Attn: Imperial Remnant

[Velok the Younger]

OOC/ [member="Mason Deschart"], [member="Alva Calvarona"] or whoever is active and pwrful at the moment. Brought you something nice.

IC/ The world of Kalee floated above Rave's navigation panel, casting blue-green light across the compact bridge of the Lethewalker. Her modified, alchemized frigate, it served as her base of corporate operations, and had visited Imperial Remnant space before. The first time, she'd spoken with military leaders and set up a contract to provide a steady stream of AEL gear, the finest of its kind. Since then, the contract had proven mutually profitable, so far as she was aware.

"...the Force be with you" came through the comm, and she found herself coming out of her reverie.

"Thank you, Muunilinst Control. Lethewalker out." Muunilinst Orbital Control had spent the last, oh, five minutes trying to talk her and her nav officer out of this jump. There was no direct route -- no known direct route -- between here and Kalee. Certainly there had been, centuries ago, when the last Imperial Remnant had done its work in this space, but such secrets had died with Pellaeon. And subspace probes had gotten through, but there was a world of difference between a probe flight and a capital ship. She'd adjusted the course by instinct, using her limited instinctive astrogation ability. The bulk of this course choice had just been good technology and good maps.

Moment of truth.

"Engage."

***​

​

KALEE
IMPERIAL REMNANT SPACE

The Lethewalker exited hyperspace not far from the fortress world, and instantly gave the proper comm identifiers, both to establish the legitimacy of its presence and to request a comms channel to someone in power.

 

[Velok the Younger]

There was no response. Her presence wasn't abnormal, considering the amount of business AEI did with the Remnant; only her request to speak to someone in charge had been unusual. Thus, in the face of silence, she had no qualms about sticking around.

The other AEI vessels began to drop out of hyperspace; they'd been waiting on the Braxant Run, in friendly Mandalorian space. They followed her new course, a gently winding near-vector from Muunilinst to Kalee. A proprietary route now contained in their navicomputers. Not for long, of course. There was little point in blazing a trail if you were to be the only one to use it. A modular Shokita-class station and various hyperbuoys took up their stations at the jump point. The Shokita-class was meant to arrive quickly, fit together quickly -- she really hadn't been here very long at all, and it was exhilarating to watch the station click together like puzzlepieces. Elsewhere, she knew, comparable AEI trade facilitation waypoints were taking up a position in the Muunilinst outsystem. Her nerves drained away -- instinctive astrogation wasn't even among her secondary skills, let alone her specialties -- and the familiar dance of commerce took form.

She'd strongly considered starting the coming hyperroute from the Fringe end, to preserve security and Fringe centrality throughout the creation process, but ultimately she'd opted to use the Muunilinst-to-Kalee secment as the starting point, at least in terms of schedule. This segment was well-trodden ground, but it had cost very little to set up, and its profits would, ideally, help keep up momentum for the rest of the project.

 

[Velok the Younger]

The next phase of the proposed route would have a far lower immediate impact on the Remnant. Also, the jump from the Kalee system to the Esfandia system was longer, and likely to be more complex. Esfandia, adter all, was in Wild Space.

Her cargo ships began disgorging smaller vessels in some numbers. Lugubraa, young and stupid, arrayed themselves along start vectors that diverged by only tenths of a percent. A matter of a few degrees could add up to huge variances across distances like these. Their ships were the cheapest small hypercapable ships to which she had access: old Subach fighters from the Fringe, their shields and weapons cannibalized.

Two wings of expendables vanished into Wild Space. That left her with a handful of cargo ships, a standard escort, and the Lethewalker, along with the hyperlane station setup.

 

[Velok the Younger]

OOC/ Just been informed that I'm not being ignored by the faction bosses - that there's a new faction leader. Sorry about that Caius; thought I'd been all aboveboard with this. Tagging you here.

IC/ "What do you mean, it's out of date?"

"The Imperial Remnant appears to be under new management, ma'am. A [member="Caius Flavian"] appears to have a leading voice now."

