A Pound of Obscure [Closed]

[Caulder Dune]

ORD CESTUS
HEGEMONIC AUTOMATON HEADQUARTERS, CHIKAT'LIK

A nervous, insectoid head peeped around the corner and into Tyrin's office once the doors slid open.

"Uhhh."

Tyrin glanced up from the paperwork sprawled out on his desk. Most of it was for his position on Coruscant. His attention was presently split between his new-found corporate holdings and his duties as a commissioner on Coruscant. Once all the hooplah regarding the moving of Hegemonic Automaton's headquarters to Lianna was settled, he could leave most of the work to Zothustro and focus his attentions back on Coruscant until the fiasco under the planet's surface was either rectified or the planet recaptured by the Republic. Or Vong. It was difficult to tell who was more annoying these days.

But right at this moment, the courier lurking outside his office and muttering inarticulately was a strong contender.

"Er..."

Tyrin put his stylus down. "If you have important something to say, you had better enter first."

The X'Ting shuffled in. It wasn't Zothustro. The elderly mutant was off in Protectorate space at present, negotiating deals with some bigwigs on planets in the upper part of Omegan territory. There was lots of revenue to come from muscling in on the space Baktoid had left. The inept hooligans running Baktoid now were a disgrace to its name.

"The, uh, the government of Ord Cestus would like to send an inspector." The X'Ting explained, finally finding some words. "To see the new combat droids. Since they're, uh, better and stuff."

Thankfully Tyrin was not unnecessarily rude to his employees. Otherwise this X'Ting would have been fired or electrocuted to death on the spot. Or maybe even both. It would certainly be the Cavill-esque thing to do, but Tyrin was (thankfully) not that depraved madman. This inspector would be a problem, though. Instinct told him to just mind control whoever they sent and have them soothe the government's worries. On the other hand, Tyrin did need a twenty post dev thread to finish production of the TA2, so he would have to settle for inspection.

"When should we expect this inspector?"
"About two days from, uh, now."

Every uh brought this bug one step closer to a pink slip. If only he knew. Coincidentally, this would coincide with the visit of a few associates of his. How delightful. They'd make it a party.

"I'll make the proper arrangements, then. Thank you."

The X'Ting nodded wordlessly and slunk back out, office doors sliding shut behind him.

 

[Caulder Dune]

ORD CESTUS
MC-CES-038, BADLANDS

[member="Marek Starchaser"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"]

MC-CES-038 was the database name for the thirty-eighth factory established by Hegemonic Automaton. MC stood for manufacturing center, whereas CES stood for Cestus. It was a very orderly and efficient naming system. Tyrin liked it. Since taking over, Tyrin had begun the process of making Hegemonic Automaton's facilities as uniform and well protected as possible. There was not much to show for it at present, but once production and marketing kicked up as the company made roads into Protectorate space, each factory would be a wonderful sight to behold.

For now, it was just a factory. One that would be churning out TA2 Super Battle Droids for the galactic weapons market. The large, bulky droids were cumbersome to mass produce, but it was possible nonetheless. It simply required its own specialized facility. No other droids would be produced here, unfortunately. In addition to the inspector scheduled to arrive, Starchaser and Ovmar had expressed interest in touring the facility and seeing the TA2s themselves. Since he was going to have to show off and explain things to some government employee, he might as well bring a few associates along for the ride.

Tyrin waited patiently on the facility's designated landing pad for the duo and the inspector to show up.

 

[Corey's OOC]

It wasn't every day that Marek was invited to partner company's headquarter worlds. And with everything going fine back on his home front, it was alright for him to take a peak out at his business partner's facility.Praise for Tion. He should probably start getting to work on Haor Chall, seeing as he was spending all this time working around Hegemonic Automatons. Still, they gave him ideas. And he just needed to get back to the lab some night, with a bottle of scotch that was old enough to buy its own scotch, some of the Xi'Char, and go nuts.

He had a few ideas.

Still, he was here now, and that was his focus. Landing the Flow on the landing pad, and stepping out, he gave a nod to [member="Darth Janus"]. He was making the next step of battle droids, and really, if he could get a few, even if just for protection of Technate interests... then that was what he could do.

Seeing the facility was not a bad idea, either.

And he really wanted to walk up, close to Tyrin and whisper 'heil Tion,' was that so bad?

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Darth Janus"]

A luxurious little yacht settled down close to Starchasher’s own transport and from it stepped out the Sith Lord otherwise known as Jared Ovmar. His eyes looked over the scene, settled eventually upon the muted forms of both Janus as well as Peregrus and a smile flickered on his face for a couple of miliseconds until it was wiped clean back into the stoic representation of Law and Order.

