An Economic Mission to Alderaan

[Cyrus Tregessar]

ALDERAAN SYSTEM
OUTSKIRTS

A brief flash of light heralded the arrival of a ship into the conflict-ridden Alderaan system. It emerged on a stable vector, at maximum acceleration, clearly not a vessel trying to stay hidden. For well trained sensor operators it would take only a few moments to pinpoint energy readouts, compare that to an internal database of vessels, and get a general idea of the size and class of ship. A few moments after that the data would be refined and the list of possibilities narrowed down to merely a handful. If the crew were very good, and the volunteer spacers that made up the fleets of the Mandalorian clans generally were, it would take only around half a minute (well before the light itself had time to reach a ship on the other side of the system) to get an exact classification of a ship, possibly even down to the name of the vessel if the energy reading were distinct enough.

On this particular day, the information probably sent the fleet commander into a bit of a panic. The ship that had just emerged had arrived from a vector that indicated it had departed from One Sith space. The twenty-seven seconds it took to get an exact reading were twenty-seven of the most unbearably slow and drawn out seconds of his life, with each moment carrying with it the expectation that a Sith fleet would revert right in front of the Mandalorian forces.

The data came back, the ship was none other than the Dark Blade Star Destroyer Contempt, flagship of none other than One Sith Fleet Admiral Cyrus Tregessar. The Mandalorian commander gave the order to his ships to prep for battle.

***

Onboard the Contempt, Cyrus watched the Mandalorian fleets maneuver with grudging respect. Under the tutelage of [member="Captain Larraq"], they had proven their worth in combat multiple times, tackling nominally superior forces with minimal casualties. Their response had been swift and professional, and one day he looked forward to battle between them. But he wasn't here to fight, at least not right now.

"Make sure it's clear our weapons are powered down, and broadcast a hail to the Mandalorian Commander. Put the usual greeting in it, and make it known that we are here specifically to contact [member="Draco Vereen"]. Send my compliments to the Mandalorian commander as well, and that on any other day I'd be happy to face him in battle."

The message went out immediately, followed up swiftly by a maneuver away from the Mandalorian ships, a clear signal of non-hostile intent. As much as it had been to watch ships with nothing to do scramble to react, he had no intention of getting shot by some overeager captain.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Early warning systems pinged, giving the Mandalorians a handful of seconds of reaction time before the Contempt reverted from Hyperspace, however due to the distance the ship reverted from it was well out of range of the Warden-class Interdictors and the Saber-class Defense Stations that were often used to give Destroyers and Dreadnoughts warning shots. Because of the distance, while on edge about a possible attack on Alderaan, the Mandalorians could expect only two things. Either the ship was here to talk, or a full scale invasion force was following it.

After the initial scrambling of fighters and response vessels the messages began to be exchanged. "Continue monitoring the Hyperspace lanes. Could be a cover for a Raid. Hail Alor Vereen on the surface and let him now there is a guest." Several of the Mandalorians began fulfilling their orders, while a small group of fighters began patrol flights above the planet. Sentry fighters designed to detect everything began shifting about in the void of space while the Mandalorians waited for instructions from their master on the planet.

"I don't suppose he's here to defect or surrender. I'm on my way to the ship, figure out what it is he is interested in while I am in transit." The black haired Mandalorian warrior's deep voice echoed across the bridge as the comlink buzzed with the line closing.

"Send the Contempt a message asking their intentions for this little visit and inform them that the Alor will be aboard the Kandosii-type in a few moments." Rach Vizla rubbed the ring on his middle finger, feeling the stone and the engravings. Today was going to be a good day.

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

The Contempt came alone. It wouldn't take long before the advanced sensor systems on the various Mandalorian ships would be rewarded for their efforts in surveillance with certainty of that fact. Or maybe for them it was a disappointment, hard to tell with a warrior people. Cyrus couldn't help but get the feeling that the Mandalorian commander looked a bit sad as he passed the message that the Alor would be on his way to a warship shortly. Perhaps he was simply projecting his own thoughts on the matter onto the figure on the viewscreen before him.

