Private A Soaring Investment

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

En route to Hyllyard spaceport from Myrkr orbit

Force Commander Burtch of the Elysium Empire Navy was already regretting his choices. His chosen staff for this meeting, Lieutenant Commander Dorthea Dobson, and Commander Treyfa, were the worst two people he could’ve chosen to take anywhere and it was already painful.

Lieutenant Commander Dobson was wining and griping about the new Freestar transport that they were riding. Her grating voice went on and on about how unprofessional the pilot was, how uncomfortable the interior was, and how officers should be riding in more comfort. She exhibited little-to-no self awareness as the pilot could hear her clearly from the cockpit. It was fairly evident that he could hear her as he chose to fly in such a way that the wind bucked and kicked the small transport around like a sports ball.

And Commander Treyfa... well Burtch just plainly didn’t like her. He’d think of what she was doing wrong later.

But both women were important to his goals right now. Dobson, while a real pain in the rear was quite knowledgeable in the art of finances and logistics. And Treyfa was easily the most overqualified naval weapons officer he’d ever seen. If anyone could tell him about a good product he was looking at, it was her.

He tuned out his chief quartermaster as she continued to run her mouth and waited for the long awaited landing. Several minutes later (longer than expected, as the pilot must’ve been trying to make a subtle point) the whole ship jerked and the sickening undulations of the ship ended abruptly. Burtch unbuckled his safety harness, stood up, and swiftly hit the emergency door release butting on the other side of the compartment before Dobson could find something new to complain about. Behind him he thought he might’ve heard Commander Treyfa giggle softly.

The hydraulics hissed and the rear door lowered into a ramp that they could walk out onto.

Outside, the sky was bright and it took his chiss eyes a moment to adjust so that he could see. While he waited, he tested the gravity with his knees and noted that it was a little lighter than he was used to. He didn’t get to go planet-side often in his line of work until recently. This was something to get used to.

He and his two companions walked out of the ship and tried to get a look at their surroundings.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Hyllyard spaceport. This wasn't Lori's first visit there, nor would it be the last. MandalArms used the frontier town as part of their manufacturing departments. Plenty of citzenry found employment through the arms and shipbuilding company. None of that had changed after Kaine had died and it was passed down to her.

Now Lori was here for a meeting of all things, with Grand Shepherd Burtch . She had met the Chiss at her recent wedding to the heir of the Elysium Empire. The whole thing was a strange affair, orchestrated and arranged by her aunt Rowena. Now here she was; the Queen of one planet, and the wife of the heir of an entire Empire.

With the continued political shifts throughout the Galaxy, it came as no surprise that members of the Elysium Empire wanted to expand on their weaponry. And who else would they go for a contract but with her?

Lori stood outside of the factory building, waiting for Burtch to arrive. Would he come along? Or with others? No doubt she'd find out soon enough.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

“Miss Dobson,” Burtch said, feigning a calm demeanour and interrupting her latest tirade on the state of their journey, “please return your mind to the task at hand. We are almost to the factory and I would like to focus on achieving the most efficient goal possible, if you please.” Inwardly, he was imagining clobbering her into a pulp. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Treyfa slump in relief a little, betraying her own desire to violently silence the annoying woman.

Listening to Dobson’s wining and critique of their circumstances had distracted him to the point where he was barely prepared when the taxi speeder came to a stop in front of the factory building. All three of them disembarked the speeder, and Dobson rounded on the driver to both pay him and “give him some advice”. He didn’t even wait for his money and he sped off. With that, Burtch was fairly certain that they would have a hard time finding a ride back to the spaceport. Surely every taxi driver in the city would know about them by the time the meeting was over...

He turned towards the entrance to the building and failed to contain his shock. In front of the building was none other than the queen of Mnemosyne, and wife of Prince Rex Valhoun , Loreena Arenais-Valhoun .

He hadn’t been expecting such a high ranking member of their new alliance to take an interest in his business ventures. At best he was expecting the local branch manager to take him on a tour of the facility, but most likely he would have talked to a branch accountant and a production manager.