One of Cest- Hegemonic’s droids waltzed behind the Sith, taking hold of the offered coat as Ovmar approached the two other Sith Lords.

‘Gentlemen. I take it both of you find yourself in good health?’

Again his eyes wandered, wondering when the fourth organic member of their expedition would arrive so this thread could start it honesty.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"]

Tyrin nodded as Marek approached, shaking the other industrialist's hand. "Mr. Starchaser."

Not long after that, Jared Ovmar showed up as well. Tyrin was pleased to see it was a Hegemonic Automaton droid doting on the tycoon in charge of Neuro-Saav and not some other inferior model floating around the galactic market. They should have got a picture. It would've been great publicity. Tyrin shook Jared's hand as soon as the third Sith Lord of the group had come within range. There would still be a few moments before the inspector arrived, as to eat up some of that post count so it didn't get crazy and long-winded over here.

"Naturally." Tyrin answered. "How were your flights?"

 

[Corey's OOC]

Now this was a crew, wasn't it? Three tycoon Sith. Business in the galaxy didn't st and a chance. Droids, gambling (even if Marek accepted payment in secrets), and biotech, oh my.

There was the inspector still, but they'd get here. Nodding at the question he was asked, Marek responded. "Made it here without getting hunted down. " Always a win that way.

And maybe with Hegemonic Automaton picking up speed they could make Bright Star a maitre d' droid. There would be another contract there.

[member="Darth Janus"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Darth Janus"]

“It was pleasant, that said it’s good to have some solid ground under my feet.”

The Sith Lord spoke in a conversational tone, while settling his eyes on the female investigator walking up to them, why female you ask? Because we are a progressive society - which hires females for the wage as men, take that inequality.

He waited for Ardik to greet the woman first, it was his role as the guy with the plan after all.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"]

Somehow the investigator had shown up without any of them noticing a ship landing or anything of that sort. This was because Ovmar liked to take liberties. Good for Ovmar. It was thanks to people like him that the plot train kept moving at a reasonable pace and they did not waste an exorbitant amount of posts on mindless chit-chat. Especially when they had to get to the root issue of the TA2 Super Battle Droid being developed in a timely manner. The woman who approached them was a human woman.

One would think that X'Ting would make up the majority population of their home planet, but given that the X'Ting were nearly wiped out by a plague centuries ago, it was a right and proper miracle they had managed to maintain existence at all. Especially when they had to weather the Gulag Plague as well. Nowadays they were mostly neck-and-neck with the human population. Nothing too special. Speaking of mundane, the lady inspector, Rhyssa Por'Ten, was not a lot to look at. She had a narrow, plain face, with shoulder length black hair. Because not everyone in the galaxy could be a goddess given flesh, contrary to the impression you might get from the local Player-Character population.

Por'Ten carried herself with the kind of purpose and pride one would expect from a descendant of one of Cestus Cybernetics' Five Families. In keeping with Por'Ten family tradition, the right half of her face was tattooed with strange markings that probably made little sense to anyone who wasn't a Por'Ten. Clearly, a woman to behold and fear. Or not. She was just a bureaucrat, after all. She didn't look up from her datapad until she was essentially on top of the group, and even then it was only briefly. Tyrin quietly retracted the hand he had outstretched for a shake.

"You did not tell me there would be others here."
"I didn't think that would be an issue."
"Of course you didn't." She said, rolling her eyes and tapping a touchscreen key on the datapad with particular agitation.

It was going to be one of those inspectors, it looked like.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Sneaky invesitgators. He could probably use them in the System Authority. Y'know, organics who were useful, unlike frycooks, who Marek would gladly replace with droids. That wasn't to say chefs needed to be replaced, but liquefying all the low-income, lacking of education organics? And using their liquid remains to fuel droids? That was fine in his book. Make your impact or risk being replaced and upgraded...

Maybe he could entech the people...

Turning to the inspector, Marek almost did a double take. What was this person? See? This was why Marek hired fancy looking assistants, mainly because was going to end up sleeping with them, but also, because, well, they'd disarm people with their looks. And that bit of power was very, very useful.

The tattoos were neat, but well... beside that?

"Is it going to be a problem?" Even when Marek wanted to be intimidating, he really didn't have the demeanor overall for it.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]
[member="Darth Janus"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Ovmar looked the girl over once, any traces of interest that might have lingered in those cold, blue eyes soon evaporated when she seemed to plain by half - thanks to Tyrin's writer being a jerkass who didn't allow any fun in threads. The narrator sighed and digressed promptly back to the ask ahead, the Sith Lord patted Starchaser on his shoulder and locked eyes with the inspector.