It was probably mutual, when you saw a local tough (or you know, a renowned Admiral) approaching the last thing on your mind was that he might simply want to talk.

Axxila having been previously under Mandalorian control, and thus necessitating regular interactions with them on the part of the planetary leadership, Cyrus possessed a passing familiarity with the Mandalorian language and their rather unconventional rules of etiquette. Whereas a greeting of peace would get you along in one way or another with most species in the galaxy, it simply wasn't something you did the Mando'ade.

Instead, the standard greeting involved some quip about skill in battle, which was passed along without comment. The rest of the message was brief to the point, with a smidgen of the somewhat excessive Axxilan sense of majesty and ritual.

"I come bearing the authority and will of the Dark Council of the One Sith, and seek conference with Alor Vereen in his position as owner of ArmaTech Industries."

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

In truth, the older Mandalorian was a bit disappointed he wouldn't get to command a fleet against the renowned admiral of the One Sith. He had assisted fleet actions alongside the admiral at Togoria, if only slightly, and assisted in the Sacking of Chazwa alongside the One Sith. While the Mandalorian had no love for the Sith, he also had no hate for them. He simply liked proving he was better than others, and the One Sith had offered profitable opportunity, whereas their enemies had offered nothing.

With the Admiral requesting to speak with ArmaTech Industries, it usually meant one thing. They wanted to buy something with considerable worth. Usually not the type of small scale projects that he occasionally did on the side. "Very well, a conference room will be prepared for you aboard the vessel. Was wondering when the Dark Council would get around to getting a contract." Rach nodded at the Admiral, and barked a few orders in Mando'a to the bridge crew. Advanced sensors would indicate, the vessel reverting to a alert status instead of ready status, with weapons moving to resting positions and shields scaling down to passive mode. There were enough ships and defenses in the system to handle a single Dark Blade even if it got the jump and they would have a handful of seconds notice before anything else arrived. "Someone tell the boss to pick up his contract pens in addition to whatever cape he grabbed." There was a reasonable amount of laughter that followed the remark before the line went dead.

When Draco's shuttle arrived in the cavernous hold of the Kandosii-type, he in fact, had not grabbed a cape, which he only wore when forced to represent the Royal Court of Alderaan in official, non-combat related matters. Instead he was wearing his armor and his hip was adorned with a his sword. Other than that he hadn't grabbed weapons or grenades or anything. "Alright, clear this hangar and bring a desk and two chairs. We have the meeting here, simple, easy, quicker for the Admiral. Try and keep word of his arrival off the Holonews for now." The Alderaanians wouldn't like Cyrus Tregessar looming above them, but they would understand the need to be respectful to the Sith aligned Admiral. Pissing him off would likely lead to reprisals the lone planet was incapable of fending off indefinitely at the moment.

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

The Contempt cut acceleration to a fraction of maximum, and let its current momentum carry it into close shuttle range. It was close enough now to the the Kandosii that both ships could make the other out at visual range, albeit only as a point of light relatively static compared to the canopy of stars seen through a viewport. The advanced optics mounted on the Contempt on the other hand, could display a high-resolution image, one of which Cyrus now viewed on a data tablet as he took a lift down to the main hanger.

You always took any opportunity to build your intelligence base. Even though the current mission really was non-hostile, getting close up images of a large Mandalorian warship with military-grade cameras was too good a chance to pass up. No doubt the Mandalorians were doing the same, that was the nature of the game.

The hanger bay of a Dark Blade was small and cramped, room for a handful of shuttles, lighters, ships boats, and a handful of other small craft. You would have been hard pressed to squeeze a squadron of interceptors in it, even if only for transportation, and there were no concessions for ordnance or maintenance. After all, the Dark Blade had never been designed as a carrier.

A pair of Helldivers followed Cyrus into the prepped shuttle, his traditional bodyguards. They were silent on the short flight, not out of any sense of majesty or fear that normally followed the Admiral around like a dark cloud, but out of practicality. They had nothing to say.