He and his two companions quickly marched across the distance to where Loreena was waiting for him. While he walked, he absent mindedly ran his hands over the front of his uniform as a nervous habit before he stopped in front of his host and saluted crisply, “Force Commander Burtch, at your service, m’lady.” Then he stooped into the Mnemosyne formal bow that he had practiced for the wedding a short while back.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

A small smile appeared on Lori's face as she saw the shock that Grand Shepherd Burtch exhibited as he got out of the taxi. But maybe it wasn't for her? Maybe it was for the building? She glanced behind her briefly to be sure that it wasn't on fire or something, to which it wasn't. So the shock must have been in the fact that she was there.

Yup, the trio almost seemed a bit nervous in their approach, moreso in the case of Burtch. He straightened his uniform in the manner that she had seen some do in many a holofilm. It was just rather odd to her that someone would be nervous about seeing her. She hadn't encountered such a thing since she was a young Princess on Commenor. For the majority of her youth, she got to live a normal life away from the spotlight. But at times the spotlight was needed and people seemed to almost stumble over themselves around her.

Lori found it almost comically entertaining. However she wasn't going to tell him that.

She bowed her head to the three. "Welcome to MandalArms. I hear that you've come to check out some of the facilities. Would you like a tour?"

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Burtch straightened from his bow and spoke with in slightly accented basic, “A tour would be quite generous, thank you. Before we begin, I would like to introduce you to my two colleagues, Chief Quartermaster Lieutenant Commander Dorthea Dobson to my left, and Chief Gunnery Officer Commander Treyfa to my right.”

Dorthea Dobson stepped right up to their host and extended her hand, “At your service” her voice was nasal and drolling, her posture was frumpy and exhausted, “I’m here as an advisor to my Captain, but I am also granted permission to negotiate on behalf of the Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm, which is run by my father.”

Burtch and Treyfa exchanged glances. He hadn’t known that Dobson was going to represent the Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm today. A few days ago when he had asked her to help him, she had only asked in return if he was doing it to prove his loyalty to the Elysium Empire or to take advantage of a soon-to-be-growing company. When he said both, she sighed with irritation and agreed without even making eye contact.

Now Burtch wondered if her family was attempting something shady in the background. It would explain her irritable behaviour on the way here.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori bowed her head in greeting as Grand Shepherd Burtch Introduced the pair that he had brought. And to both her surprise and theirs, Dobson extended her hand and put forth her father's intentions with the visit to MandalArms. Of course she hadn't heard of the consulting firm, but no doubt she'd be learning a lot in the coming months. It seemed as though it was more than just Heath Valhoun that was benefitting from the marriage.

She slipped her hand into Dobson's and gave it a firm shake. It was hard to say whether or not the woman was pleased with the task. It appeared to be no more better than a nagging chore that one saved for last.

"Well, we'll see if something could be arranged. Otherwise the Force Commander Burtch here has dibs. But let's go inside, shall we?" Lori turned on her heel and walked to the factory's double doors which opened wide for them to enter. Inside was a lobby with various desks for the different departments, and halls for the offices. On the back wall there was a huge shimmering portrait of MandalArms' founder Kaine Australis. But all of that was of little importance. She wanted to take them to the factory floors. It was a bustle of activity, with most paying them little to no mind to either of them.

It wasn't until they reached another set of double-wide doors that one of the workman handed out hardhats for them. Lori took hers in hand and placed it on her head. "Everyone must wear these please. Company policy. No one's exempt." Once the hats were on, the doors were open and they were permitted inside. A loud buzzing alarm was set off, indicating people outside of the regular shift changes were entering the factory. The sound was soon absorbed by the other goings on within the factory. Droids, people and machines all worked in tandom creating a wide variety of weapons. There were testing areas, storages and defunct piles, elevators and shafts leading deep underground. "This is just one of our facilities, and one of the busiest. There is no shortage of war and no shortage of the weapons needing to fight with." Through a large transparasteel wall, Burtch would probably catch sight of men testing out the maneuverability of jetpacks.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

In fact, it was not Force Commander Burtch that noticed the Jetpack testing, but it was Commander Treyfa. But Burtch did notice as her head whipped to look at it and stopped to linger as the rest of the party continued onward. He tried to turn around and collect her, but Lieutenant Commander Dobson began asking very specific questions and he wanted very badly to hear what was being said. He shook his head in irritation and left his Pantoran gunnery officer behind to fawn over the strange testing project.

