Private A Helping Hand

[Raphael Gallustrade]

Raphael gave a yawn from his chair. It had been a long flight, so far, and he knew that it was going to be longer still. Yet, each time that he went somewhere, he ran into more and more problems and more and more opportunities. There were too many, at times. So far he'd met the Galactic Alliance and the New Jedi Order, then there was the Brotherhood of the Maw, the Eternal Empire and, finally, the normal Empire. He was still scratching his head over that one. Then he knew that, somewhere out there, were sith. Supposedly there was something called Silver Jedi, whatever that meant, something about a crusade of some kind… There was too much happening in the world. However, the hutts were why he'd gotten Baarla'vay out of Nar Shaddaa. Third attempted kidnapping and he wasn't having it anymore.

What was he to do next? He had many things that needed done, many things that he planned on doing, and many things more that would be needed for his survival. Yet…he was not much for transactions, wasn't much for trading, and yet the Rimward Trade League was something…different. They needed help, help in a different way. Not to mention the fact that they were probably the one group he'd not met with, in some capacity, that he actually wanted to meet. He couldn't care less about the Sith. They weren't his focus, nor his concern. At least not in the normal way. He had different plans on that loose end.

Were they ready for River, though? Was the galaxy at large ready for him? Raphael wasn't even done with him, and here he was, planning on making an enormous gamble with his droid pet project. Yet…wasn't the Rimward Trade League, exactly what he'd been doing? They were out there, protecting the people of the Outer Rim just as he'd done, and just as he'd been programming River to do… He couldn't think. River was in the cargo hold, but he couldn't keep him there… He needed a plan, and a better plan than "hello I'm Raph, would you like a droid". He needed a solid plan. Before he could go in, he needed something that he would want from them. Ideas were already hatched in his mind and he didn't need a great deal of time, but…that was the thing. They were savvy, not stupid. They would want River, and the schematics of a less intelligent, but still strong, droid unit.

The real question, through all of this, was what did he want? And that was, realistically, the biggest question that he'd yet to answer. What…DID he want? That was what had him floating out in space, at the moment, and that was the biggest question that he needed to answer. But, philosophical aspects aside, he needed to think on what he wanted from the RTL. He had ideas… and maybe those would be the best ways to start. With a single movement he makes a jump in hyperspace and dropped out right into RTL space and before anyone could hail him, he hailed the entirety of the Rimward Trade League: "My name is Raphael Gallustrade. I would like to speak to someone on the Council of the Rimward Trade League. I have something that might be of interest."
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

"There's a message from someone named Raphael Gallustrade. He wants to speak to someone on the council," her aide said softly. Mya blinked her eyes open slowly, staring down at the datapad that blurred around her. Requisitions. Strategic assessments. Logistics demands. Those she decided to focus on. She knew logistics. The League knew logistics, she amended herself.

"What's he want?" Mya asked, rubbing her face with the back of her hand.

"Doesn't say. Just claims to have something that might be of interest."

"Is it Dorian Savanar's body? Or the entire strategic plan of the Sith?"

"Not that anyone thinks," her aide replied smoothly. Mya just nodded and stood from her desk.

"Very well. Patch me through to him. Let's see if he wants a meet or just a conversation."

She adjusted her outfit and made her way to a communications room, letting know Tonzees Kaabrua and Miel Tevv know she would be unavailable for a brief period. The comlink buzzed as the techs connected the links and an image flickered to life.

"I am Councilwoman Mya Jesel. How can I help today?" She asked automatically.

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

Councilwoman. He heaved a rather heavy sigh of relief and smiled. "I do not mean to disrupt your day, Councilwoman Mya Jesel; as was stated my name is Raphael Gallustrade and I was hoping to have a brief meeting with you. At least as brief as this transaction would take. I would bow to you, but...I am currently on board my personal ship and, unfortuantely, there's not enough room." He sighed a moment. "I'm...something of a mechanic and... Let me just cut to the chase. I have a highly advanced combat droid that, once it is done, will be able to assist in policing the Outer Rim territories. It is capable of evolving its tactics, it has self-preservation protocols and it is very good at hand to hand combat. I have a weapon schematics prepared for it as well. And of all the things, I think that the droid would be best in the hands of the Rimward Trade League."

