fair deal, it would ensure the Suns didn’t lose a dime of money and if she negotiated well enough… well there was always leeway. Irani had cash to burn anyway.

 

[Amarant]

[member="Darell Irani"]


Amarant had much to lose, and much to gain, form parleying with a businessman of this level of wealth. The Eclipse, as it had been dubbed by Mr. Ash, was something of a wash. The Suns no longer had any power on Tattooine, and that was for the best. To be frank, the terraforming project had been an albatross around her neck--not that she'd admit that out loud. No, it was important to play the game.


"I've no doubt you wouldn't consider such an ambitious purchase if you didn't have a rather grandiose project in mind," she said matter-of-factly. "While the assets in questions are not in current use, their personal sale to you at this point would raise eeyebrows," she said calmly. "When we were a governing body, the discretionary fund was used to pay for the satellite in question. While it is legally mine, it'd look like embezzlement to the rest of the council if I pocketed it all for myself," she said matter-of-factly. "Now, if I can appear to sell the real estate at a profit, I'm sure I can use the excess to fund a disbursement to our other donors," she said with a warm smile. She was only half-lying. Some of the money would be going back to other Sun leaders--but about half of the donors to the discretionary fund were actually people paying Mr. Ash or one of his men to kill and or maim people. They weren't really stock holders.

"Now, if you can take the mark-up and raise it by say, twelve per cent," she said calmly, "that modest surcharge from our original price woudl be able to meet some fees." It was a silly raise on his bid, but hey, what's the point of drinking with a magnate if you can't haggle with him a little? Besides, the last thing she wanted to play was the sycophant card. She preferred to demonstrate her sharpness up-front. This was a unique commodity.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]

2.1 billion credits had been the amount of money spend on buying the terraform station and Irani knew that that amount of money had been only a fraction of its true worth, it was the simple fact of the matter that Rekali could have gained so much more cash from selling the station if he had wanted to. The Mandalorian had probably wanted to, but as always there was a trouble of time concerns when you were selling something that didn’t necessarily belong to you, no?

It was this concern that made Rekali sell it off as such short notice, plus the money he had owed to his crewmen and who needed the cash. All things put together was that while 2.1 billion credits was a large sum of money, Ash had bought it at a discount bargain.

Irani hadn’t gotten where he was today by throwing away all his money at the first glance of opportunity though, but neither had he gotten here by being reluctant to spend money when it was time to do so.

Twelve percent of two point one billion was the sum of 252 million credits, not all that much money if you considered how much Irani made on a single day. And yet, there were appearances to consider.

‘Five percent.’

His eyes met hers and held them.

Hundred and five million credits profit ain’t no joke.

 

[Amarant]

[member="Darell Irani"]


Amy nodded at the fellow before her. He may have been an heir, but like her, he knew that the game required a mix of planning and patience. Most would think that her dissolution of the Sun's government was a step back, but in truth, it was proper criminal behavior. Ruling planets was the job of corrupt politicians, not criminal empires. In the shadows, where netiehr territory nor confidence was held. That was how Amarant played the game.


The Slicer from the Shadows grinned. "That number should be sufficient. Now, I suppose we should get to the next order of business," she said with a slightly amused glint in her eye. "Coordinates to the moon's current location will be sent to you shortly," she said with a smile. "The remainder of the money can be forwarded to this account," she said, handing him a small datapad with an innocuous name on it. The survivors of the third incursion of Nar Shadda, restitution and restructuring fund.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]​

Irani had never really understood the reasons for becoming a legitimate ruling party when you were a criminal element anyway, it had always seemed kinda counter-productive to the creed they were following as an outlaw. Not that it was really any of Darell’s business, but there it was, the move to go back to their roots was probably a good idea though.

Full support there.

His eyes briefly scanned the name and it even made him grin just a little bit, the woman seemed to have some humor or perhaps it were her underlings who held the humor.

‘Excellent.’ Irani finally said, putting down the datapad and taking a sip to wet his throat. Talking was so tiring sometimes. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

Next order of business then, he didn’t really believe in playing around the bush for too long a time, so he came out of it immediately instead.

‘The Reasonhttp://starwarsrp.net/topic/11024-reason-class/.’

One of the few true and real stealth star destroyers in the Galaxy, Ovmar had owned a Black Hex back in the day, but had gifted it to Arceneau. The woman had always been able to make the Sith Lord grin.

In truth the Reason was a liability to her and the remaining Black Suns, it painted a target on their back, and now that they did not have entire planets under their control? Well, either they were spending their entire income onto manning and keeping the ship maintenanced, or… it was currently in the drydocks somewhere.

Point was, the smartest decision would be to sell and/or trade it.

Which was exactly why Irani was here right now.

