Aggressive Negotiations

[Rekali the Hutt]

Outside and to most of the Mandalorians the son of Rasho was called Rekali the Hutt. Out here, on Trevel'ka though? Few knew his name. The higher ups of the Underworld knew him as Therax the Hutt. Most assumed his organization was run by a co-operation of Radok and Kijo. The two were often at odds, yes, but they still got work done and managed an entire region. But a region simply wasn't enough. Not for Therax, not for Radok, not for Kijo. None of them were content with a few city blocks, the planet had to be theirs, after all it was only a springboard. An unregulated, ungovernable slum of a world that would prove to be the perfect place to cook spice and start all sorts of operations. Coruscant would always be policed. Corellia always watched. Metellos always "the next Coruscant" for some government. But Trevel'ka would be a slum forever, which made it all the more important to control.

But being a slum had it's disadvantages. The technology throughout was largely a collection of antique jury-rigged filth that had no part of a proper syndicate. Blasters often jammed or misfired. Spice was often cooked with poor purity. Many species needed air-scrubbers not to gain a variety of poxes. These technological downfalls of the planet were an obstacle, they also provided opportunity. If the Underworld could gain a technological advantage, even coming to have arms similar to normal gangs on say, Nal Hutta, he'd have a distinct advantage over the competition.

Which is why the Hutt had arranged for a Tempest Ardent Bulk Freighter to come and drop off a payload of BTI weapons. Rifles, heavy pistols, snipers, shotguns, even a couple hundred disruptors. It wasn't anything revolutionary, but to a planet with mostly pre-Gulag tech it would be devastating. A drop off like this had been attempted on Trevel'ka three times in the past five years, each ended with several swoop gangs and criminal ops banding together to end one syndicate or another. It was a daring move, sure, but Therax Rekali Tiure had no time to wait.

It was time to play hardball.

 

[Daxton Bane]

Exiting from the confines of the armored vehicle, Daxton paused for a second before taking a deep breath of heavily polluted air, the rancid smell reminded him of the aroma of a freshly killed Tuskan Raider. In his opinion, this world could use a little cleansing, a nice mass driver bombardment to cleanse the surface. But now was not the right time.

Flanked by his bodyguards he allowed the guards to announce his presence.

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

"Boss, someone showed up three blocks from the spaceport on the east side. Came in an armored swoop. Huge kriffing Zabrak pops out, leaves it there, and starts walking with around half a dozen goons. All armed and armored" Joel the snitch holocommed to Radok and Kijo. The Vaathkree's expression was ever stoic, many in the Underworld likening him to a statue. Kijo however let out a curse in huttese.

"If it's an armored swoop it shouldn't be the Cordavo Family, not enough credits. The Blue Devils might have been able to finagle their way into an armored truck but they'd never hire a Zabrak. What have they been doing?" Radok said slowly, parsing through the information as he spoke.

"They just starting walking to the spaceport. Slowly. Haven't talked to anybody, haven't primed weapons, the goons look like they're just maintaining a perimeter around the Zabrak."

<Sounds like he wants to talk.> The Rodian said. <Fire a warning shot below their feet when they get to 8th and Prime and tell him that someone's coming to talk to him. I want us to have a few eyes in the sky ready inc case he doesn't want to play nice.> Kijo ordered then turned off the holocomm and faced his Vaathkree counterpart. <You want to be the guy or you want me to do it?>

"You're the one that wants to talk to him." Radok said in reply. "Take a detachment and deal with him quickly, we don't need to scatter our perimeter for any longer than necessary. I'll keep command of the west side and inform the boss of the development."

Kijo scowled at the Vaathkree, but did as he was told. No point arguing with a rock when there was work to be done. Especially not in the middle of a big op like this. Kijo patted off his duster and filled the inner pockets with all sorts of things he might need. Spare powerpack, couple grenades, a kilo each of three different spices, and a bundle of credits. If this man wanted to conduct business Kijo would be ready for him. Picking up his rifle he'd be ready for business if the Zabrak wanted to play dirty too. With a deep breath Kijo headed out and got a ride to the corner of 8th street and prime way, keeping his rifle ready incase the Zabrak decided to get more aggressive while he was riding over.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

The shot came out of nowhere before hitting a spot a few steps away from where Daxton stood. His guards raising their weapons instinctively before he gave the signal to stand down. "That was probaby a warning shot. Keep an eye for their spokesman to show himself. Take it easy lads, we dont want to slag the locals before get our business done."