He paused a moment. "...as well as schematics for a less advanced, mass producable series of droid. If this is agreeable, I wouldn't mind coming to meet with you."
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

"No need to bow," Mya replied, waving her hand. "We're not that kind-" She paused as he continued to speak, her mind listening. That could indeed be useful, especially with the Sith coming towards them. And they had droid rights for sentient droids, so that was something the individual droid might like as well. Crash and TE-236 were two such droids that she knew of, and there were probably others as well.

"Yes, that certainly sounds possible," Mya said after a moment, cautiously. "I think a meeting would be beneficial, certainly. Why not come to Yumfla? We can talk and meet there."

As she spoke, she fiddled with a datapad on her wrist, sending a quick message to her security staff to run some background checks just to be safe. It never hurt. Her mentor had been murdered by Sith assassins, after all.

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

Any background checks would find that Raphael had lived on Nar Shaddaa for the longest time and had only recently left the planet with his own customized ship and weapons. It would seem that he'd gotten into some spats, though. Assisting the Galactic Alliance with a raider attack on Sedri and beating back more raiders with a jedi master. Raphael, for his own part, would be largely unaware that someone was checking on his background, though any alerts that he recieved, he wouldn't look into. As had happened with Kyrel Ren, Raphael completely understood security. He could've been anyone, including an assassin, but he truly wanted his little droid to be safe.

"Understood. I'll meet you there, shortly. I'll hand over my primary weapon, when I arrive, though I would prefer to keep my sidearm, if that's alright. Not that I don't trust you, as well, but I've had a lot of things happen when I've landed nowadays that I feel a bit better with it. Hopefully that's not offensive." Disengaging comms, he concentrated for a few moments. He'd never been to Yumfla before... But...he could just...about... There. Engaging the hyperdrive, he launched himself forward, into the abyss of hyperspace, before exiting not too far from Yumfla.

"This is Raphael of the Solar Lance. I am making my landing run, my weapons are powered down." He landed as close to the meeting point as possible and dragged out an averaged sized, human shaped droid out of the cargo hold and went to meet with the councilwoman and he set up the table carrying the droid so that the ORPSU model was standing straight up when he finally activated it. "Greetings, councilwoman. As I said, I am Raphael Gallustrade."
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

Mya's mouth quirked at the request. Keeping a sidearm to meet with a government leader? This was the Outer Rim though, and she shrugged. "I suppose so."

As they disconnected, she turned and nodded to her aides. "Can someone get some more caf going and a conference room booked?" She wasn't sure how far away he was, but the League wasn't that big, viewed from a galactic level, and most of it was hyperlanes at that. It wouldn't be too long, all things considered.

Then she went back to her requisitions and supply work, until she received the notice from the port authority that he had arrived and was headed for the conference room in the government complex. She let out a deep sigh, staring at the endless streams of figures that made their path across the holodisplay.

With some relief, she stood and strode to the meeting room, meeting the newcomer.

"Nice to meet you in person, Mr. Gallustrade," Mya replied, taking a seat. "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. I'm Mya Jesel. And I take it this is the droid you've been working on?"

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

He would nod as she entered, remained standing as she sat, drew his pistol and pressed a button as a magazine dropped out of the side, then he sat it on the table in front of him and sat down himself.. "It's nice to meet you in person as well, Councilwoman. And...sign of goodwill." He gestured to the pistolHe paused a moment, unstrapping the droid and knocking on its chest plating. There was a few moments where the roar of a krayt dragon sounded out and then the droid took a few steps forward, before snapping to attention, arms locking to its sides. It would look completely humanoid, onyx black in color, and two green grooves that ran along the contours of the left and right side of the face. Then, after a few seconds the black faceplate in the center lit up with a smiley face emoticon.