Dobson began asking questions as they continued to walk, “What is your company’s experience in outsourcing work to third party contractors? Do you do a lot of that here?” She smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

Burtch continued to eye up the various departments they walked past, not sure what to do next. Maybe he should go back and fetch Commander Treyfa? Man he wished she hadn’t done that...

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori noticed Treyfa being quite distracted and it almost made her laugh. Had she not been in such a situation and position, she'd of cracked right up and push her into a jetpack race.

But....she had to play the part of the CEO and owner of MandalArms. And even that of Royalty. These people were hers now, and so she had to work with them.

Dobson was certainly playing the part of a lobbyist well. The fakeness of her smile was like that of most politicians. The mere fact that the smile wasn't noticed in her eyes let Lori know that she was up to something, and that something probably wasn't anything good.

"Third parties? There is none of that done here. We get our orders and we fulfill them. There's no outsourcing needed. Why do you ask?"

Grand Shepherd Burtch

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Burtch could hear Treyfa jabbering away excitedly with a testing overseer behind them as they walked further and further away. If he would have known that she was going to embarrass him so badly, he wouldn’t have taken her. It didn’t seem like Loreena had noticed, but given the unsubtle way Treyfa had run off, Burtch figured Loreena must be trying not to react. This probably did not bode well. Dobson was also making things difficult.

But he wanted to catch what Dobson was getting at, so he stayed quiet. He needed to know what was going on with his chief quartermaster, and this would give him a much better clue than if he straight up asked her himself. If she had a goal to work out, she couldn’t afford to hide certain things. Burtch barely noticed that her right hand had just the slightest tremor before Dobson quickly curled up her fingers and then released them. He could tell that she wasn’t happy about having to do this. He could stop this, but part of him wanted it to play out. She was his chief quartermaster and she was essential to the running of his ship. He needed to know what was going on in her head.

“Ah, so you must run a fairly lean staff in order to keep layoffs to a minimum when things slow down. Oh, I know that there has been no shortage of war, but things always fluctuate.” Burtch noticed that her throat tensed a little. Dobson continued in a pleasant, if a bit nasal tone, “tell me, your majesty, is it the potential layoffs that prevent you from using third party contractors, or is it a quality control concern?”

Burtch felt a twinge of annoyance at how she didn’t answer the question directly, but instead responded with a leading question of her own. He hoped that Loreena didn’t take offence.

As they walked Burtch allowed himself to glower a little at Dobson as a signal to Loreena that he was not condoning the actions of his Quartermaster. He shot Loreena a quick questioning glance as if to wordlessly ask “Do you want this to stop?”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori raised a brow at the mention of layoffs. There were plenty of corporations that put profit above everything else, but that wasn't how MandalArms operated. None of her family's businesses were like that.

She glanced over at Grand Shepherd Burtch , catching his glare at Dobson, followed by the silent question that his expression posed. This wasn't his idea. It had seemed that Dobson had arrived with her own motives. Lori had a bad feeling about that, yet that was what the political arena was about. Wars were fought without any bloodshed. Only through words and contracts.

Her attention then returned to Dobson, keeping her own expression neutral. "There have never been a need for layoffs, nor is there a time when it has slowed down. Everything for MandalArms is done within MandalArms. It is a fully self-sufficient company that wears many hats. That is how it was founded, and I fully intend to maintain that tradition." As far as Lori saw it, Kaine was sure to come back from the dead somehow. So she was merely looking after things for him until that time.