 

[Amarant]

[member="Darell Irani"]


Amarant smirked at the fellow. He could at least grasp irony. That was a plus. And to be frank, she was actually getting a huge benefit out of this. Liquidating all the mothballed military gear she could no longer afford to crew was definitely a good way to build capital for the next project....which was an odd mix of racketeering and vengeance.


She had many visions, some of them reasonable, some of them obscenely silly. Still, her supremacy, her revenge, would be made as a beautiful, reckless move against the galaxy itself--but money was needed. Tons of it. Thankfully, she had before her just the right man for that.


"Domino's great prize. While I can understand your interest in such a unique piece, it can't come cheaply," she said with a smile. "You and I both know the rarity of it. And while it's obvious I can't field such an advantage myself at this time," she said with a dry cheerfulness, "It's also still safer in my hands than pointed at me. What assurances do I have that if I leave the ship in your hands, I won't come to regret it?" She arched an eyebrow quizzically towards him. The moons was dangerous, but the Reason, that was a perilous trophy at best. The thing had history--not all of it good--and it could definitely, in the right hands, be a power to shift the blance of the galaxy. She needed more than money for this. She needed leverage.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]​

Calm, studious gaze centered itself on the droid slash crime ‘lord’. Irani did not fault her cautious behavior, the sell and purchase of such a commodity would always raise eyebrows and whilst they both knew that he had enough money to buy a hundred of these capital ships, there were other concerns to be elevated before the monetary sense.

Most of which came back to a simple, yet fleeting term.

Trust.

She needed to trust him, before she could sell off a capital ship of such magnitude. Trust in that he wouldn’t turn around and blast her to hell and back, of course Darell Irani knew that such a thing would hardly be the case.

Where would be the profit in that? And more importantly, if he made a habit of killing off people who he made deals with… well, if that came out than there would never be anyone who would want to make deals with him, no?

But Irani knew that, he couldn’t expect her to grasp all those finer details, because she wasn’t him and didn’t know what kind of man he was.

All fair game, he supposed.

‘We both know that words are wind, a man’s promise today is a man’s betrayal tomorrow.’ his calmness almost radiated in the room, this was no usage of the Force, it was simple charisma and self-awareness, it was respect and confidence.

A man did not need more than that. ‘But a contract? Now that is more difficult to break. The only way for you to be sure that I wouldn’t turn around and use the Reason against you, is by ensuring you stay useful to me.’

Hard words, but the simple truth in the world they lived in today.

‘I am prepared to hire you on permanent retainer, and you know my reputation. My employees are always under my protection, your enemies will become my enemies, my allies will become yours.’

An offer that he did not give lightly, and would never give to just anyone.

 

[Amarant]

[member="Darell Irani"]


Amy studied the man. He wasn't like his predecessor--he was far more earnest, albeit far from ethical. She considered his proposition. A powerful one, to be certain. It'd be good to maintain an allegiance to someone who would actually stand up for it. She'd done her homework. Irani was dangerous and reckless, but he always stuck to his deals, and compensated his people well. She nodded curtly.


"You are wise to acknowledge the difference, after all," she said out loud, just as much to herself--or maybe to whatever was left of Ash in her head--than to him. "I am, by all accounts, a slicer and criminal," the droid said coyly. "You, on the other hand, are a business man--a clever and thoughtful one, and one with a good eye, but nonetheless, still a man dedicated to his own enrichment and profit."


She smiled. "In that sense, we are alike. We are both what others would call self-serving, I suppose. However, what you are requesting--" she seemed very matter of fact on this response, as if she had given it more than though than most would in such a short time frame, "--Is a transaction to your world, but to mine, it is a form of alliance. A bond of sorts. Should you become my colleague, I've certain obligations to you. Not all of those will be contracted, some are merely concerning how I do business. If your enemies are to become my enemies, then they would know the kind of suffering I've allowed many of my enemies to have. If your allies are to be mine, then they must learn to either remove, or at least obfuscate, their disgust for me and my ilk. I am a gutter-snipe, from Nar Shaddaa in heart and soul. I am no saint, but I am a loyal person. Those who earn my enmity are paid in kind. Same with those who earn my loyalty, or my friendship."


She leaned in toward the man, locking her eyes with his, looking for any hesitation. "I am the Vigo of the Black Suns. If you are to retain myself, and the services of my firm, then you will be attaching yourself to the underworld. This won't subside conveniently for either of us--and the arrangment will likely outlive our intentions. While I am willing to accept your retainer, I wish to be explicit in my honesty--the Suns are not above or beyond the law, we are beneath it. We are not born to power, we seize it. If you accept the arrangement you ask for, it is not given lightly by either of us. You become a criminal, you catch the fleas for lying down with sorry Akk Dogs like myself. Are you certain--truly certain--such an entanglement is what you desire?"




