Corporate Contraptions and contracts

[Credius]

It was veritably a mess, The Corporate Protectorate had been overtaken and reformed by a powermad buffoon, a move Credius could've expected, but his distractions with the fact that his own Homeworld and its entire sector had been overrun by the Confederation of Independent Systems had prevented him from being able to stop this devolution. Even though she had seemingly turned her back to politics, the Viceroy of Eriadu had no doubt that perhaps having a little talk with former Consul Ari Zanareth would most likely be the best course of action.

There was news that the deep core was seeing many changes and that factions were popping up left and right, even though Credius had managed to exert some influence and infiltrate at the very least the Directorate through his dealings with the sanitorium, he needed a more widespread galactic foothold and the only way to get a hand on such a strengthened position was by at least attempting to gain a controlling share within a company specifically located within the core and the midrim: Zanareth Holdings.

Through his AI KRONOS, the Viceroy sent out a message through some of his back channels that he wished to have a business meeting with the former consul on his homeworld of Eriadu. After all, if he wished to convince her of a partnership, it would be best suited to show her the progress he had made and what kind of company she'd be dealing with.

It was at the Valkan Citadel that he'd be inviting the former consul, simply to show that his political and financial accumen was no joke.

[member="Ari Zanareth"]

 

[Ari Zanareth]

[member="Credius Nargath"]

Admittedly she'd been averse to meeting anyone. Ari after the fall of her beloved power house had gone to ground. She'd dispatched her prized Warship; re-dubbed S.S. Fang into the depths of space and moved every so often. So far she'd made contact with no one, as she was considered a political exile and traitor to the Elector Primo.

When the call came from an old associate and trusted one at that , she'd obliged.

She found herself in a regal room, adorned with the finest silks and food upon a hand hewn exotic wood table. She let a small smirk grace her countenance. This was invariably the likes of Credius. These silks were his favorite garment to clad his pinkish weird body in.

She waited, patiently, both hands clasped behind her back, in that familiar OD Green jumpsuit, saber at the belt.

 

[Credius]

Clapping his hands together, dressed in the finest silk and romex attire one could possibly pay for, his chest adorned with the massive family jewel and a sinisterly dark, blue and gold rin around his right ringfinger, the man entered the room in which he had kept Ari waiting. "Welcome, welcome...I do hope your travels have not been to...harsh on you, my dear," Raising a hand, a few servants entered the room with a tray filled with several expensive appetizers and snacks, while the other two brought forth two silver goblets and the finest wine found planetside. "Please, do enjoy a bit of wine to soothen your throat. You must veritably be perched from the dry and sour taste in your throat THAT mad man's actions must've brought upon you."

His revers showed the mark of the Confederation of Independent Systems, his cufflinks aurium symbols of his newest Viceroy title within the faction. Looking at her, he smirked slightly and gave a nod. "It was a choice I had to make, to abandon my beloved system or to take on the power of the entire eriadu system for my own in order to safeguard my business," Settling himself on the chair opposite to Ari, the Marquis of Eriadu chuckled softly. "Now...ofcourse we could have some small talk, but I reckon you are not in the mood of doing so, so shall we talk business? KRONOS?"

A small golden orb floated into the room, a hole appearing in it's smooth semi-liquid surface and a blue light shining out of it, revealing a multitude of numbers, figures and prognostics to the former consul. "In your absence, Nargath holdings has been expanding into the building of droids, reactors, engines and weapons. Ofcourse my core business of building ships is also still booming and expanding," With a wave of his hand, the floating orb's light shimmered for a second, displaying the production numbers and official financial status of the Holdings under Credius' control. "What I want to propose is a way to modernise your own company by giving it much needed capital through a financial exchange, are you interested?"

[member="Ari Zanareth"]

 

[Ari Zanareth]

[member="Credius Nargath"]

Ari smiled.

"I can't say its been a pleasant existence lately. The Elector Primo and Cypher are both traitors in my eyes. But enough about that."

She took a glass of wine, still preferring to stand instead of sit.

"I need a job and a distraction. So tell me, what did you have in mind?"

 

[Credius]

Credius smiled, hearing the woman mention not only the man who had completely erased the corporate aspect from the former TCP, but also the admiral who was considered a rival within the Confederation of Independant systems and had ties with the directorate. "Seems we have more in common than even I had managed to imagine," yet another wave of his hand and KRONOS lowered itself a bit, so that Credius could calmly put his hand upon the orb for a moment, having the images shift a bit. "As you very well know, your company's presence in the midrim and the deep core is a valuable asset for everyone and the vultures are already at your doorstep. The remnants of TCP and the restructured new factions all seem to vie for control over your company, but I will not allow this. Those people do not understand the value of good business and only see it as potential property to fuel their wars internally."