Taking an expensive cigar from one his pockets, he bit off the end before sticking it between his teeth. Touching a buthane igniter to the tip, he took several contented puffs as he waited in the middle of the street for someone to show themselves.

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

Sure enough a swoop car came in front of them, piloted by a jumpy looking Ishi Tib with a leather duster wearing Rodian in the side car. Daxton and his guards would see the rodian mouth something to the Ishi Tib and then jump over, carrying his rifle but keeping the barrel pointed at the ground. An experienced crew would know that he wasn't looking for a fight, but he was ready for one if it came to him. Nevermind the snipers and goons hidden in the buildings and alleys around them, but a professional would expect those too, walking into turf that wasn't yours.

"I assume you're in charge spikes." Kijo said to the two meter tall Zabrak. "Let's talk business."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



<A what?>

"An armored swoop. Definitely offworlder, I haven't heard hide nor hair of any Zabrak gangs on this rock." Radok replied.

<And you said Kijo is dealing with it?>

"Kijo believes the Zabrak wants to talk, otherwise he thinks he wouldn't have left his swoop. I'm inclined to agree. It isn't optimal time to cut a new deal I know, but if this offworlder could give us another advantage like the one we're getting today the dominos will be falling before the rest of the gangs know what hit them." Radok said, though he'd never admit to the Rodian he knew what he was doing.

<The Freighter will be there in just over an hour. Ensure it's safe delivery and distribution. The Zabrak could provide a nice bonus, but it a secondary objective. I shouldn't need to tell you how much we'd lose if this is flubbed.>

"I know Therax. It will be taken care of."

<See to it.>

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

"Greetings friend," the Zabrak said in cold calm voice which made one think of a snake eyeing a delectable rodent for dinner, between puffs of expensive smoke. "The name is Daxton Bane and I represent the interests of the Red Ravens on this little play of yours. Relax friend, no need to tense up. I would hate it if we got into misunderstanding so early in the game. We are aware of your little shipment and your goals and ours align. So I am here today to discuss how we can all get ahead and make some profit. If you are interested, perhaps we can take this inside. I prefer not to discuss business where too many curious ears might catch wind, agreed?"

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

The rodian chuckled at that last sentence.

"My boys have checkpoints up the next two blocks. Anything, anyone comes 'round that I don't like I'll know about it 'fore it gets here." The Rodian says. "We do business here or I take you, no guards, into this car and we head back to the station and talk." He said, holding firm that he wasn't about to head out of the limelight with the zabrak's half a dozen guards on his terms.

"I'm all about a profit, and if you got som'in good we can git'cha spice or credits or whatever, but if you know what's goin on and you know it went the last time a gang tried this you'll know why me and my boys might be a little jumpy today." He said, and propped open his right jacket, showing the inside of his duster. It showed a few assorted bags of spice and some credits. Whoever this guy was he wasn't the type to mug someone just he knew they carried some pocket change, there was no harm in showing him he could deliver a lil' somethin. Kijo pulled out a bag and tossed it at the Zabrak.

"A kilo of Booster Blue, purest variety you'll find this region, short of dealing with the Chiss." The Red Raves would know the Chiss on Trevel'ka had a reputation as good spice cookers, but were often in short supply, dramatically increasing prices. They'd also know that it was difficult in general to get good quality spice on the planet due to it's technological shortcomings.

"That's just a taste of what we can getcha, if you got somethin worth sellin."


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T-minus 57 galactic standard minutes until the freighter was supposed to come by with the arms drop. No trouble yet, aside from that Zabrak Kijo was dealing with. Odd, he would have expected something by now.

"All outposts report." Radok got on the comm and signalled those holding down the borders of their territory.

"Southeast clear, save for that Zabrak."

"Southwest clear."

"Northeast clear."

"Northwest is cl- no, I've got something in my sights. It's . . . It's the kriffing horde, and they've got numbers." The Horde? They were supposed to come from the northeast, unless they got a pass to head through the Nakura hive. That probably meant a unified assault, kark it all.

"Cut up some swoops, fall back, and be ready to light 'em up in a blaze. Rest of the checkpoints I want you on high alert." Radok ordered.

T-minues 54 minutes. He needed only hold for just a little while longer.

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

Laughing softly, this little game of brinksmanship greatly amused Daxton. Had there been more time he have indulged even a little. Shrugging, he crushed the remains of the cigar beneath an armored boot. "Stay." A single word is all it took and his guards obeyed without protest or question. Instead they maintained their perimeter, determined to hold until their master said otherwise.

