A Most Dangerous Game

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
HEGEMONIC AUTOMATON HEADQUARTERS

"I understand the droids always develop quirks, but I do not understand what a Rainsford is."
"Neither do I!" Hannibal roared back over the communicator. "Nobody does! It doesn't make sense!"
"I will call you back when you've calmed down." Zothustro decided, deactivating the commlink.

The A1 Huntsman Droid had been developed perfectly and without much fuss. Granted, there was the initial confusion over the personality traits and quirks inherent in the droid, but that was to be expected. Besides, as long as their intended customer kept the things memory-wiped properly, there would hardly be any issues. Now all that was left to contact the Beast Hunters Guild and inform them that the droid they had commissioned was ready to be put into mass production and would be available for sale within the week.

And maybe Zothustro would also try to persuade them to pursue a contract in which Hegemonic Automaton provided them with a steady supply of the droids, rather than just a series of one-off purchases. After all, the things were bound to perish frequently in environments as dangerous as the ones the Beast Hunters typically found themselves in. Zothustro thumbed the communicator once again, this time holocalling the Beast Hunters' guildmaster, Mrrew.

Once he answered, the holographic visage of the elderly X'Ting would appear before Mrrew.

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew had been sitting behind his desk, in his office, within the Okyaab-class freighter that served as the Guild's headquarters when his comlink rang. The Togorian frowned, staring at the 'Exotic animal themed' crossword puzzle he'd been working on. It would have to wait... Begrudingly, Mrrew accepted the call. And almost jumped out of his skin when a Gnasp's face appeared in holographic 3D. Wait, no... not a Gnasp.... After blinking several times, Mrrew reconized the insectoid as [member="Zothustro Quill"]. Was the droid class he ordered ready? He was eager to see those things in action... they could certainly be a major help in hunting small and large game alike, ecpecially useful to send on those hunts that most of his hunters thought were to simple to pursue; Ropos and the like. Mrrew smiled, showing massive fangs, and finally spoke into the holo-device. "Hello, Zothustru." Mrrew paused for a moment, wondering if he pronounced that right. Just a strange name... "How goes the work on the hunter droids?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

Zothustro blinked. What had he said? Zothustru? No, impossible. The X'Ting must have heard wrong. Such audio garbles were bound to happen when radio signals were crossing the immeasurable gulf of space in infeasible times to provide instantaneous communication. It was better to not think about it. Not that Zothustro was about to crassly correct a customer over a holocall. That was bad business. Zothustro nodded simply, not even going to attempt to pronounce Mrrew's name.

"We've finished up designing and testing on the hunter droid you commissioned. The droids will be available for purchase later this week, once our facilities have been configured for them." Zothustro paused. "We were curious as to how many you would initially like to order, or if you would consider a contract for a steady supply of the droids."

 

[Mrrew]

Fantastic! The droid's were finished! He looked forward to seeing how they fared against wampas and the like. It would certainly be interesting to see. How many to order..? Mrrew considered buying a set amount, but then he heard [member="Zothustro Quill"]'s second idea... A steady supply? That would probably be best, since even state of the art hunting droids were bound to get totaled fairly often... Organic hunters got totaled on occasian. That hapens wshen you try to fight things tne times bigger then you with fangs the size of your arm. ... He wondered if thats how humans felt when they saw a Togorian for the first time... Mrrew shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts. "A steady supply would work... What do you have in mind?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

"Nothing too excessive. Simply a monthly fee, and whenever any of your droids are destroyed in the field, we will replace them as soon as possible." Zothustro's mandibles clicked. "In fact, if you were to send the remains of the destroyed droids back to us for recycling, this could potentially entitle you to future discounts. We find that conserving materials tends to reflect better on our corporation."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew raised the whiskers over his eyes. So if any droids get eaten by rancors, they get replaced free of charge? That sounded fantastic. "That sounds perfect. They won't be needing replacement too often though, right?" He expected them to get destroyed by Rancors. He was hoping they wouldn't get destroyed by Ropos.

[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

Zothustro chittered and clicked once again. This was likely the X'Ting equivalent to a chuckle. "These are the finest huntsman droids in the galaxy. I doubt you will need frequent replacements."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew blinked. He had no idea whatjust happened... Did [member="Zothustro Quill"] sneeze? Was that some other language? Mrrew decided to ignore it. "Perfect, then. How soon can the first droids come?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

"We can send the first shipment later this week. How many would you like and where would you like them delivered?"

 

[Mrrew]

(Sorry for the wait, didn't get a tag.)

Mrrew smiled. Good,t hey'd be able to get the droids to him quickly... "How many a time do you think I'd need a shipment? You know the droids better then I do. And they can be sent tot eh Guild's headquarters- a ship in neutral space south of Sneeve. I'll send you coordinates."

[member="Zothustro Quill"]
[member="Zothustro Quill"]

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

"This depends on the size of your organization." Zothustro said. Truly, he had no idea how many of these missions the Beast Hunter Guild undertook were dangerous and resulted in loss of life. Or the exact size of their organization. He could only suspect that since they were being sent to the Guild's headquarters, which was a freighter, they would not need a thousand or so droids at once.

"I recommend anywhere from fifty to one-hundred and twenty five. The ultimate decision is yours, naturally."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew nodded. The recomendation was enough- he simply needed a rough estimate. He truly had no idea how much he'd need. "Fifty in a shipment sounds perfect." The Togorian nodded to the Insectoid alien across the holographic call. "Anything else?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Mrrew"]

"I believe that covers everything." Zothustro concluded. "Hegemonic Automaton thanks you for your business."

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew nodded at the holoprojector. "Happy to give it. Have a good day." Or night, or noon, or whatever it was on whatever planet [member="Zothustro Quill"] was on...

With those last words, the hologram flicked off.