Zombie Cleanup on Aisle Elrood

[Judah Dashiell]

After the Dominion of Elrood
Dinbar, Elrood - New Salacia facility



At least the Lodon Ocean was a sight to behold. Dark blue water glittered in the sunlight, waves lapping on the rocky shores near the starport.



Turning his back on the ocean, Judah was a little concerned at the sight before him. Firemane had done an effective job of removing the infected from the few city blocks he had purchased at auction. A chain-link fence had been erected around the area. Most of the infected had been removed from the city streets around the spaceport but some lingered.


Security patrolled around the fence, picking off infected or keeping out riff-raff from causing more damage. A large, singular skyscraper was able to be saved. Security forces had bombed or destroyed much of the rest, not that there was much to salvage to begin with.


Ruins of Imperial-era architecture littered the area. Cleaning droids were using steaming hot water to clean entrails off the duracrete. Large,metal waste bins had been brought in, littering the area. Anything not salvageable was thrown it. They were getting full and fast.


It was going to take a great deal of time before they could even get in the construction droids.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Dinbar, Elrood



Repulsor-barges loaded down with construction waste and ruins rumbled in and out of the in progress spaceport. City blocks had been razed in the battle, with Firemane seeming to have taken great care to merely bomb Salacia's property and not the surrounding buildings. The untrained eye might say the local government would want to raze the surrounding buildings, especially given the pockmarks from the recent firefight. Who knew the infected undead would cause so much damage?


In the surrounding city blocks remained one lone building. A single skyscraper remained, the only thing Salacia had judged as worth saving. Even then, massive renovations were needed. Most of the glass was broken or blown out. What remained was currently being removed, the entire structure taken back to the metal studs.


Shards of glass tinkled down from some of the more careless workers. Judah had worked a few late nights with Arceneau Trade Company and their research department to make the skyscraper something different. Green-colored solarium glass would cover the entire structure. It would cost quite a bit in credits. Solarium glass was limited in supply and [member="Danger Arceneau"] seemed quite content to keep the market restricted.


Great care was taken in the shipment, any broken panel could set them back weeks. There wasn't going to be a risk with the rare glass, Judah would make sure it wouldn't be installed until demo was finally complete.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Ceto - Dashiell family residence


Yawning, hands came up and ran through his unruly hair. Night had fallen long ago on Ceto, dragging on into the early morning hours. He needed to contact [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] . All the way over in Silver Sanctum territory. Rumor had it she lived on Mon Calamari now, making them 'neighbors' of a sort.


Trouble was, he had to wait for a respectable hour on Mon Cal to actually make a HoloNet call. Waking a person up to have a chat and buy products at four in the morning was never a welcome intrusion. At least the sun would have risen, breakfast might have been consumed.


Pencil came to tap on the desk as the HoloNet call connected, first to the overly cheery sectaries that were the main hub for the company. One would think that their near-slavery to Lady Kerrigan would have made them a little dull but it actually only seemed to increase their positive mood.


"Lady Kerrigan please. In regards to Judah Dashiell and ARGH products."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Clearly Happiness in Slavery was in full effect when it came to Sio's 'attendants'. On the one hand their boss paid them well, was very generous with gifts since she never bothered to look at the price tag and took them to fun places. On the other hand, she was demanded lots of attention, expected to be pampered and fawned over all the time.


In any case, the call was connected and an overly cheery, predictably pretty secretary passed it on. A couple minutes passed, then a slightly flushed Siobhan Kerrigan appeared, wearing a silk kimono robe since she'd grown fond of those recently. She looked a bit tired and her firemane was somewhat dishevelled, but then she'd only just gotten up.


"Mr. Dashiell, to what do I owe the pleasure? My attendant said something about business," she spoke as she sat down. Harmony, wearing a rather low-cut dress, walked into the room and brought her Lady a steaming cup of Atrisian tea, then stepped out after running her hand across her shoulder.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]


Going through Firemane comm channels was like scrolling through a HoloNet page full of attractive, half-naked female sentients. If it wasn't a business call he'd be a little concerned about what he had run across. Soon enough Lady Kerrigan had appeared on screen, looking more than a little flustered. Judah was a little concerned he called too early but one never did know how early or late another person rose for the day.


"Lady Kerrigan, good morning. I apologize for calling so early.....I must have my time zones mixed up."


Apologies finished, business could continue.


"Of course. I'm interested in buying your construction droids. A small batch of first - just enough to try out. Enough to finish the spaceport project I'm currently working on. If all goes well....I'd like to look into a long-term contract. Possibly see if you could make underwater ones that withstand salt and oceanic pressures."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Siobhan automatically arched a bit into the touch when Harmony's nimble fingers danced over her shoulder. Alas, they were gone far too quickly and the Dahomian departed from her study. The servant girl was such a troll. However, the prospect of fake money cheered the Lady up. After all, she had an expensive life style, a wife, three kids and several lovers to think of.


"The Herakles drones, I understand. They're very nice," she spoke, taking a sip from her cup. Atrisian tea was best tea ever. "We'll gladly supply them for your project. We've already significantly increased our production because Vanir wants them too, so it shouldn't take long till you have them. The drones are designed to function in the void of space or a planet's orbit, but I'm sure we could design an underwater version. It could be useful for our own operations on Tygara and Arkas." Salacia's expertise would probably be of use since they had experience when it came to playing around 20, 000 miles beneath the ocean.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]


"Yes, the ones that look like giant death beetles."


It was a crude description but one he found apt. The first time the ARGH worked on his Fondor Shipyards it was a rather frightening sight. HK-36 was in charge then and his odd personality seemed to fit the droids. So long as they did the job he could care less what they appeared to be. Reminded of the creatures again, Judah hoped nightmares wouldn't befall him once he was done with the call. After all, it was still night on Ceto.


"Excellent....I'll be sure to transfer credits in a moment....I'm thinking roughly thirty or so to start? Seems like a good number, especially if they can be programmed for our technology purposes here. I have a feeling these are going to suit our needs.....Salacia will be happy to try out underwater ones, we don't mind being lab rats from time to time.."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


Siobhan suddenly burst out into laughter. "Heh. Yes, they do look like overgrown death beetles, when I think about it," she spoke once she was coherent again. "Anyhow, excellent. Glad to do business with you, as usual. We'll have the robo beetles ready for you soon, and we'll look into buildung an underwater version."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]


Early morning must have made his 'dad jokes' easier to bear for Lady Kerrigan. Or perhaps death beetles was an exciting phrase used by the businesswoman. Either way, he would soon be flush with the odd looking construction droids and the project would be getting a move on. Judah could only hope Firemane would send out some technicians or instructions, otherwise Salacia would be hacking into the droids to reprogram them for their unique needs.


"I'll be looking forward to my robotic beetle shipment. Keep in touch on any developments about modifications to them for undersea usage. Good night..um...excuse me, good morning Lady Kerrigan."


HoloNet call ended with Judah ending up thirty construction death beetles richer. With any luck, they would reduce the need for sentient labor but also cause the projected timeline to shorten. That is, if they worked as advertised.