Danger Zone

[Ugoto Chivaro]

TATOO SYSTEM, TATOOINE
ARCENEAU TRADE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS

@[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Tatooine's climate wasn't all that different from Ord Cestus. It was a hot, barren, unpleasant rock. The only real differences were that Tatooine had more sand and less buggs than Cestus. Zothustro spent most of his walk contemplating this up until he entered the headquarters of the rather extensive Arceneau Trade Company. Now that he was here, he had to focus on other things. Like making sure that once Cestus Cybernetics' products started flying off the shelves, someone would be there to handle the freighting part of this business. If everything went as Zothustro envisioned it, this would be a profitable venture for Arceneau.

Or maybe he was just being delusional. Hannibal had used another word for it though. "Optimistic" he called it. What a load.

The elderly X'Ting straddled up to the receptionist's desk, leaning heavily on his cane for support. He began to speak, a torrent of clicks that one would expect from an insectoid species bearing a set of mandibles and no lips. Some X'Ting found it within them to speak basic, but Zothustro didn't want to. Perhaps he couldn't, but he had never tried so there was no way to be sure. The clasp of his decrepit brown cloak also functioned as a translation device, which put Zothustro's language into something the receptionist could understand.

"<< I am here to see Ms. Arceneau. I have an appointment. >>"

 

[Alisha'ven]

@[member="Zothustro Quill"]
TATOO SYSTEM, TATOOINE
ARCENEAU TRADE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS


"Well aren't you a cute one," came Alisha'ven's purr, speaking in basic to the X'Ting with a wide smile across her cerulean face. The tips of her lekku quivered slightly, but otherwise relaying a measure of sassy cheer known for the Twi'lek. A wink was given, followed but a quick check of the datalog entry to review the boss's appointments.

"Zothustro Quill. From Cestus Cybernetics?" came her easy going question, flashing a smile up from the dusty desk area. Behind her, all kinds of ruckus could be heard, the usual movement of droids and workers moving to and fro in the large warehouses that lined the StarPort. The bulk of the area's buildings belonged to Arceneau, having been acquired either through credit or bribery, or other means known out here in this particular hive of scum and villainy.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Alisha'ven"]

Either he was hearing things or being patronized. Or both. Zothustro elected not to think too profoundly about it or he might screw something up further down the line. Then she winked. Patronized it was. Being a mutant, socially outcast X'Ting for a great deal of his life didn't net him a lot of compliments as he straggled on through the Galaxy. Thankfully not a lot of folks in the rest of the Galaxy had ever seen a X'Ting before, so they couldn't even tell he was a widely deplored abnormality way back home.

Eventually she asked a question. The X'Ting responded with another wave of clicks and chitters, once again passively translated by his clasp.

"<< Yes. That is correct. >>"

There was a lot of ruckus going on around here. This place didn't look like a company headquarters as he usually pictured it. It mattered little in the end, so long as he walked out of here with a shiny new partnership.

 

[Alisha'ven]

@[member="Zothustro Quill"]

"Well then, follow me," the Twi'lek told the X'Ting, still wearing that seemingly lovely smile, as she was fit to make every potential client feel special. Blame it on the knowledge gleaned during her time running Club Ufora.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And sometimes that meant a Hutt or two.

She stood from the reception area and motioned for him to follow her, still talking in basic as she asked, "Would you like something to drink, Mr. Quill? Caf? Water?" she continued, leading him down a hall towards twin double doors of a lift. A small console attached to the pourstone wall would allow Alisha'ven to type in the code to open the lift. If he desired something to drink, she would be able to order it to be delivered to Danger's office.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Alisha'ven"]

Zothustro might have returned the smile if mandibles were capable of replicating such a facial expression. Instead he muttered an affirmative that the translator didn't pick up and followed after the receptionist. He had a slow, lumbering pace most of the time, but he managed to keep up just behind the Twi'lek regardless. Eventually they came upon a turbolift guarded by a pair of double doors. A security console was nearby. Probably to help keep out any riff-raff that wandered into the building. This was Tatooine, after all. The planet had a reputation.