"This would be a good start provided you can we can work something out. What I can provide is a way for your group to solidify your control over all the gangs and ensure mutual profit to line our pockets." A soft chirp in his ear update him of the current situation. "You better get me to someone who can make a decision and fast. Things are going to get more dicey the longer we wait."

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

It didn't take empathy or the Force to tell Kijo was pissed off. He was supposed to be one of the top dogs, but people always just thought he was some two-bit arm that was up enough to get a big mouth.

"I'm here to make a deal. I've told you we can get you credits, spice, or whatever you well please but all you've talked to me about is 'mutual profits'. If you want to sell me something sell it, but otherwise I got no trouble walkin." Kijo said, standing firm. Radok and him carried the same rank, and the Big Boss wasn't even supposed to be on site. Kijo suspected he was hiding somewhere watching to make sure everything was taken care of properly, but he didn't know for sure, and even then he didn't know where he'd watch from.

It was the Zabrak's move, and Kijo would prefer he make it quick. This deal got more and more expensive the more time he wasn't watching his perimeter.



Elsewhere a line of repulsor oil would be lit as a mass of lugubra crossed through, incinerating the lamprey-like beings in droves. The Nakura Hive would start engaging Underworld forces on the Northeast border, while the South was quiet for now, but awful edgy. T-minus 43 minutes until the shipment was made. Radok gritted his stone teeth. Only an eternity.

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

With sly grin on his face, Daxton reached slowly into the side pouch and withdrew a data pad. His armored fingers danced over the top of the screen before displaying images of the shipment freighter as well as an Imperial Star Destroyer floating in space.

"That is the shipment you are expecting and that is my ship in high orbit. Should we fail to come to terms, your shipment will encounter an unfortunate accident upon entry into the atmosphere. Now, before you think I am here to rain on your parade here me out. The Red Ravens want to assist you secure this planet in exchange for a healthy work relationship. I have drop ships filled with battle droids waiting for deployment on your enemies positions. Should I give the word, your enemies bases will be reduced to rubble within the day. I doubt they will have anything capable of resisting war hardened troops much less full fledged battle droidekas. Once the planet is your reign is unquestioned, we would like favorable terms for your goods and services. We can arrange for our ships to deliver goods from any space we have access to and ensure your product gets the proper distribution it deserves. Do uou see now what I mean by profit?" Pausing for emphasis, "That is if are interested."

Daxton knew that his reputation for cruelty and aggression had preceeded him. What he had said was true. The destruction of the shipment would doom their cartels ambitions as well as put then in a severely compromised position. So the ball was now in the other man's court. As the humans said Pass or Play.

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

To say that a mysterious Zabrak offworlder putting his hands in a bag put the Underworld on edge was an understatement. The rodian raised his rifle and aimed it right below the man's horns. He was a daring mother frakker though, and kept going, bringing up a holodisplay of a star destroyer and a freighter. Which was funny, because getting on world after dropping outta hyperspace didn't take that long. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes tops. Whatever that was, it wasn't the shipment of guns.

"Thank but no thanks bud. I ain't nobody's schutta." He said, and shot a couple bolts before pulling out a grenade and throwing it to the ground below him, releasing a cloud of smoke. Provided Daxton hadn't started a Force grip or thrown him or some other maniacal display of Force power Kijo would be gone, disappearing into some alleyways like the snake he was. The rest of the Underworld members would begin opening fire on the guards and Daxton, one of the slugs even hitting a fracture in one of the guard's armor, ending one life before they had even retaliated. Elsewhere a few grenades were tossed at the speeder Daxton came in on, attempting to remove his getaway ride without getting too close. Security measures and all that.

Meanwhile up in space one Tempus Arden Bulk Freighter would be charging straight for the Star Destroyer that had appeared in space. It was a decoy of course, filled with baradium ore of rather poor quality. A metric ton of pure baradium ore vaporized a radius of an entire kilometer. It was prohibitively expensive to get that dedicated in an approach, but the large of poorly refined baradium in the freighter's cargo hold would make a nice enough explosion to critically damage the systems nearest to the explosion, probably sending it back it's shipyards, wherever the Red Ravens chose to dock.

T-minus thirty seven minutes until the real shipment arrived. Thirty seven precious minutes with which to get that SD packing, and ensure a safe arrival.