She wasn't trying to scare him off, but she wouldn't make this deal without full confidence and disclosure. Darell may not have been saintly, but even people like him had rules, ideas of what was and wasn't acceptable in certain ways. Amy needed him to realize that retaining the Suns was not a lightly taken ideal. Becoming part of the Suns was both dangerous and highly, highly risky. Then again, so was enjoining her organization to a powerful trillionaire genius with earnings that would put some worlds to shame.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]

Little did Amarant know that she was talking to a Sith Lord, the Voice of the Dark Lord himself, a man who had sunk cities, decimated armies and generally be a man who cared little or as little as possible about the moral quandaries that most normal people did. So for him to hire the Vigo of the Black Suns on as a retainer? It wasn’t a hard decision, it wasn’t a difficult decision, it was a decision born out of pragmatism and opportunity.

‘Done.’

Irani simply answered and extended his hand for a shake, to seal the deal.

There was no need for anything else, no deep discussions or long speeches to convince her that he knew what he was getting into. Because those old eyes of him told the entire story that needed to be told.

 

[Amarant]

Amy's sensors flickered as she watched the businessman put a hand forward. No nerves. Not even a flinch. Heart rat, eye movments, nothing affected by the cold, stark, truth. Either he was drunk to the point of near-coma, or he wasn't easily fazed. Or he was a fool. Probably all of that and some other things.


She smirked and took his hand. "You're on. The Black Scorpions and the Service of Ash, Welqzana, Pembrooke and Associates are at your service. I will confer with the other Suns and explain your position of alliance to the organization." She nodded calmly. "Your additional capital will allow us to operate better, and our uscle will help expand your interests as needed."


She raised an eyebrow. "You don't flinch easy from the crazy poodoo. Not your first party with us criminals, hmm?"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]

With that deal sealed that was two of three objectives completed to satisfactory result, which really meant that the third thing was more of a ritually thing. He wasn’t especially interested in the ships, schematics and facilities of the old company once headed by Domino, who had disappeared so long ago, but he wouldn’t be a good businessman if he didn’t try and find the angles, no?

‘You don’t find yourself in my position without dirtying your hands, miss Amarant.’ was the answer she would get, cryptic? Definitely. But it was better than most people would receive with such a question and she would have to be satisfied with it.

At least for today, perhaps after a few drinks and cigars that the situation would find itself differently.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Amarant"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There was only one point left on the agenda and it was a point that few if any people would have expected Darell to make. He already held multiple interests in huge sprawling corporations, but recently his eye was caught by a slightly less sprawling one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Phenex Industries.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Domino had once owned it, probably still owned it in name. But you can’t own a corporation for long without physically being [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]around[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], not in a competitive market such as this one, not with all the hungry sharks that were swimming around and wondering what their newest bait would be. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Phenex was heavily tied to the Black Suns, most of their ships had been made by the mid-tier corporation and so Darell had come to the newest Vigo.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]With the request to [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]sell[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] him the company.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Of course Darell wasn’t interested in owning it himself, he already had too many companies in his own right, but there were already interested buyers on the line. Men and women who would be very interested in holding a majority-share in Phenex.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Together they talked it out, negotiated the price and finally set the plans in motions. The Black Suns and Amarant’s sources would help him acquire the necessary shares into the company, and then it would be temporarily his… before selling it off himself towards one of the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]buyers[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. Owning a company that used to belong to another, well it was an awkward situation that Irani did not have a joy in trying out. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There had been a reason why he had dissolved Ty’rel and focused on Saiba these days.[/SIZE]

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Deep Space[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Demolition and Removal[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Phenex Industries.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Regional sales offices throughout the Core; limited factories and shipping offices on Kuat, Lianna, Corellia, Mon Calamari, Nal Hutta. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Nearly one-fifth of all starships have at least one component by the company.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Although its operations used to be centered on Hypori, it rents factory space and administrative facilities on Kuat, Lianna, Corellia, Mon Calamari and many other worlds with important shipyards, so as to more directly supply starship components to clients.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Public information was sometimes a boon towards the more enterprising souls in the Galaxy, this was one of the ponderings that Khaleel Malvern had while leaning against his chair in the office of the Deep Space station.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal was blessfully unaware of the sheer irony of him sitting in this particular station, it had been rebuilt after its sad destruction all those years ago and the Underlord did not know the exact details of its origin. He simply was one of those [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]enterprising[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] minds who realized how handy it was to have a facility in deep space that could remove and dispose of anything that needed to be demolitioned. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]In truth Phenex wasn’t entirely necessary for the plans that were currently in motion, but sometimes having just a little bit more in terms of assets to your name? Could mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]So when a message appeared on his terminal, the message he had been waiting for? Khal simply smiled and typed out the shortest of messages that would seal the deal.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]<< Done. >>[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And that was how one Khaleel Malvern acquired the Phenex Industries.[/SIZE]