She asked if he wanted something to drink, so the X'Ting replied with a curt shake of his head. "<< I am fine. Thank you. >>"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

“Alright,” came Alisha’ven’s soft grinned reply, the doors to the lift opening with a soft hiss as she ushered him inside.

A swipe of a datakey, and a press of a button selected the level, and within moments, the door slid shut behind them and gave a slight shake as the lift rose. Three levels later, the turbolift slowed to a stop, the doors once again sliding open for their guest to exit.

“Just this way,” said the Rutian, her hips swaying to and fro under the leather breeches that hugged her curves. She led him down a quieter hall, which not much activity that would be more to the ideal of what the office area of a tier four company would look like.

One turn to the left and another set of wide double doors. A blue hand rose up, knocking on the reinforced steel once before giving a pause, a faint buzzing sound unlocking the doors to allow her and the client entrance.

“Here we are,” Alisha’ven said, as both hands lightly pushed against the doors, not really needing her strength to open them as they did so on their own, revealing a large square office area with arched open air windows to the right. To the left, and around the room, various paraphernalia native to Tatooine decorated Arceneau’s office; a full set of armor from a Tuskian Raider, the skull of a Krayt Dragon along with five large and perfect Kryat Dragon pearls upon a pedestal. Against the wall was a vast armory collection of antique weapons, to include the priceless Lassiter antique blaster pistol that was the forerunner of modern blaster technology. Clearly, Danger Arceneau held a rather interesting private collection.

However, one would not have the time to inspect it in full, for just as they entered a thick husky feminine voice in a Southern Systems drawl spoke, “Mr. Quill…it is a pleasure to meet you,”

From the far end of a room, rising from an intricately carved body wood desk rose the titaned maned vixen herself, Danger Arceneanu, President of Arceneau Trade Company and the true ruler of all that went on Tatoooine, from the everyday trade to the exchange.

Wide hips and a slow saunter brought her round her desk to greet the X’Ting from Cestus Cybernetics, a hand held out.

“Welcome to my little corner of the galaxy,” she coo’d with a wide smile.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Danger Arceneau"]

A short ride in the elevator brought them to a more posh looking, near-silent hallway. Zothustro continued after the Twi'lek, whom opened a pair of double doors that led to the interior of a lavishly decorated office. Various knicks and knacks littered the place. Armor, weapons, gemstones... A twinge of jealousy rose up in the X'Ting. This was quite the arrangement. Maybe one day, when he was finally filthy rich beyond his wildest dreams, he could replicate this in his office. A far off goal, but entertaining to think about nonetheless.

Sparing no time for Zothustro to fully analyze the decorations, the human female he presumed to be Danger Arceneau rose and began to speak. Of course that was Arceneau. Who else would be seated behind the desk in the office clearly reserved for the owner of Arceneau Trade? She sauntered out from behind the desk, hand extended. There was a lot of hip-swaying going on with these humanoids. Probably would have made anyone else weak in the knees.

Zothustro stuck out his hand to meet the gesture, chitinous, three-pronged hand grasping Danger's.

"<< Likewise, Miss Arceneau. >>" Zothustro's eyes wandered, landing on the skull of what might have formerly been a large reptilian. "<< Is that from a Krayt Dragon? >>"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

@[member="Zothustro Quill"]

A smirk went dancing across Danger’s face at the chittering question from Zothustro’s question, her green eyes darting over to the massive skull.

“That it is,” she told him with a measure of pride, “A male in fact,” she began to tell him the tale, “Went out towards the Dune Sea, past Therobons Outpost near the old Czerka factory ruins,” she said, ambling with a sultry swagger as one hand invited him to come over to her desk and take a chair for his seat.


“Do some dealings with the Jawa clans out there there, their Sand Crawlers looking like bantha caravans. Ended up poking into a cave with this here in it.” there came another smirk.