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

Why where criminals so stubborn? Here he was offering them basically a wide distribution network of their product and start pointing weapons his way. It could have something to do with their gene pool or perhaps some sort of mental deficiency. He just made a mental note to himself to look it further, when he picked up the criminals intent to pull the trigger. He made a curt gesture with his fingers altering the direction of the barrel slightly so that the blaster bolts hit his armored torso instead of his face. Growing another clone so soon would be expensive

His armor took the brunt of the damage although he knew he had at least two cracked ribs. Gritting his teeth, he could feel the orbalisks pump their venom into his system to speed up the healing.

All things being considered that was down right rude. Any other Sith would have choked or slammed the criminal for such an insult. Heaven knew it was within his power to make the fools blood boil from within until it poured out of his ears, eyes and mouth. But Daxton needed him alive for now, so he used the Force to tag his target just before he was swallowed up by the smoke. All he needed to do later was to track down the man using the Force.

Meanwhile he had to deal with the immediate task on hand of getting his team out of the kill zone. Activating his armored battle mode, he waited for a second as the internal display began loading up screens to show the tactical situation.

Ignoring their fallen comrade, he and remainder of his team got behind cover as he said over their military tac com, "Angel Overwatch, you are free to operate. Weapons hot. I repeat weapons hot."

In their hidden snipers nest nearly 2000 meters away the four two man teams who made up Angel Overwatch uncovered their head hunters and began prowling for targets. Once they spot an enemy, the M107s sent messages of death and disfigurement onto the battlefield, the 50 caliber could easily tear through orgqnic flesh and the pitiful excuse for protection the criminals consider as body armor.

Small spherical objects were toss in the direction of the armored vehicle before exploding, showering immediate area with razor sharp shrapnel did little to damage the vehicle save to scratch exterior paint job, after all it was designed to take a direct missile attack so the armor plates could deal with minor explosives quite well.
Before they could throw more explosives, some of the 50 caliber rounds made their way into the kill zone, causing head shots and secondary explosions.

As soon as there was a lull in shooting, Daxton's team retaliated with their TDI Gauss rifles. What they lost in rate of fire, the rail guns made up for in penetration. Blasting suspected enemy positions. The smart ones saw they were grossly under armed and would make their escape. The not so smart ones stayed behind to fight and die for a what seemed a hopeless cause.

Meanwhile in space, dozens of TIE Interceptors were running combat air patrols with the simple task of stopping all ships approaching the ship as well as entering the atmosphere with a trajectory to land within the Hutts turf.

When the Bulk Freighter refused to reply to hails, several Interceptors were tasked to intercept. The usual laser array was replaced with ion cannons, on the Siths command. With mission orders to disable any craft that wasn't theirs, then send boarding crews of battle droids to clear resistance. It would be quite clear that Daxton wasn't just eager to spill blood.

As soon as they entered firing range, they began peppering the slower vessel with ion blasts that would overwhelm any shields and engines they had, leaving them a sittinh dock in space.

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

Trevel'ka was an Ecumenopolis. Not one with the splendor of say, Coruscant or Old Corellia, or even of Nar Shadda or Metellos, but it was still a collection of shantytowns formed by innumerable buildings. The snipers 2000 meters away shot their 50 cal bullets, and it went through several buildings, but not 2000 meters worth of buildings before it ran out of steam. Perhaps a few hundred meters worth of durasteel building after durasteel building after durasteel building, but certainly not two thousand. And as convenient as it was that Daxton had snipers two thousand meters away it was similarly convenient that a rival gang had people two thousand and ten meters away, who weren't very inviting to the snipers camping out in their turf.

The members of "Angel Overwatch" were taken out as quickly as they appeared, finding themselves on the wrong end of garrotes and shivs.

They mysterious armored vehicle however, was a bit more trouble. While none of the team assigned to cover the vehicle were sniped due to the cover of 2000 meters worth of buildings, their primitive grenades had been ineffective. So they resorted to a similarly primitive and dagerous if necessary solution. Heavy duty plasma torches began cutting through the vehicle while the other men ensured their security. They were after all, in Underworld Turf. Familiar territory, with eyes and ears everywhere. They'd know if something was close enough to shoot them. Once it was cut through a mass of explosives would be thrown within the fuel tank, before the saboteurs cut and ran. The insides weren't typically as strong as the outsides, and the fuel next to the explosive would only magnify the blast.