'There is no problem at all, Marek. She was just about to thank us for arriving here so promptly, weren't you miss.'

His voice held a mesmerizing tone. Space Magic~

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Darth Janus"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"]

In a sudden and surprising twist of fate, it turned out that the good Ms. Por'Ten was Force Dead. It was a hereditary trait for the Por'Ten family since after the Gulag Plague. A very strange mutation that would puzzle scientists and geneticists for centuries to come. If they had ever been made away of Ms. Por'Ten's state. Which they likely wouldn't, since no one really cared about her anyway. She was just a minor character. Who happened to be Force Dead.

Yeah.

She fixated Ovmar with a stare. She didn't make a face, but her eyes spoke of untold fury. A palpable cataclysm of hate that could extinguish all life in the galaxy if tapped into. A loathsome vortex that even Charon and Yuuzhan-Vong would flinch at the very mention of. She said nothing in the end, returning her attention to her datapad. She marked something else down.

"Right. Can we get this started, please?"

 

[Corey's OOC]

This woman was definitely more than met the eye. Marek wouldn't be surprised if she transformed into a truck to fight another bland looking grenade woman that turned into a gun with a sidekick who turned into a jet. That would be something. Already, Force Dead, that made Marek's skin crawl, but he wasn't the one who reached out with the Force so often. Just when he needed to... Unlike other users of the Force who were bending minds, Marek preferred to bend reality and the world around him.

And really not bend Ms. Por'ten over anything.

Reading her body language, however, Marek felt it might be good to send her against people like the Vong, if only to wipe them off the galactic map.

That'd be sweet.

[member="Darth Janus"]
[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Ovmar yawned just a tinsy, tad bit. It seemed his mental warping hadn't been met with success, probably something to do with the Force Deadness of the girl, strange how he hadn't felt that deadening aura two seconds ago. Well, not really strange if you consider how meddlesome Tyrin's narrator could be.

The Sith Lord made a mental note to order her kidnapping at the end of the thread, so his scientists could check-out the strange and rare genetic malfunction the woman possessed, perhaps there was a way around it or perhaps... it was possible to create an army of Force Dead men without them being icky Vong.

That'd be sweet.

[member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Darth Janus"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

"Yes. Yes we can." Tyrin said. He'd have preferred to chew this woman out for being an insufferable person and for being so callous towards his colleagues, but that would have to wait until after he was done making sure the TA2s could be constructed as scheduled. "Follow me please."

Without further delay, as he suspected Por'Ten might have assaulted someone if they hung around much longer, Tyrin led the trio off the landing pad. It was not a far walk from there to the main entrance to the factory. The floor they entered in on was little more than a storage facility. Large cargo containers were kept neatly organized. Even larger turbo-lifts made up the majority of the floor in the room, but those weren't for passenger use. Tyrin guided the group around these and to a much more compact elevator for employee use, sliding his own keycard through the slot so that the doors opened up.

All of Hegemonic Automaton's main production areas were located underground. It made things a lot more difficult for potential saboteurs. It also made for a rather uncomfortable elevator ride with three all-powerful business Sith pressed into a tight space with a woman who was angrier than all three of them. Weren't they supposed to be the angry ones? It was Sith standard. But they didn't have anything to be angry about. They were all rich and could do magic.

Once the lift came to a halt, Tyrin guided the party out and throw the hallowed halls of a Hegemonic Automaton manufacturing plant. A few droids and the odd X'Ting laborer would walk by every so often, ambivalent at best to the tour taking place. They finally arrived to a room wherein the finishing touches were being put on a TA2 Super Battle Droid. The hulk of an automaton stood perfectly still while a Z5 Maintenance Droid hovered deftly around it, putting the finishing touches on some of the external parts.

"This is the TA2 Super-"
"Yeah, I know." Miss Por'Ten interrupted, lifting her datapad up briefly and leveling it at the TA2. There was an audible click as she took a single picture.

Suddenly she wasn't the only person in the room ready over with rage.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

"What does it have for armaments?" She inquired, finally managing to tear away her gaze from the datapad so she could look at Tyrin as he answered.

"The TA2 is presently the heaviest armed product we have." Gritted teeth were just barely evident as Tyrin explained away. "It's primary armament is the rotary blaster cannon, as you can see here, mounted in place of a left arm."

"The blaster cannon is high powered and comes with two settings: single shot and fully automatic. The former is more effective against highly armored targets, the latter against infantry and the like. You'll also note the two protrusions on its shoulders shaped as boxes. These are grenade launchers. They can be fitted with almost any grenade and have an effective range of up to thirty-five meters."