"So, I originally called it the ORPSU model: Outer Rim protection and support unit, buuuut I felt that was a mouthful, so I finally just ended up naming him River. I'll be honest, he's not completely finished... his vocabulator hasn't been installed yet and his personality AI hasn't been finalized. There's been just a bit of trouble getting it to adapt to the main system." He pulled up his datapad and tapped the chest a bit with a finger. "So... This one here has two separate military grade processing units, one in the head and one in the chest. He's got advanced targetting systems as well as a medical scanner. The operating suite is very resistant to hacking, and thanks to those dual cores, he's got evolving tactics programs and a programs for just about everyone weapon system as well as hand to hand combat." He lowered his datapad and looked to her with a smile. "He's a learning droid. Response time can be measured in seconds to nearly several nanoseconds."

Giving a light chuckle, though, he smiled to her. "It wasn't short notice, whatsoever, though. I couldn't think of a better place for River than here." The droid, saluted quickly. "He's resistant to kinetics, energy weapons, lightsabers and even EMP and ionic weapons. Just don't submerge him in water, without a suit. He can't fully take to that well. Also, he has an armament that I plan on making for him so you all won't have to worry about equipping him yourselves." He pulled out a datachit and slit it to her. "That contains the earliest schematics and would be a good way to design a more...mass produced model. I only ask that I be allowed to finish River and his weapon. Then..." He leaned back and shrugged smiling warmly, leaning back. "Then I'll get out of your hair."

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

Mya leaned back in the chair as the droid activated, standing to attention, and giving a wide smile. She couldn't help but give a slight smile back. It was a very incongruous contrast between the two that she hadn't expected.

As he listed the various attributes, she made a few minor notations on a datapad but didn't comment until he finished. And when he did, she raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you not be allowed to finish?" She turned to look at him. "These are all yours, at least as far as intellectual property is concerned. And you can do whatever you wish. We appreciate the offer, and we will compensate you for your work and permissions for manufacture."

She gestured broadly to River. "I'm sure he will be remarkable when you finish him and the more plentiful variations just as helpful to the Outer Rim. They'll be able to make things much easier for the many people who live in the Outer Rim."

After a moment, she stood up and studied the droid more carefully. "What would you need to help finish him?"

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

He shrugged at her question, while the droid still stood at attention. "I didn't want to assume or presume. I'm not so haughty or full of myself to think that I'm the only one that could do anything close to what River is capable of." He smiled a bit to her words. "I thank you. I wasn't actually looking for compensation, but River is a special droid." Then he turned to River. "You can stand down, by the way." The droid looked to Raphael, emoticon disappearing, and then nodded, slowly going into a parade rest stance.

"Once he's done? Yeah, he'll be...a force to be reckoned with. He takes orders fairly well, but will execute them based on his programming so he won't always obey orders exactly how they're given, if its analyses suggest a better method. He is however programmed to communicate if it feels another method is more efficient, though." Raphael nodded to her last sentence, though, face dropping to a light, gentle smile. "I hope... I don't want people to have to suffer raiders and slavers..."

River seemed to look back at her, head tilting just a bit, as if wondering if he could help her. "There are a few things: One, I need to finish his AI's integration, two I need to find a good vocabulator and finally, I want to get him some new servos for his joints, though that's not as important. Much of what you're looking at, in terms of the skeleton, is made of scavenged and restored parts. Rule one of Nar Shaddaa: work with what you've got." And then he let out a rather jovial laugh.

"The good thing is, that once he's done, he'll be able to equip and repair himself, for the most part. He might need assistance, on occasion, but he'll be fine otherwise. Far as continuing my work? I only ask a day to rest and a small workshop space with...to be honest I don't even need good terminals, I can work on just about anything."
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

Mya considered his words carefully, assessing the young man and his words, head tilted. "You are an odd one, perhaps, but I think I like you and your work."