She gave a slow blink. "Grand Admiral Deschart?"

"Unknown. Disgrace, exile, greener pastures. Could be anything. All we know is, he's not picking up the phone."

"And that...what was the name, Calvarra? Or was that one of the names that turned out to be uninvolved in decision-making?"

The comms officer shrugged eloquently. "Ma'am, the Remnant does its level best to function as a black box. We were lucky even to get Flavian's name."

"All right, hail the planet again. Attach his name this time, and make it even clearer what we're here for. The roads must roll, Lieutenant. As of now, Kalee isn't just a potential link in a new hyperlane, it's a functional link in a new hyperlane. Fait accompli. The Remnant will benefit, Akure will benefit, the Fringe will benefit, the Mandalorians will benefit and the Muuns will benefit. This is what's next."

 

[Velok the Younger]

Word spread quickly on the Braxant Run, at least when it came to trade. This new or rediscovered spur, Muunilinst to Kalee Seven, meant the Remnant now had another line of direct access to the richest planet in the quadrant. And where Muun bankers went, there also went investors, speculators, merchants. It wasn't long at all -- only a matter of hours -- before ships of every description began radically increasing Kalee's insystem traffic, using the Akure hyperlane for a one-time coordinate fee. Many found it wise to dock at the modular Shokita station she'd brought in, for fuel and local trade intel; she'd called ahead to hire experts on the system's economy, and the station might not be fully operational but the experts certainly were. The station had fuelling facilities, too, though nothing comprehensive; she could take a page out of Silk's book, and ATC's, when necessary. What worked, worked.

Rave Merrill rewarded her repeat customers, and the Imperial Remnant was surely that. Only hours after she first jumped from Muunilinst, commerce had followed.

Among the new influx of traffic came speculators, empty ships (or loaded with token, low-profit, easily sellable cargoes) aiming to make a quick credit on the now-significantly-cheaper Kalee run. They aimed, she knew, to load up on local commodities, and could now afford to pay more for them than they had. Another net benefit to Remnant space -- useful for a government aiming to improve its military footing. You couldn't build Star Destroyers without taxes, and you couldn't make money off taxes without a metric fethton of trade. The Muuns and their associates -- Mando citizens, but more importantly rich -- were out in force.

 

[Velok the Younger]

"Captain, take up a defensive posture over the new station. Don't point us at anything in particular. This is business, nothing violent or threatening about it. We're here to look good for the Muuns. And on that note, I've got an appointment. You've got my comms if you need me."

***​

​

One of the Lethewalker's LACs, a utilitarian, even blocky little ship loaded with enough HELIX to make a flotilla weep, descended to the trade station, a distance of only a couple of hundred metres. She'd worn something nice, the golden leather armor (tastefully immune to disruptors and sonic weapons) that she generally used in formal combat. It sort of sent the right message.

The Muunilinst overcaptains weren't all Muun, at least not by birth; they hailed from all up and down the Braxant Run. That was good. She had a pretty good idea of how to read humans and near-humans, but Muuns eluded her, and she liked to be able to gauge the temperature of a room during the talks. She'd seen to it that refreshments were in order.

 

[Velok the Younger]

They made it clear, the overcaptains, that her currently nominal one-time hypertransit route fee would be about all they were willing to pay, at least for each union ship. Exclusive fuelling rights at this station...well, not so much, not when it was such a short hop to better fuel depots. Those purchases would just have to be case-by-case, and they wanted a discount rate for members of the various unions. This right here was the less-pleasant part of things. Profits would be slim, apart from the one-time registration for each guild ship, and Rave didn't much care for the philosophy of the big kill. She'd tried it out with Lotek'k, the Terror From Beyond, and found it untenable. Fun, but untenable. Profit required consistently being able to deliver on what people believed you could do.

***​

​

"Lady Merrill-"

"Miz is fine."