Rhyssa had long since stopped looking at the Umbaran and taken to taking notes on her datapad once more. The total disregard for normal etiquette was beginning to grate on the Umbaran, but whatever. The oafishness of this woman could be overlooked so long as the fate of his operations hung in the balance. Once she was done with that, she found it in herself to ask another question.

"What role is this droid supposed to be fulfilling?"

"The TA2 is our dedicated support droid. It's designed to be able to dish out a lot of firepower as well as sustain a lot of damage. Imagine, if you will, a firefight breaking out where a TA2 is taking part. Most enemy soldiers will focus on the TA2, given that it is heavily armed and to ignore it would greatly jeopardize their position. The TA2 will then sustain most of the enemy's attention, allowing its allies better opportunity to strike against the enemy."

At least, that was how Tyrin imagined it would go down, given his rudimentary understanding of firefights and his optimistic outlook when it came to products he was selling.

"And it needs grenade launchers for that?"

Clearly, this woman didn't understand the concept of going the extra mile. Or twenty extra miles, as was the case for Hegemonic Automaton. If she was having trouble with that, how was she going to wrap her angry little mind around the rest of the droid? Lunacy. Tyrin rolled his eyes, seeing as she wasn't even looking at him anyway.

"Well, to be frank, when the TA2 is employing its energy shield as cover, it is difficult for it to aim its rotary cannon. So we installed the grenade launchers so it could continue to fire upon enemies despite attempting to take cover."

Rhyssa wrenched her head from the datapad, eyes narrowing on Janus.

"It has an energy shield projector?"

Oh, this poor woman.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

Tyrin sighed. "Yes. Yes, it does. Mounted on the right arm, just there,"

The Umbaran indicated the right arm accordingly, but by then Rhyssa had already returned to furiously typing into her datapad.

"It projects a flat, rectangular shield. Just enough to cover the things lower legs and upper torso if positioned appropriately. It's roughly similar in strength to a Droideka's, merely shaped differently. The shield can reflect most blaster bolts, but is susceptible to overload if it is placed under concentrated fire or the droid itself draws to much power to its primary weapon."

Rhyssa made a sort of frustrated cluck of her tongue. "I thought the whole point of these battle droids was to be disposable. Why are you putting all this stuff on it?"

It was all very fortunate that Tyrin was as even-tempered as he was, and that he abhorred violence towards women in general. Even the nasty ones. Not the Jedi ones, though. Someone needed to smack some sense into them.

"Naturally, the TA2s are indeed disposable. All droids are disposable, though that doesn't necessarily make them useless or give us an excuse to distribute sub-par product. If we simply churned out droids that were of no real significance and designed only to suffocate enemies under piles of their corpses, well, we would be no better than the troglodytes that work and run Baktoid. Hegemonic Automaton's goal is to provide a higher quality product. Not more of the same."

"Fascinating." Rhyssa droned, not sounding too impressed by that long-winded mission statement. "So, we're looking at minor production here?"

Tyrin shook his head. "Not at all. The TA2 will be mass-produced, though not on the level the TA1. By our estimates, there will be one TA2 for every five TA1s. It seems an accurate statistic for me, given production cost comparisons."

"Really. How are you managing to pull that off?"

"Things are cheaper here on Ord Cestus than in other parts of the galaxy. Cheaper materials and devices mean we can afford to keep prices reasonable. Everything we use is manufactured domestically, you know."

"Mhm." Rhyssa returned her focus to the datapad, making note of these new pieces of information.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

"Now, the armor of the droid is a Hegemonic standard. You'll note the plates are covered with a specialized compound called molytex. This is the same material used for blaster-proof vests. We've reinforced the durasteel plates underneath the droid as well, giving it an added degree of resistance against small-arms fire."

"An energy shield and thick armor, then you throw molytex on the thing?" Another clucking sound. This woman must have been part chicken. "Seems excessive."

"Well, if we're to distinguish ourselves from more mundane droids, the extra mile needs to be traveled." Tyrin explained. "Besides, molytex is already cheap. Using it may not be necessary, but the cost of it is negligible when compared to the benefits of using it."

Really, the notion that droid soldiers had to be disposable, unthinking, and as cheap as possible to be worth using was a toxic one that Tyrin intended to dispel. No one bothered to armor their droids meaningfully, even using methods that were creative rather than expensive. Hegemonic combat droids were designed to take more punishment. Be more effective. Return better results. That was the whole point of this operation. They were here to change the game and outpace every other droid manufacturer in the galaxy. One product at a time.

Tyrin liked to think it was working so far.

"Right. I'll bet it doesn't do much against ion blasters and EMPs, though."