She settled more comfortably into her seat, interlacing her fingers. "While I appreciate your humility," she allowed a warm smile to trickle onto her face. "I do have some concerns about your business sense."

Mya leaned back for a moment. "I think you and River will make a significant difference on the Outer Rim, especially over time. We'll have to make you both welcome and at home. I sometimes teach entrepreneurship classes at the merchant-marine academy for continuing education if you want, if you ever want to expand your education."

She made a few notes at the list of what he might need before slowly nodding. "We can work with what both you and River want and need. I can call the Outer Rim Manufacturing Union to see about renting you a workspace somewhere and getting some decent parts, especially after we pay you fir the schematic licenses."

Mya raised one finger to forestall any disagreement. "Here in the Rimward Trade League, we respect the work of all people, no matter how humble, and ensure that all laborers are paid a fair and living recompense for their work. What other way is there for people to be able to pursue their passions, hmm?"

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

He gave a light-hearted smile as he leaned forward and then chuckled. She thought that he was odd? Yes. He was definitely odd. "I certainly can't deny that I'm odd... But for more than just that. All my equipment has been completely customized, from my rifle to my blaster pistol and mag pistol."

"Business wasn't one of my classes. Droid work, programming..." He chuckled a bit and smiled to her.

He leaned back and scratched his chin. "I wouldn't mind too terribly for some business classes here and there. I dont' have much confidence when it comes to selling my stuff, but I've got...a lot of things that I'm working on. Some, of course, that I won't talk about. Not on you just in general."

"I really appreciate that. To be honest, if you don't mind me using some of the facilities, like I said, I don't really even need to be paid. I'm a fairly self-sufficient kinda guy." He chuckled and leaned back again. "But, if you insist, then I certainly won't say no."
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

So he was one of those Outer Rim prodigies then. Not usually broadly educated, but with excellent hands-on experience that has honed natural talent and genius.

"Well, we respect all backgrounds here," Mya said at last, "And encourage the growth and development of all our folks, and we make no demands on knowing everything."

She nodded as he spoke, giving an ironic smile. "I would hope you wouldn't say no to being paid. We'd be glad to let you use some facilities. How much space and what sort of equipment would you need?"

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

He leaned back listening to her. Sure make no demands to know everything, but some things should've been... a bit more expected, perhaps. He felt like somethings one might want to know about someone before they just blindly accepted a person. But perhaps that was just him. It was possible that he was a bit of a fool.

"Mm... Not too much, thankfully. I can run most diagnostics on a basic computer. Say... a small dock for a ship? Place to do repairs and maintenance and then a place to finish River. Plus a place to complete some of those weapons that I promised you."

He leaned back and gave her a smile. "Also, if you don't mind, I'd love to learn a bit more about about the Rimward Trade League. What was the inspiration behind it?"
Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Raphael Gallustrade

Mya nodded, adjusting her notes. "Perhaps something along the lines of a small garage area connected to the spaceport, perhaps on an auxiliary landing area?"

That meant Dockside, more than likely, which would be fine. It wasn't exactly the friendliest area, but they were generally honest. At least, they didn't commit any major crimes in League space and had the muscle to keep the exterior syndicates out. Hutt Consortium would probably eventually make a move, which would get messy.

At his question, she blinked in surprise, trying to assess how to explain several decades of history. She let out a small laugh.

"Pragmatism, mostly," she admitted after a moment. "We've been members of numerous coalitions and governments over the past few decades, and as a whole, we have all collectively done better in those times. The Outer Rim can be a rough place to run solo, both for people and governments."

Mya shrugged. "If we can grow a healthy interstellar economy, we can grow our local economies. If we can grow local economies, we can remove many of the root causes of the crime and corruption that's historically plagued our areas. And we don't like others telling us how we can live, so we made it a point to not tell League members how to live, as much as possible."