The Muun bowed gently. He was an upper-class type, a rank or two below an actual banker but above the rest of the unions' captains by common consent. She'd been told that, in this matter, he spoke for a major bank. "Miz Merrill, then. You must understand our trepidation. We have had very little contact with the Imperial Remnant, and what contact we've had has not been necessarily conducive to optimism, so far as trade's concerned."

 

[Velok the Younger]

"I haven't misled you, Captain. I made it clear that this expedition was on spec. It's the Remnant's business whether it wants to do business. Frankly, we may be expelled any minute, station and all."

"Indeed. If the ships from the Braxant Run can offer profit at every scale, and we believe we can, perhaps it will convince our...hosts to consider things in a new light. Much like your plans for a longer route. I've been told you have a map depicting a prospective route?"

A holoprojector flared to life.

"That opportunity," the Muun said after a moment, "will be difficult to resist."

 

[Velok the Younger]

"It's only a mockup, of course," Rave said, aiming for moderate nonchalance. "And only a working title. But yes, we mean to make Muunilinst and Kalee this arm's gateway to the economies of the Unknown Regions. Over here, you see Rakata Beta; this is Verkuyl, the only bacta world in the galaxy apart from Thyferra; this to rimward of the route is Lwhekk, and all the tech centers of the Ssi-Ruuk and their star cluster. This is Dasid Anya, population seventy-one billion, a tech hub. This is 244Core, the largest mining hub in the quadrant. This is Annaj, a trade nexus and the capital of the Fringe.

"Suffice it to say, a great deal is riding on this area of space. There are other options, of course, if the Remnant gives us the cold shoulder. We could connect with Muunilinst via Ord Canfre, Yaga Minor, Borosk, Adumar. But this is the straightest and most sensible route."

 

[Velok the Younger]

"And what of security?"

"Captain, how do I put this. Systems of alliances. The Imperial Remnant has no friends and doesn't respond to communications attempts. Akure Executive Interstellar's fleet can match or beat it. The combined fleets of the Tion Hegemony would annihilate it. Your people and I are Mandalorian citizens, and this is the Mandalorian border. And I was a High Councilor for the Fringe, the people who own the balance of the galaxy's command ships and a near-monopoly on cloaking technology. If anything violent happens to this station, the largest conglomeration of military power in the galaxy will make sure that this hyperlane gets through, no matter what. And that's just the way it goes. Security, in the long run, isn't something you need to worry about."

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

It's always a little hard to respond to communication notices. Between running an actual government, managing corporate affairs, and building a fleet, there was little time left in between to communicate with third parties as soon as they arrived. The Supreme Commander had hoped that these were reasonable people who could be spoken to politely and then both sides be about their ways with a smile on their face and content in their hearts. But simply put, that was not how the galaxy does or ever will work. Not to mention that he was even going on vacation soon!

The Grand Admiral was still in the system, so he obliged to remain there long enough to see what the world was happening.

And he didn't like it.

All by his lonesome aboard the ISD-II affectionately named Outbreak, Davin folded his fingers and held a crimson swathed stare at the HoloScreen, awaiting for this so-called Lady Merrill to answer. It would probably be ironic, on the other side, that he was now waiting for her. He didn't care. Davin merely desired to bask in the ever glorious knowledge of some big business leader and work something out before he departed.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davin"]
OOC/ Thanks for joining up.

IC/
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I'm getting a callback."

She nodded to her moderately new associates and moved to a side room. The lone light frigate Lethewalker rerouted the Grand Admiral's transmission here to the modular little station, and in a matter of seconds she was face to face with a Chiss in the uniform of a Grand Admiral.

"Admiral," she said with a moderate bow, "I'm Rave Merrill. I'm glad the Empire could spare you. Hearing that a Grand Admiral is involved is sure to please the Muun banks -- their representatives are in the other room, and I've been getting questions."

It had been only a handful of hours since her arrival; this was, in government and astronomical terms, a very quick response. That probably boded well.