"Of course not." Tyrin replied, unable to hide the contempt from his voice. What a stupid question. "That's what the ionization buffer is for."

Rhyssa took note of the annoyance in the Umbaran's voice and made more notes on her datapad, much to Tyrin's chagrin. Sometimes the man simply couldn't help himself. She didn't seem too concerned with the mention of the ionization buffer, instead taking her sweet time in jotting down whatever scrap of information or notes she found important. No doubt a reminder for her to tell Hegemonic Automaton to shove it up their exhaust port because they sucked.

"What was that last part?"
"The ionization buffer?"
"Yes. What's that about?"

"Ah, well, the ionization buffer is in place for rather obvious reasons. A vast majority of the droids on the market are vulnerable to ion blasters and EMPs. The ionization buffer protects our droids from immediate deactivation as a result of such things. We find that vulnerability to electromagnetic pulses and that sort of thing can't be overlooked if we are to outstrip competitors. It simply doesn't make any sense to leave such a glaring weakness if it can be covered up effortlessly."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

Rhyssa busied herself with the datapad, eventually imposing another question. "Who do you intend to market these to?"

Aside from his intent to sell the droids to just about anyone who wanted them, Tyrin had very specific plans to sell the droids to a few major organizations in Protectorate space. Namely, the military of Devaron and the mining guilds on Lohopa II. Tyrin had sent Zothustro Quill there to accomplish that much, but given the delay in producing the TA2s due to this inspection, the X'Ting would be marketing labor and luxury droids to more popular planets instead. Then they could secure a market for the newer combat models, and hopefully secure their loyalty for an upcoming series of droid walkers as well.

Provided those didn't have to be inspected as well.

"Governments, mostly. A few corporations in need of security for key facilities." Tyrin answered simply. "Nothing unscrupulous, I assure you."

Now, that was a rather bold-faced lie, but given that Tyrin was both skilled in the art of lying and that Rhyssa Por'Ten was just utterly enthralled with her stupid data pad, she wouldn't notice. The criminal element on Atzerri was just too large a market to pass up. And given the particular ruthlessness criminals usually had in warring one another, he expected the seedier customers he secured there would be his best. But this wasn't the kind of thing one admitted to a government inspector. After all, if he sold to criminals and crooks, he would probably sell to even more morally bankrupt entities, like the Moross Crusade or the One Sith.

The former was true. Not the latter, though. Selling to the One Sith before they struck it big was only going to isolate current markets. Moross, on the other hand, was a nice enough place to do business. Particularly if they were too preoccupied prostrating themselves before their nonsensical deities.

"Uh-huh. And what about Ord Cestus? Did that figure in anywhere?"

Oh, Ord Cestus was actually interested in his droids? He would have never guessed.

"Well, given that the planet is our primary manufacturing center, I would see to it any deals made with the Cestian government have a reasonable discount."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Tyrin replied, impatience evident. "Obviously."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Marek Starchaser"] | @Rhyssa Por'Ten

Rhyssa studied Tyrin for a few moments, before returning her attention to her datapad. "If you could do without the attitude, please, that would be great."

Tyrin internally reflected that he could do without a lot of things. He could do without the existence of the Yuuzhan'Vong and the Mandalorian clans. He could do without the Silver Jedi. He could also do without the Republic and several individuals in particular. Individuals like Jacen Cavill, and that one insufferable oaf who had held a replica of the Krayt Holocron ransom. But, most prominently, he could do without this insufferable woman (who hadn't even the courtesy to look up from her blasted electronics) telling him how to run the business of Hegemonic Automaton.

But, Tyrin was an even-tempered man, albeit prone to sarcastic outbursts. He would continue to suffer, so that his company could live on.

"Oh, my apologies." Tyrin apologized. "Is there anything else you should like to inquire about?"

Rhyssa considered that for a few moments. Was there anything else she needed to go over? They had already talked about the shield generator, the grenade launchers, the need for the droid as it stood, the ionization buffer... That was basically all she'd been asked to do, really. It seemed her time suffering under this boorish tycoon and his two butt-buddies was coming to an end. How perfectly splendid.

"I think that'll be all. I'll see myself out."

With that, the woman turned on a heel and strode out with the same aura of total control and austerity she had initially appeared with. Good for her.

"What a delightful experience." Tyrin remarked to Starchaser and Ovmar, once the inspector was out of earshot.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek had been taking mental notes and paying complete attention here. [member="Darth Janus"] was an ally. And for Marek that meant a great deal. If he could keep an eye out for the HA interests, he was going to do exactly that. "She's lovely. Think she inspects casinos?"

Get her tanked she might be fun.

Probably not.