Or at least that was her hope.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

“Good,” Burtch noticed that Dobson’s tone dropped a full octave as if some, if not all, tension was relieved from inside her, “I’m happy to see that some of that Mandalorian honour has not been lost on you. You’re going to need that…” Dobson trailed off in thought for a moment. Then, as if she came to some kind of conclusion, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. The rest of the party also stopped walking with her as some sort of reflex action.

She captured Loreena’s full attention with a hard stare and began to speak, “I’m going to cut to the chase here. I’m sure that by now you know that the Elysium Empire does not tax its citizens. Not yet. But that time is coming. And I’m sure that you know that too.

“The Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm has been tasked with balancing the economy of the Elysium Empire for the past eight years, and as much as I resent my father, even I have to admit that he has done a miraculous job of achieving this with what he has to work with. Since your marriage to Rex Valhoun makes you partially responsible for the well-being of our Empire, this is a concern that I’m sure you share with us. Let me make this clear; dealing with the Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm will be something that you should try to get used to.” She raised her eyebrows as if to say good luck.

“Maintaining a standard of living for our people is going to be a challenge, to say the least. Arken Dobson has already found a solution. That solution is exporting goods. Without an export revenue to support our economy, our people will collapse financially when the time comes to collect taxes. But there are two big problems with this plan.” She raise one finger, “the first major problem is that we don’t have enough reliable manufacturers to supply our merchant ships. We do have retailers. Decent folks with large transports and good business sense. But our only functional manufacturing facility has been through Dr. Vienstien.” She raised her other hand briefly and tilted her head as if to say enough said “Needless to say, we need a supplier of contracted goods that export buyers will feel good about.” She raise her hand again in a hold up gesture, “I’m not talking about big ticket items like warships, armor, or weapons. Just commodity things like belt pouches, med kits, ration packs - you get the idea. In essence, what the Empire needs is a third party contractor of our own.”

Burtch noticed that her approach was tailored to Loreena’s sense of right and wrong and the well-being of the Elysium Citizenry. Dorthea Dobson’s earlier questioning must’ve been tailored to deduce the best approach to persuade Loreena to her needs. This surprised Burtch because all of his dealings with Dorthea, while painful and blunt, had alway been direct and efficiently to-the-point until now. When handling a negotiation for her father, Burtch was seeing a different side of Dorthea Dobson. He gained a bit of respect - and wariness - for his Chief Quartermaster.

It also brought many questions to his mind regarding Dorthea’s relationship with her own family.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori raised a brow slightly as Dobson spoke of her needing her honour. What was she implying? What kind of a visit was this? Grand Shepherd Burtch was probably just as caught off guard as she was, or so it had appeared earlier.

And then she started her speech after stopping abruptly. Lori widened her stance so that she was better balanced when squaring off with the woman. Her thoughts were racing as Dobson continued on, speaking about taxes, her family's firm that wasn't about to let itself disappear, but instead maintain it's foothold.

Lori was new to the political arena, despite growing up with it and despite being used by both the Rebels, Eternal Empire and a couple other foreign powers. Now she had herself more deeply involved and she was quite certain that everyone could tell how green she was. But she wasn't chosen to be the heir of MandalArms for no reason. And although the shadow that she lived under from her parents was huge, she didn't escape from it without learning a thing or two.

"My parents did well for their empire which ran on trade. Their people enjoyed free education, healthcare and no poverty. Trade was the biggest driver of their economy, and their neutrality gave them a wide range for a customer base...." She glanced over in Burtch's direction briefly, before returning her gaze to Dobson. "...But their Empire had resources and dozens of worlds under their care, whereas the Elysium Empire does not. Yet that could change soon."