“Was a mighty fine pickle of a fight. Needless to say, didn’t come out of it with only a story to tell.”


A hand went down to touch the polished bodywood of her desk, walking round to the other side where a large comfortable chair made more for a larger man sat. With refined grace, the woman slid into her seat, a courteous smile growing over her crimson lips and a curious but keen glint in those emerald eyes.

“You came a mighty long way, Mistah Quill,” she began, that soft drawl of the Southern Systems tickling her speech.


“So what can Arceneau Trade do for you?”

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"<< Fascinating. >>" Zothustro said in response to Danger's recounting of the hunt.

There had been a lot more interest in that series of clicks than the translator conveyed, unfortunately. He had absolutely no idea where any of those places were, much less what a Bantha or a Jawa was. He would have to look into it. Cestus also had sand crawlers, but they probably weren't the same out here. Mostly they just killed people where this Zothustro was from.

Zothustro followed after Danger, delicately lowering himself into the adjacent chair. He had to shift around for a little while. It was an awkward fit, thorax and all, but he made it work. That was Zothustro's job as of right now- to make things work.

"<< Cestus Cybernetics has had marked success on Ord Cestus. We are looking to expand. But we do not have the money or the resources to handle interplanetary freighting on a large scale. >>"

Zothustro reached into his pocket, retrieving a small holoprojector. He slid it onto the desk, whereupon it activated, displaying a small image of Mandalorian space. Ord Cestus was highlighted in green, while the nearby spaceport world of Celanon was in yellow.

"<< We are looking to remain in the Mandalorian Territories for now. A distribution center has already been established on Celanon. All that remains to be procured is a company to man it. I would like to contract Arceneau Trade to transport our products from Celanon to worlds in Mandalorian space. Cestus itself will handle the transportation of products to Celanon. >>"

Zothustro tapped the emitter, and suddenly the worlds of Garqi, Yaga Minor, Mygeeto, Garos IV, Obroa-Skai, Muunilinist, Toprawa, and Taris took on a dark purple hue.

"<< These are the planets we are currently scouting for bulk buyers. Cestus is confident they will become frequent customers. However, before I can sign deals with them, transportation must already be arranged. >>"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

@[member="Zothustro Quill"]



Danger went leaning back against her chair as Zothustro’s holoprojection detailed the areas of Mandalorian space he was itching to transport his goods to, listening closely for just what he was looking for and what he be needing.


Getting Arceneau Trade out in Mandalorian Space would certainly be quite the contract for her -- opening up the space for any other businesses that might be so inclined to use ATC as their freighter option of choice. Plus, if she could get fueling depots out there… well now, they were talking paving a golden path.

None of her thoughts, however, belied her expression, as the shrewd business woman made some mental calculations on the logistics of it all.

“Well now, Mistah Quill, certainly looks like quite the ambitious project.” she began, giving a nod as she went leaning forward to get a closer look,
“Now, I’ve some questions of my own. You say you have your own distribution center out on Celanon? To confirm, you need the ships and manpower to work your warehouses and ship out to clients within Mandalorian space right?” She needed to see whether or not she’d have to consider proposing building Arceneau Warehouses for distribution --- oh it was evident that she’d need to at the very least, get some kind of property for her to set up building warehouses for maintaining her ships as well as fueling. The trip back and forth between the Southern Systems and Mando space was quite the long haul in terms of expenditures. If she could have a depot there to maintain her ships, mechs, house her pilots, well, that would make this all the more easier and cost efficient.


“It be my pleasure to assist with the expansion of your company and providing you freighter services, I’d just need to know exactly how big are your goods gonna be and just what kinda boats I need to be sending there to ship your goods. Escort them too, gotta have that security -- unless you reckon you’ll be using an outside source for your security?” all of these were standard questions. Some businesses needed just the boats to ship goods, others just wanted a security patrol -- some wanted both.