Meanwhile the squad of Daxton's bodyguards were outgunning their opponents. It was too bad that for every Gauss rifle firing at the gangs there were another eight or ten or more blasters and slugthrowers tamed on their location. Some broke rank and panicked of course, as many weren't used to their cover being blown through so easily, but then they were shot as they left, and no one thought it was a good idea to leave anymore. The guards would give ground, bleed, get slagged, through sheer numbers. Daxton himself would contend with similar fire, but he likely had a few more tools in his arsenal to deal with such things.


As for the scene in space, it went as planned. The Tempus Ardent Bulk Freighter wasn't exactly your twenty meter long YT. Nearly two-hundred and fifty meters long it was a big and bulk ship, and didn't really care about the tie fighters shooting ion blasts at it with full shields. It took a good share of them down with it's four quad-laser turrets, but it kept taking blow after blow of little starfighter-grade ion blast and charging forward. It would impact the ISD in another 45 seconds or so. The ant-like ion blasters of TIEs would continue to be slight annoyances in the meantime, but it wouldn't be a problem for too much longer.

Kijo kept heading back, taking alleyway after alleyway while hailing Radok on his Comm. "This crazy e chu ta has an ISD in the air, and dropships filled with droids over enemy gangs. I think the Hutt sent a decoy in case." He transmitted, and Radok acknowledged, before sending the information about the dropships out on every radio-wave on the planet. It was an adequate distraction, and reports came back that the Horde and the Nakura Hive pulled back to defend their territory. Those that had Anti-Air and Anti-space defenses began firing. The Red Raven's dropships were taking damage, and this was becoming a very costly business endeavor very quickly. The Zabrak's best chance was to get the hell out of dodge, before every gang member in the district was free of the other gang's distractions, and began hunting him down.

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Rekali the Hutt"]

It was a stalemate on the ground. While the criminals on the ground had the numbers and the home town advantage, their weapons were severely underpowered to overwhelm Daxton's forces military grade armor. Still there was no salvaging this deal, best to cut their losses before they got surrounded.

On his datapad he designated zones were the most number of criminals were holed up and transmitted to the flight of tie bombers circling in high altitude.

"Copy that Commander. Gold Lead Initiating our bombing run now." Then howl came overhead as the trio passed over and dropped ordnance on the enemy position. Liquid flame engulfed the enemy position, soon followed by smell of charred flesh and secondary explosions as ammo cooked in the heat.

A shielded transport carrier descended from the clouds, ignoring the small arms fire bouncing off it shields. Daxton and the rest of the guards, dragging the dead and wounded got on board before it lifted off to space.

Meanwhile in space, upon seeing that it was building up ramming speed, issued orders to wave off all fighters. Transferring the bulk of the power to shields, as the wailing siren echoed through its interior while collision warnings blared over speakers. Before the freighter could strike though it would have to through a field of mines, a venerable the second line of defense. Plowing into them they triggered a series of explosions which breached the vessels hull and set off its payload.

Although the shields bore the brunt of damage, the explosion was still sizeable enough to knock out their long range scanning as well as several turbo laser banks and a hangar bay.

As Daxton's shuttle cleared the atmosphere, heavy fire erupted from ground. Watching from his view port he wondered what they were shooting at. It couldn't have been their dropships. Those vessels were still on the ISD waiting for deployment, a command he never gave.

As the shuttle closed in on mother ship, he swore would get back some how on those criminal scum. Minutes later, Daxton's Star Destroyer jumped into hyperspace, heading to a safe port for repairs.

 

[Rekali the Hutt]

Apparently there was a miscommunication, and Kijo had heard something about Daxton having drop ships in position to assault his enemies. It was no matter, they fired at the bombers instead. There were still damages of course, with the rooftops of many buildlings in the Gavaroth District meeting a flaming end. The Underworld also lost men on the ground, but they'd pushed the opposition out, and even picked up the rifle of the guard they got a lucky shot on. The real Tempus Ardent Bulk freighter started undergoing docking procedures about ten minutes after the Star Destroyer left, former Sith Lord and businesman on board. With everyone so caught up with the bombers and readying their own defenses it was easy getting it in and the cargo distributed.

The gang overall was happy with the op. They'd had their losses surely, but the mission still came through, and they only had to repel the Horde for so long. They were scarily organized for the Horde though. Kijo made a note to do some research on them, see what was going on. It was a good day for the Underworld, and a bright future coming.