She didn't address the suggestion of having their merchant fleet deliver goods from MandalArms yet. But soon, perhaps.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Burtch caught Loreena’s glance and figured it was time to wrap this up. But then Dobson began speaking before he could interject, “Well, then, you would know more than anyone the importance of trade for your new people…”

“Summarize your proposal, Lieutenant Commander Dobson.” Burtch interrupted her firmly in his calm Chiss voice, “I did not bring you along to negotiate on behalf of your father, but to act as my advisor regarding my choice to invest in exclusive Elysium Empire projects by the MandalArms Company. I have been patient thus far, but I fear you are spoiling any opportunities that our lady Arenais may have considered for us if I let this go on any further than necessary.” He narrowed his eyes at her slightly and he watched her facial heat rise with his infrared vision, “Your next statement will completely summarize your proposal to Lady Arenais, or you will say no more. Is that understood, Miss Dobson?”

Dorthea’s face turned redder, and got warmer to Burtch’s eyes, “Of course Captain. My apologies.” She returned her gaze to Loreena and her stature seemed to deflate a little, but she pressed on, “Most of our potential trading partners will not purchase Elysium Empire products unless they are certified by an Elysium Empire agency. Any products that our merchant fleet bring to market must be inspected, or our trading partners will reject them. Of course, as you know, our esteemed King Heath Valhoun will not impose direct regulation on our businesses on a statement of principle…” Burtch made a circling gesture with his hand to say get on with it but Dobson raise her own hand in a hold up gesture, “… so some members of the Elysium Empire have taken an entrepreneurial approach to the problem and started their own privateregulatory agencies and sought the King’s blessing as a workaround. Some are quite good, and some run the risk of causing more harm to our economy. In order to separate the wheat from the chaff, the Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm has a brokerage department. The brokerage department is actually one of our oldest services dating back to a couple centuries…” Burtch cleared his throat loudly, “…but in order to help you get in contact with the right agencies for all of your different products, you will need our help or you will risk causing more harm than good to the people of the Elysium Empire by selecting poorly run firms without better knowledge. My father proposes that one of our brokering agents should have an office at each of your facilities to help smooth over the quality control process and prevent confusion.”

Burtch looked back the way they came and noticed smoke billowing out of the testing room that Treyfa had run into earlier. A soft thruster roar preceded a sheer squeal of glee. He shook his head.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

More and more, Lori was seeing why she was married into the Elysium Empire. It was for everything that she brought with her, and that included MandalArms. Dobson wasn't afraid to point out her new responsibilities and using that as justification for throwing around her own weight and pushing her influence.

She watched as Grand Shepherd Burtch took charge of the conversation, however it was clear that Dobson wasn't quite finished her speech yet. It took a little while, but Dobson eventually cut to the chase.

Quality control? Really? Or was it moreso about control itself? More than likely it was the latter.

"Well, thank you for the proposal. I suggest however, that it should be submitted in writing for a proper review. Your trading partners sure like to make you jump through hoops, don't they? And if you hold doubts about the quality of products that MandalArms manufactures, than perhaps they just aren't a good fit for you. Mandalorians take pride and honour in their work. Bringing someone in to verify their quality of work would be an insult to that honour." And as Lori saw it, the Elysium Empire needed MandalArms more than it needed them.

Lori couldn't help but smile at the squeal coming from the jetpack testing area. "I can see that someone is enjoying our products already." Oh it was so hard for her to hide her smirk. Yet she had one inside.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Burtch turned his attention away from the large billowing cloud of white smoke and listened to Loreena’s Response to Dobson’s final pitch. Burtch could tell that Loreena was mildly offended by Dobson’s implications, but at least it was a safe bet that it was more of a “diplomatic” type of offended than a personal offence. Burtch noted the careful diplomacy of the situation and was beginning to wonder if this was the time to change topics.