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

The Supreme Commander allowed her a pensive stare as she bowed and quickly introduced herself. Davin was mildly surprised. He never expected a billionaire to dress like that. But it was whatever. The name 'Jack Sparrow' came to his mind, though he had absolutely no working knowledge of what kind of man he was but it was assumed he had greasy hair.

"Lady Merrill," his own formal greeting was at hand, "It's entirely my pleasure to be meeting you today. I had a few questions as well."

Well, a few was quite a lot in his book.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davin"]

"Well, Admiral, I think I can save your time and mine by pre-empting a few of them. Here's what I'm constructing."

She raised her comlink. "Captain, please transmit the full Muun package to the Grand Admiral's flagship."

The full Muun package was the information she'd given to the banks at their request, before this began; it went over many of the points she'd just reiterated with their union captains. Well-organized, it prioritized the scope and profit of the project, and contained explicit notes on the Imperial Remnant's likely take from taxes, a highly relevant figure for Muunilinst. It included maps.

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

Despite his assumptions on how she dressed, her tone of voice and obvious preparations for this little charade were nonetheless impressive to some degree. Davin had little knowledge of these corporate ordeals and typically stuck to what he did best: commanding starships. Alas, those simpler days were far behind and had been lost under the mountains of paperwork.

"I see," the Chiss nodded. These maps were very detailed, even with the various organizations, governments, and other aspects of galactic politics on there. "What benefits can I expect for the Imperial Remnant?" It was a short, simple, and to the point question. This particular Supreme Commander was not charged with ensuring peace and prosperity for any other faction so his inquiry was entirely reasonable.

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davin"]

"Tax revenues, fuel and services revenues, easy access to the Unknown Regions for your intelligence services, incentives for better relations with your coreward neighbour, contact with the Fringe Confederation...and endpoint control of a major hyperlane."

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

The economic and military benefits of this situation had already been pinging through his head when he spoke. As for the political relations ones, though, he had not even contemplated those in the slightest and was rewarded with yet another reason to like this person on the HoloScreen.

Davin looked at the map once again, "And what will this require of the Imperial Remnant? Will you be wanting assistance in the hyperlane mapping? Funds for erecting trade stations, defense services?"

[member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Tålamod Shapochka]

Lieutenant Commander Tålamod Shapochka paced back and forth across the bridge's communications deck, the pointed bow of the Imperial-I class Star Destroyer Insufferable directed towards whatever stellar structure this visitor thought they could establish uninvited. The half-Miralukan officer of the Empire had come to support the Grand Admiral should this little event prove to be more than a minor annoyance. But for now, unaware of the conversation taking place, all she could do without her superior's consent was wait.

Instructing for a comms channel to be opened with Outbreak, Tålamod announced her ship's presence and messaged the Admiral. "Lieut Comm Shapochka, speaking. We shall hold here, yes?"

[member=Davin], [member="Rave Merrill"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Davin"] [member="Tålamod Shapochka"]

"None of the above, Admiral. My corporation is the Unknown Regions; we have no shortage of funds, stations, defenses or mapping assets in relation to this project. If you mean to spend, I'm sure your government and your local corporations will find it beneficial to focus on creating refueling, entertainment, repair and refit, and other services in orbit of Kalee -- and other of your worlds along my projected route, such as Kad Five. I mean to build the road, Admiral; anyone can profit from a road.

"I should also mention that you will have leverage over Mandalorian worlds, though it's the kind of leverage one uses sparingly."

 

[Sebastian Santelli]

The Supreme Commander tapped his chin thoughtfully, copying and saving the map for reference later on. A beep on the command module caught his attention and announced the arrival of another Star Destroyer, the Insufferable. While he loved his dear destroyers to kingdom come, he would've brought a dozen of them if he wished to make a show of power. Nonetheless, the Admiral was quite glad to see another Imperial in high orbit of Kalee.

"I see, Miss Merrill," he pursed his lips, "And what are you looking to benefit from building this road?"

[member="Rave Merrill"], [member="Tålamod Shapochka"]