Showing all the known locations of the companies the former consul held through her own holdings and the ones Credius owned through his, it was apparent that Credius' holdings suffered through centralization, while Ari's suffered through fragmentalization. "there are three options in this case," "Leaning a bit backwards, with a smile on his face, the viceroy clasped his hands together. "We can either found an overarching group which can overview and regulate the entireity of both our portfolios, we could engage in a full scale merger or if need be, I can simply do as I mentioned before. I'll take a small, controlling stake in your company, allowing me access to your shipyards and technology and through my financial injection, I'd ofcourse become a boardmember within your holdings and you may take on a position on the board of Nargath Holdings as a safety meassure to make sure your assets will not be misused or misappropriated. The last option might be a bit convoluted and complex, but some people do like the complex ideas more than the simple ones."

[member="Ari Zanareth"]

 

[Ari Zanareth]

[member="Credius Nargath"]

Ari shot him a look of half resentment half fiery hell.

"Do tell me the complex idea you had. I after all," she waved her hands in the air, "Have absolutely nothing but time these days."

Though in the back of her mind, a fifty fifty split of an even more powerful Company sounded a wonderful idea....

 

[Credius]

"The complexity of the idea lays in the fact that you'll still be instated as head of your own holdings and assets, but that I'll be able to restructure your holdings through a minor controlling stake...let's say twenty five or even thirty percent of the shares to allow me access to all your companies and locations," Coughing lightly to clear his throat, Credius took a sip from the wine he had had one of the servants pour for him. "Of course in return, you will have a membership on my board of directors and will have access to all the official workings within my companies."

Leaning a bit forward again, the man smiled. "Now of course this is rather convoluted and conthrived, while the other two options of a merger or an overarching group may be less...frustrating in the long run. A merger will no doubt be a rather annoying thing in regards to publicity, but this can be solved if we say...create a group which can overarch our own holdings and we can still control everything seperately as the CEO's of each holding, but in reality through that group, we'd own fifty percent of each and have the full use of the company portfolio divided between the two of us.

[member="Ari Zanareth"]

 

[Ari Zanareth]

[member="Credius Nargath"]

Ari grinned again and took a sip of her wine.

"Like I said Credius, I'm in need of a job these days. And I daresay you need a good assassin to .... placate those that are against you. I can provide that and a fifty percent stake in all I hold. I'm ok with a larger company. Best to keep our alliance under wraps until the prudent time presents itself to make a power move."

She made another sip.

"I respect you and what you've got. You supported me when I was Consul, so now let me return the favor. You're the Elder Sith. I'll play follow the leader for a while. One condition though. Savri Sal and Cypher Rage must die."

 

[Credius]

This was just too good to be true. Credius knew that the complete decay of the faction she had worked so hard for, was a strong drive to seek new, more exhillerating and most likely less savory past times, but nonetheless he was quite enamored with the idea of more or less having a trustworthy, useful partner in such an undertaking as this. "Savri Sal was a fool, he'll be dealt with, but patience is key, my dear Ari," The Sith Lord rose from his seat and turned around, clasping his hand behind his back while looking out of the windows to see the polluted skies that plague his planet, even though the valkan citadel filtered and purified the air all around the complex, it couldn't change the view and the reality of things. "The Corporate Protectorate is no more, so our political power within the region has diminished, but establishing contacts and playing our pieces accordingly should allow us to take down Savri Sal."

A sigh escaped the man's lips as he turned around though, a concerned look on his face that did betray what he was thinking. "Cypher Rage on the other hand will be tougher, as he's an admiral within the Confederate defense forces and I have yet to get a hold on more detailed information on this individual," Letting out a chuckle, the Viceroy sat back down and sighed, leaning back a bit to seemingly contemplate on both his words and his actions. "I'll try and see if I can manipulate the political currents within and outside of the factions, using bounty hunters might be an option, but failure would lead his attention our way and might prove to be rather a nuiscance."

[member="Ari Zanareth"]

 

[Ari Zanareth]

[member="Credius Nargath"]

Ari nodded.

"You can consider me your unofficial and secretive accomplice then. I prefer to remain in the shadows. The less public connection we have the easier it is to remove pawns on the board."

She took a sip of her wine, and her thoughts turned back to even more ancient grudges. The ones that had catapulted her into the darkside itself. Her betrayal at Mirial. How the silver Jedi had left her behind, sternum pierced by wicked rebar.

She banished those thoughts and cracked a wry grin.

"I'll have my aides look over our agreement. In the meantime, what is your play? Whats the next piece?"