He could tell from the look in Dobson’s eyes and the temperature of her face that his earlier warnings had messed up her entire approach. If he hadn't rushed her, she might’ve taken a more methodical, calculated approach to her father’s proposal. But alas, she had been forced to lay all her cards on the table. By the tension in her hand, he could see that she was eager to try from a different angle, but Burtch would stop her this time and she knew it. The heat in her face rose to another level that Burtch recognized in humans as “almost in tears” and he wondered just how emotionally invested she was in this negotiation. This matter was not the kind of thing that even typically sensitive humans would get worked up over. Maybe she is being threatened? There was more to Dorthea Dobson’s story than met the eye here…

Dorthea’s hand released all tension and her facial temperature dropped, indicating to Burtch that she had made a decision. She reached into the back pocket of her pants and produced a sealed flimsiplast envelope. She was just about to say something just as the loud roar of small thrusters interrupted everyone and a rather ungraceful blue skinned female jerked into the middle of all three of them and landed clumsily in a giant cloud of smoke. The thrusters shut off rather unceremoniously with a loud pop.

Commander Treyfa looked around the group with wild eyes and a face-splitting grin. Her head then shot eager glances at both Burtch and Loreena with an expression that reminded Burtch of a domestic canine that desperately wanted to go outside and play.

“Perhaps it is time that we took this opportunity to more closely examine one of your projects, Lady Arenais?” Burtch said, grateful for the change of topic, “What can you tell us about this particular product?” He noted that there was a bit of a challenge in Treyfa’s eyes when she looked at Loreena.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori knew that she was shutting Dobson down, in a sense. However it couldn't be helped. She didn't want someone to take control of MandalArms away from her, or make it appear as though the company had lost all credibility by installing quality control agents at every facility. For far too many ocassions, people had little faith in her or her abilities. This was only showing that some in the Elysium Empire lacked faith in her too.

Fortunately Treyfa and Grand Shepherd Burtch changed the subject with the formers crash landing that was reminicent of Lori's own test flights. She snickered and held her hand out for the woman to grab and get to her feet. "My first engineering feat was in making my own jetpack. I made it when I was merely 14. Through the years later, I spent my time buying better nozzles, toggles and other things to make it faster, more maneuverable and yet still easy to control. Ol' Sparky was my favourite thing to tinker with. And now a couple of the engineers here have taken my design and used their highly educated skillset to improve on it." She saw the challenging glint in Treyfa's eyes and winked. "I think that now's a good time for me to test them out myself. Shall we try out...an obsticle course with them?"

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

“I believe that a demonstration would…” Burtch caught a pleading, excited glance from Commander Treyfa and he struggled to keep from gritting his teeth as he inwardly acknowledged that he was inadvertently rewarding her previously undisciplined behaviour, “… um, would be… a great way to showcase what these jetpacks are capable of. That is of course, if they are vacuum flight capable. If so, please lead the way, Lady Arenais.” As a navy man, vacuum flight was indeed very important to him and he was already seeing potential tactical advantages if they were capable of this.

Commander Treyfa was practically vibrating with excitement.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

While Treyfa seemed overly excited about testing out the jetpacks even further, Grand Shepherd Burtch did not. For the moment Lori couldn't tell if Dobson liked the idea either, for more than likely she was likely trying to figure out a way for her to accept having an overseer offices placed into MandalArms facilities. The last thing that she wanted was to lose MandalArms to someone else. There had been enough taken from her already.

"Vacuum flight capable? Of course that can be done. All they'd need is a few adjustments and extra plating in the exterior to prevent the fuel tanks from exploding while in space with the sudden change in pressure and temperature changes." And no doubt anyone using them would need to have more than just training here on the surface, but out in orbit as well. The lack of atmosphere changes the way any vehicle or device is maneuvered.

Lori led the trio back the way that Trefya had flown and into the testing area for the jetpacks. She snatched up Ol' Sparky from it's spot on the wall and started putting it on while instructing the technicians and engineers on the obstical course that she was going to fly in.

And it wasn't until twent minutes later that both women had their feet on the ground once more, with windswept hair and utter glee on their faces. Lori was quite certain that a big purchase of the jetpacks was going to be made that day.