The shuttle approached the Kandosii and landed with minimal interaction between the pilot and flight control, at least as far as Cyrus could tell. The pilot passed a quick message that the hanger appeared mostly empty and there were no armed guards. Cyrus tapped each of the Helldivers on the shoulder to signal that they would stay onboard, then stepped down the loading ramp.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

While the small executive hangar of a Darkblade was small and cramped, really only large enough for a shuttle or so, the Kandosii-type had two cavernous hangars lined with docking stations, starfighter racks hanging from rafters and catwalks for pilots to access the smaller attack craft on the upper levels of the hangar. This one was light on its complement, its sentry fighters out on system patrol, and two of the corvettes the ship held were in orbit above the planet. It left the hangar open and roomy, even with the addition of two extra shuttles.

The renowned Sith Admiral's boots clicked against the hangar deck and Draco observed him from a chair behind a desk. Having expected a fight when he was told of the arrival of a One Sith vessel, it was not as though his long time alliance and cooperation with the Dark Lord's regime mattered to a great many of the current Dark Councillors, they had said as much, Draco wore his armor. Now that it was apparent that the Admiral was here for other reasons, the beskar'kandar was a little out of place. What it did do was assure the Mandalorian warrior that he was safe.

"Good evening, is it evening for you, Admiral?" He wasn't sure what the Galactic Standard time was, but at the Palace on Alderaan it was mid afternoon. "I'm told you are seeking to converse with the Chairman of ArmaTech Industries." That likely meant that he was seeking to purchase any number of technologies and weapons for his use. ArmaTech was known to make a few neat weapons and ships, so it would be interesting to see which ones the Admiral was looking at. "And so, I'm wearing that hat today, with the approval of the Board of course."

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

The Mandalorian former Sith Lord, ArmaTech Founder, Techno Union Foreman known across the galaxy as the Dragon of Mandalore had an understandably complicated official status. While the Mandalorian Clans were themselves officially a not-to-be-disturbed neutral party, the man who called himself [member="Draco Vereen"] had been an ally of the Dark Council multiple times, yet still wedded himself (literally as well as figuratively, apparently) to those who had oft opposed the Sith in the past.

It probably made for some interesting dinner conversations. It also made Cyrus a bit uneasy in how to approach the conversation. He was no diplomat, and far preferred the battlefield to the bargaining table. When all else failed, he could always fall back on excessively formal Axxilan etiquette, but that wasn't always the best option. So when Draco opened with an generic soldiers greeting, Cyrus couldn't help but feel some sort of relief.

"The early morning for the watch, actually. I too am here with the knowledge and support of the Dark Council. Officially this is purely a business venture, myself and the Council have had the opportunity to witness the effectiveness of your technology firsthand and would like to arrange for a mutually beneficial exchange. Unofficially, I welcome the chance to advance the relationship between our respective governments, and build our common interest."

There was also the fact that only a very personal level, Axxila had been a Mandalorian protectorate before and odds were, given its location, it would be again. Despite having foresworn his birthright a decade ago, Cyrus was still a Tregessar and if some small effort could mean that Axxila had some higher status was it was inevitably absorbed, well, that wasn't so much to ask.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Ah, I see. I've been a mercenary much of my life, and I've been picky about who I sell my sword to. These days, things are... different." Draco said, sitting down and smiling. "I actually have some interests in some of your technology as well. The One Sith have been reliant on Titan for the better part of a decade and, well. I'm a share holder of that corporation now. But, if you are interested in a fair trade, I'm open to such an arrangement."

Draco wasn't as devoted to the Republic as some might think or assume. He was quite willing to watch it all burn from the side lines if he was able, but there was the possibility House Organa asked him to assist the Republic, a possibility that grew ever and ever smaller as time went by. Now that Alderaan was under Mandalorian protection and Alderaan had made their leave of the Republic, their connection to that government was solely through Draco's betrothed, Princess Faith Organa. Other than that, they enjoyed quiet sovereignty with Mandalorian guns pointing at those that got too close.

"I'm quite interested in the Hypervelocity Guns that have recently been developed, the very big ones. Which technologies are you interested in acquiring?" The Mandalorian asked, pretty expectant that his Isotope-Five Reactors and the fuel converters he used to keep them functioning over such long periods of time would be on the list.

[member="Cyrus Tregessar"]