“Since Mando space be more than a mynock’s ride from Southern Systems, you are also looking at the very least having my build a depot to maintain my ships -- talking ‘bout logistical support, mechs, pilots, and room and board for my boys. Ain’t gotta be much, but they are gonna need it if you are looking at a long term contract with ay-tee-cee. This can be based right off Celanon for ease of convenience for you and your company; guaranteeing that if one of my freighters goes down, you’ll have mechs and extra boats to ensure your shipment is sent out on time.”


“I’d need also to set up smaller versions of these depots spread across Mando space, but that can be done later on ‘pending on just how long my boats need to be out in the black. For now, the main depot line is fine.”


A pause came, as she began to cluck her tongue mid-thought, considering all options. “We’ll then need to talk fuel. I can provide my own fuel, but it’d come at a higher expense than if there be fueling depots there --- or if’n you can suggest someone who already owns fueling depots in Mando space.” it would be better if she could break ground to get her own fueling stations out there, but one step at a time.


“Might be mighty profitable for whoever already owns a business there for such a contract.” she stated, leaning back against her chair again so as to cross her right leg over her left.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"<< Cestus has a distribution center on Celanon, yes. We also need ships and manpower to operate the warehouses and ship the products within Mandalorian space. That is correct. >>"

Zothustro tugged at his collar at the mention of security.

"<< I had been meaning to ask about that. If Arceneau Trade can also provide security for their ships, it would certainly be preferable and streamline everything. >>"

"<< The construction of a depot on Celanon can be arranged. We purchased enough land to facilitate such a thing. It was our intention, after all. Setting up more depots on other planets is up to those planets more than us. I am sure they will be happy to do so if they are our frequent customers. I myself am not aware of any major fuel depot chains in Mandalorian space. You may have to provide your own for the time being. >>"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

@[member="Zothustro Quill"]


Danger gave a nod, moving over towards the glass flask that held her most recent batch of Whyren’s whiskey. A recent contract with the Corellian family owned company guaranteed that Arceneau Trade would be shipping the Whiskey up and down the CIS territories and everywhere else Arceneau Trade ships and ports were at.


Life was good; and Danger enjoyed drinking to it.


“Would you care for a drink?” she asked Zothustro, flipping over one empty lowball glass for herself, and more than willing to take another if he said yes.


“We can accommodate security. Would be at a higher cost, but what I can do is get some of my boys out there to check just what dangers lurk in Mandalorian space,” a wide grin of amusement crept over her face as she popped out the glass stopper and began to pour the amber liquid into the glass.


“Though I’ve an inklin’ that the Mandalorians ain’t the sort to let any kind of recklessness in their territory.” Mandalorians were notorious for that.

“You said you purchased enough land?” she asked, mulling over this. “Seeing as I’d like this to turn into a more permanent and profitable relationship; how about Arceneau will lease that land to build our warehouses and repair hangers…. with the option to buy in one year?” Would be a fair deal for them both.

“If you agree, I can get Alisha’ven to gather up all the necessary documents for your review and signature.”

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

@[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"<< No, thank you. >>" There was much doubt within the X'Ting that any glass Danger had on hand would be accommodating to his mandibles. He would probably end up spilling it all over himself.

"<< Whatever the cost comes to, I am sure Cestus will be able to cover it. As for leasing the land and purchasing it in a year's time... I see no reason why not. Yes, I'm in agreement. Let's get this signed into order. >>"

This would turn out exceptionally well in the long run. Now that they had their freighter sorted out, Cestus could start its marketing campaign. Victory was almost assured in the markets he had targeted. Only outdated or basic civilian droids ever found their way into the Mandalorian territories. Zothustro largely chalked that up to a drought in newer models of civilian droids than any policy by the Mandalorians. The galaxy was still focused on waging war at large, leaving a very nice niche for Cestus to monopolize the ever-living kark out of.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

With that taken care of, Danger gave a slight toast to Quill, a wide smile of pleasure slicing her face," Then we gots ourselves a deal, mistah quill--- to the start of a fantastic mutually beneficial relationship." she gave an incline of her head just as she took the shot back.

Business was good.