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Burtch was extremely pleased to hear that the jet packs could be configured for space combat and decided that if he liked the demonstration he would invest his money into the production stages of this item. He would then likely talk to his brother and encourage him to place large orders for the navy marine corps as well as proper space armor. It was a sure fire way to see a proper return on his investment and multiply his money while proving his support for the Elysium Empire. In essence, as long as the Empire knew that he was invested in their success, they would have more reason to trust him. The more the Empire trusted him, the more he could contribute. It was an algorithm that built on itself and increased his own wealth in the process.

The race commenced and the joy that the two women shared was contagious to anyone who watched. Loreena flew her own jet pack unit with expert grace, while Treyfa squealed in glee as she carefully rounded every corner like a newborn that was just learning to walk. Everyone that watched the two laughed at the contrast and the mood of the growing crowd was raised to many levels higher than before. In point of fact, the only two people that weren’t laughing were Force Commander Burtch, and Lieutenant Commander Dobson, who were standing together.

Burtch was strictly focused on observing the performances of the two women and was simply pleased in his usually calm Chiss way. Observing Loreena Arenais was enlightening as he was able to deduce the full capability of the jetpack technology in the hands of an expert. When watching Commander Treyfa fly her own unit, he was able to see just how easy the system was to learn and adapt to for someone of little-to-no training. He tried to ignore her unprofessional screams of ecstasy, as they grated on his nerves, but he couldn’t help but admire her courage. This showed him that this product was exactly the sort of thing that an entire navy marine corps should be issued as a standard piece of their equipment. He was now dead set on investing in this project, one way or another.

Burtch glanced over at his Chief Quartermaster and noted the metaphorical cloud of doom over her head. In her left hand at her side, an envelope was gripped tightly, and her eyes were gazing at the spectacle before them. With his Chiss eyes, he could see her face glowing with emotional heat. Then, as if she had reached some kind of epiphany, her facial heat dropped and her hand relaxed a little.

She turned left to face him, her tone low and somber, “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Burtch raised an eyebrow, almost amused, “you haven’t needed permission all day, Commander.”

She nodded sheepishly, and started speaking, “you know, watching those two, you have to wonder what actually makes you happy in life. I never really focused on finding happiness. I realize that I’ve only ever worked to avoid misery. Every time I try, I make things worse. My father on the other hand,” she sighed, “well, he doesn’t avoid misery, or pursue happiness. He only seeks to prosper. In doing so, he brings misery to others. Those two,” she gestured to the ensuing acrobatics display, “they don’t even try and look at how happy everyone else is because of them. I think I need to be more like them.”

She took the envelope in both hands and ripped it up into multiple pieces. The pieces then fell to the ground, “My father told me that if I didn’t secure an office in MandalArms that I would have to hand you my letter of resignation. If I didn’t, he’d dissolve my trust fund. But the trust fund doesn’t make me happy. It just ties me to him. It allows him to control me. Being on the Shi-Cho… that is what makes me happy.” She turn to watch the two women land. The pure joy of the moment seemed to capture her, “I would like to make one last request of our friend Lady Arenais, if you will let me, Captain.”

“You may, Commander, but please make this one short”

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori tried to tidy up her hair as best as she could after removing her jetpack. Normally she wouldn't bother so much about her appearance, but she was more than just the owner of MandalArms to the Elysium Empire. Her position held more political clout than just a weapons and ship manufacturing company.

The obstical course run was a success, and even Treyfa appeared to enjoy herself despite getting severely beaten in the race. It made her wonder if she was going to purchase one for her very own.

Grand Shepherd Burtch was harder to read, given the way that Chiss were knkwn to be. She couldn't really tell if he was pleased or not. But only time would tell and Lori was sure that she didn't have long to find out.

Dobson was also a puzzle, but moreso because she seemed as though she had a lot on her mind. And it seemed to weigh heavy on her. Lori was quite sure that it had something to do with her rejection of having overseers in each of MandalArms, facilities. But who knows? Maybe she wanted to try out a jetpack as well.

"What do you think? Do they meet your expectations?"