Whispers In The Dark

[Brooke Waters]

Simple enough for her. She could get her company to use the Dark Net as it came online. Offer it to the high rollers of the casinos and the ones who were coming in to enjoy their weeks or months out of the lime light. Add it to the Bright Star: Black and Platinum Packages. The first one, if you tried to ask for it, people would laugh. Well, not to your face, but only a handful of people in the galaxy had that kind of permission for Black, some of Marek’s contacts, while people could. Platinum was for people that were well off and wanted their trip to stay quiet. It was nice.

“Well, we can do that for you, for sure.” The blonde smiled, finally starting to relax for this whole meeting. Her shoulders would show a lot less tension. As for ships? She knew there were a few that the Techno Union had put together. What were the names. She pulled out the datapad. “I think there is a ship and station pairing that may be able to help? At least… what to maybe not do?”

She accessed the Salvager-class vessel and Production Yard Station. Sure, they were TU productions, but the right funds and they’d sell. It was an option, at least. She looked up at Alric and handed over her datapad, the two pieces pulled up. Sometimes she listened at those Executive Council meetings.

Please don’t keep swiping.

[member="Danger Arceneau"]
[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Danger Arceneau"]

He nodded towards both women.

"Yes Miss Waters, those vessels were instrumental in the design of the ship we'll be constructing." That was plain and simple, the idea of a factory ship wasn't exactly a new thing, especially considering that similar vessels had been designed thousands upon thousands of years ago. "As always however my design is going to be somewhat more...ambitious."

He pressed another key and the image displayed flashed once again. "There will be four vessels, each of them will be three kilometers long."

That was larger than the Immortal the One Sith held, larger than most capital ships currently operated by most governments.

"Their armament will be light, but their hangars will be large." Of course they would. "The ships won't be designed for combat, instead, they will be asteroid mining ships, refineries, factories, and seedships for the Dark-Net all rolled into one. When they are finished these Seedships will roam Primeval space on a set course, stripping asteroid fields, derelict worlds, and salvage yards of any raw resources in order to create Dark-Net Relay Buoy's, then the ships will place the Buoy's in exact locations."

 

[Cira Cat]

Six made mental calculations. The more she went through the numbers the more she liked the return value. More questions came to mind, "what is the projected timeframe for production?" Based on how fast they can get the resources - which with ATC there wasn't much to be concerned about - turn around time could be manageable.

Telos held their largest ship yards, and if sections of it could be distributed to the smaller shipyards for production then transported to the main yards, it could save money as much as increase production time.

 

[Brooke Waters]

Ah, so he was the man who did his research. That made her feel better. She knew she had looked over a lot of Marek’s data and it wasn’t only Bright Star stuff that she had learned, a bit about where the Techno Union should go, and what he wanted to see done. Part of that was a manifest of a variety of companies and their product offerings, both public and restricted. It made sense that he was familiar with it, to see what kind of competition he’d be up against. Not that she was an engineer, but with the right permissions, those vessels could clear up the space lanes that the Bright Star liners were going around on. It would be an idea, later on down the line.

She nodded to Alric and smiled. At least she wasn’t going out of left field. Sometimes her ideas were like that. Maybe because she was always in a book, even if her favorite was still one about a gunslinger trying to save all of existence.

“What will be in the hangars? Fighters? Or civilian and mining ships?” Just out of curiosity, really. Could be interesting to send a liner past them and make a point to discuss the public operations.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]
[member="Danger Arceneau"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Both." He said quite simply. "Though far more of the latter."

"The ships won't be seeing combat, but they'll need defense from pirates and other who would do them harm. Installing a cloaking device on ships that large is unfeasible and weaponry will simply pull power from the reactors. With a complement of elite fighters the ships will be well defended." Or in theory anyway. "The ships themselves will be built as fast as possible, projected time is two to three months."

That sounded almost impossible, but when one considered just how much would be poured into this, how many credits and man hours, it would be more than possible. Alric had already secured the full backing of the Primeval, an entire government. Now grabbing at another major corporation and secure backing from a dozen or so hedgefunds that saw the profits not only in the Dark-Net, but what came after it, he had more than enough funds to do this.

 

[Cira Cat]

Six gave a curt nod. The numbers were running through her head with an efficiency that could only come from an HRD. Not to say that the real Danger wasn't keen on business ventures that would turn a profit, just that Six had the ability to mull start up capital, weigh returns, and probabilities of loss all the quicker.

"Will they have any other defensive fleet along with them? Besides the elite starfigthers?" perhaps there was a profit to be made by an additional level of protection with a smaller fleet. If they were to use this many valuable resources so quickly and to this extent, folk would want to know that their investment was secure and safe. There were many enemies to the Primeval, and the Silver Sanctum and Mandalorians were close. Danger knew well that the United Mandalorian clans were none to pleased with their neighbors, even before Wayland.

 

[Brooke Waters]

Made sense to her, getting these things out there with a variety of support craft was probably the best bet. From there the ships could perform a variety of money making tasks. Maybe she’d have to get one set up to assist Bright Star lanes. Or at least use some of the tech to modify her company’s Niathals for a few new tasks in removing space debris and turning it into a profit. “Depending on the space lanes, we’re not seeing so many pirates show up, but my predecessor’s connections have been able to scramble to assist us, should the need arise. Maybe putting you in contact with those individuals may help?”

She knew what it was like to watch ships get attacked, it wasn’t a happy time. But there were times and places for worry and for profit. She figured that Kuhn had been around the block a bit. And she knew Danger’s reputation as a very savvy businesswoman. She was their unicorn for… something.

A new view? Her service company?

[member="Danger Arceneau"]
[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Danger Arceneau"]

He shook his head.

"It shouldn't be necessary." Alric said as he once again changed the display on the ships. "The ships won't be traveling through hyperlanes, they'll mostly be in deep space, no one but Vanir Technologies will know their route or path."

That lone should have made it impossible to capture the vessels, mostly because Pirates would need to know a location before sending out ships to capture the vessels, and that would be impossible. Add to that the sheer size of the ship and the crew, it would be almost impossible to take over the ship as a whole, or in theory it would be. Tacking on a defense fleet to the ship would simply make things more complicated. The more people involved in this, the more danger presented to the ships themselves.

"They'll also have a healthy amount of soldiers and anti-boarding droids, just in case." That would be necessary, if only as a form of control on the vessel itself.

 

[Cira Cat]

Six would give a curt nod. All in all, with the information given and the details therein, there was no reason why she should not invest in the opportunity presented. Either way, this would provide an opening not only for making a profit, but for setting out new areas where Arceneau Trade could also settle upon deeper within Primeval territory.

"Then it appears that we have enough settled to get the ball rolling." artificial green eyes a hue brighter than the norm would flick over towards Alric.

"The timeframe is expedited, but I am certain we can meet the timeline with production."

 

[Brooke Waters]

She looked between the pair. This was exciting, right? She wasn’t just one of those women who thought she was assisting in accomplishing something. For whatever reason, Token was excited here. She didn’t want to be so excited that she had a Dragonair and then it evolved into something like a Dragonite, though. That would just not work out for her. She wanted to be excited because helping to develop the Dark Net would help the galaxy as well as her own business pursuits. She was trying to get the hang of this.

“That makes sense. Who do you have working internal security? One of your own? I know a company…” Darkwater. They had fish people. They helped work with Bright Star a lot, you know, when droids weren’t always the best, so big events and the like.

“When do we suspect the first bit of tests through Bright Star can begin?”

[member="Danger Arceneau"]
[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Token Waters"]

"We have security." Alric said with a smile.

Kiran Vess and Saeva Incorporated. They were now one of the biggest Private military corporations in the galaxy, large enough to warrant note. Of course the contracts to protect the seedships would all be funneled through the Primeval. It would all be very interesting, and a massive money maker for anyone involved. That was the point really, to make money, and of course to get Alric Kuhn to the next step of the galactic rung.

He smiled slightly, a genuine smile this time.

"Two months." Alric answered Miss Waters. "Some of the Relays have already been built and deployed, but it will take time for them to be operational. For now Vanir is using small communications outposts to tests the system. Slowly that will expand as more relays are placed. Once the seedships are fully functional, things will move more quickly."

 

[Cira Cat]

"Who else will be involved with the venture?" Six would ask, taking down mental notes that she will download for her Mistress' information. There was nothing from this meeting that the real Danger Arceneau would miss. Six was careful to ensure that. As Danger's HRD, she had to make sure that every event and meeting she attended would be seamlessly provided to Danger.

It wouldn't do if the real Trade of Queen would be required to discuss the particulars of a meeting Six attended and miss details.

"And where are the outposts that the communication system has been tested on? What are the results of their data?"

 

[Brooke Waters]

For now, Token was content with the information. She’d be able to get the Bright Star board to accept the use of the new system. With Vanir being a partner to both Bright Star and Arceneau, it shouldn’t be that hard. Hopefully Marek wouldn’t come back and try to take her thunder. The blonde looked between the two gathered. They definitely knew what they were doing, and it felt good to even be invited here. She had come pretty far, hadn’t she? A Corellian who went to school for humanitarian studies, then lost her parents, found herself all around the galaxy

And was now here.

“I’ll make sure that the board will be ready to accept the system as soon as we – you’re online with it.” She nodded, running a hand through her hair.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]
[member="Danger Arceneau"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Token Waters"]

"For now. No one. Nor do I intend to contact anyone else. The less this is known about the better. Information will eventually spread no matter what I do, but it's better that it stays quiet until the Dark-Net is operational." Secrecy was always important in this business, but the Dark-Net especially was better kept quiet. A secret network wasn't much use if it wasn't a secret. "The outposts are located across the galaxy, and so far tests have been successful."

That wasn't really ground breaking, it's not like they were using new technologies. "Excellent, Miss Waters. I think for now thats it. More detailed plans will be sent to both your corporations via couriers."

There would be no digitally transferred information, at least not now.

It wasn't that he was paranoid. The Holo-Net had no central controlling force, at least not anymore, but Alric still wanted this to be secret, he still wanted no one to know unless they had to. The Dark-Net once it was completed would function as an entirely new communications relay through several factors of the galaxy, factor the sub-nets in and Alric would have quite the profit forming entity on his hand.

 

[Cira Cat]

With that, all that required was the confirmation.

"Then, Mr. Kuhn, Arceneau Trade would be happy to assist Vanir Technologies with this venture." Six told the former Titan with cordial, but logical conviction. By all intents and purposes, now that Arceneau Trade held five percent of Alric's Kuhn's new company, their expansion was also money lining up ATC's pockets. With this development requiring the resources of Haven Shipyards and the rest of the mobile fleet, it will also amount to more work and credibility within Primeval Territories.

A discussion with the Host Lord perhaps would be imminent.

 

[Brooke Waters]

Keeping it secret, that was the real trick. She'd have to brand it properly. That she had a way to make their premier guests have access to a secure holonet. She might just have to work a few deals. She trusted her people so far. At least Ryan and Alana, the pair of NPCs who were in charge of running operations for the company. Sure, she might be involved here, but there was also the piece that keeping it secret kept it safe.

"Bright Star will be looking forward to the proposals. Its going to be exciting!" Wasn't it? She thought it was.

[member="Danger Arceneau"]
[member="Alric Kuhn"]