Deathsticks, deathsticks and more deathsticks!

[Dunames Lopez]

Dunames wrote a letter to House Thul Estates regarding business and how Star Tours' business would help Elaine or her business produce deathsticks. She saw in this a new opportunity to expand her company's criminal activities, knowing that Nar Shaddaa was already served by Star Tours with service to Tatooine, Coruscant, Ringo Vinda and Eriadu which, for Star Tours, was codenamed Tomorrowland Starport.

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

ATTN: Elaine Thul

It has come to my attention that House Thul Estates wishes to procure the chemical components for manufacturing deathsticks and that repeat orders are expected. For this reason, I would probably suggest to make an appointment and we can talk about how Star Tours services will help House Thul Estates get the requisite chemical compounds.

Due to the intense underground activity on Nar Shaddaa, Perhaps a new route may be opened from Nar Shaddaa and the endpoint of these chemicals, or an increase in activity on existing routes.

Dunames Lopez
CEO, Star Tours

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

Dunames hoped that the final destination of these deathstick chemicals would be a new destination to be served by Star Tours, but she knew that the security deposit she would require would be higher for each stop required. Of course, per Star Tours policy, security deposits had to be refunded unless 1) damage was to be caused to the ship that could be attributed to the merchandise or 2) the merchandise was caught by the authorities.

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

Elaine finally had someone willing to sell her the compound, to make her anti force grenades. The key components to this was part of deathstick manufacturing, as they inhibited the use the force. Though getting these chems, was highly suspect and meant dealing with not nice people. Though her housecarls commander decide to intervene on the meeting, and insisted that it took place on Elysian, as it was his duty to protect her.

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

Dear Mrs Lopez

House Thul is looking forward to meeting you in person, to discuss purchase of the chemicals.
There are no worries about customs, as we control the spaceport.
Also my security forces are aware of the end plan for these chemicals.

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

the end plan was to make anti force user AGL, something she being trying to do for a while, but everytime she does, the deal fall through.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Before Dunames got into the cockpit of the Pullman of Teth, she wrote a letter to be sent through HoloNet to her would-be client that wanted to close a deal with her for procurement of deathstick materials. With each new opportunity may come additional expansion, and she needed to weigh the benefits expansion opportunities with the cost of said expansion.

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

ATTN: [member="Elaine Thul"]

I hereby agree to meet with you in person regarding the deathstick compound deal on Elysian. Oh, by the way, beyond the deathstick compound deal, I am also inquiring about whether there may be sufficient demand for Star Tours to begin serving Elysian as a passenger destination.

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

And so Dunames arrived on Elysian, a planet not previously served by Star Tours, wearing her wine-red Brint Set dress, and taking care not to carry any weapons to the House Thul estates. But seeing that the closest Star Tours hub from Elysian was Spaceport THX1138, she began to wonder whether new ships would be needed to serve Nar Shaddaa from Spaceport THX1138. Depending on the size of the order, Dunames may have to order additional ships in order to fulfill the contract that she may be about to close, especially if it strains the hold of the Bowser-class ship that regularly runs the route from Spaceport THX1138 to Tatooine with stops on Taanab, Nar Shaddaa. She can regularly expect at least 70% of the hold's volume to be filled every single time even without that order of deathstick compounds. Plus three of the five Bowsers in Star Tours service are running routes to that object: one from Spaceport THX1138, another from Coruscant and the last one from Tomorrowland Starport on Eriadu. (Ringo Vinda was not as popular as a departure point for the Deluxe Action-Adventure Package and served Nar Shaddaa nonstop with a Pullman-class passenger liner instead)

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

As her guest ship landed at her starport, some pterodactyls flew above spaceport. She was greeted by a small delegation, including Elaine herself. She would seen House Thul banners flying that day, as she came of her transport. She then asked her Please follow me. She head into a speeder, it was going to take them to her small palace. As they where in the speeder, she asked the woman So was your journey well, and how much of the merchandise can you deliver on regular basis. She was after knowing how much she can get, as this will determine production runs of a new auxiliary grenade. This was going to be on her methods, to taking away the sith advantage.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Yes, the journey was enjoyable. Initially we could ship 300 tons of chemicals a week, and Star Tours would devote the remaining space to passenger seating. Is there anyone even flying to Elysian regularly? If the passenger demand grows beyond about 50 passengers a week, then Star Tours would fly twice a week to Elysian, in which case you would receive chemicals shipments twice a week. Higher frequencies means that you would receive chemicals shipments more often, and perhaps more chemicals a week too. Forgive me, I am not familiar with Elysian as a travel market"

She may be wondering which other companies would fly to such a frontier shantytown in the first place, knowing that Bespin Direct doesn't... and neither does Hedeek Shipping, with whom a deal fell apart for just that sort of items. But using 300 tons at Secret Courier rates may mean that the risk premium with two stopovers where the merchandise may be inspected and seized (Tatooine and Eriadu) will be rather high. Then again, weapons aimed specifically at Force-users are due to be expensive. With 300 tons of chemicals a week she can't imagine how many anti-Force-user grenades can be manufactured.

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

She listened to woman three hundred tons was more than enough, once they worked out the key ingredients where it would be more than enough. She then answered her last question, ​We mostly have refugees from the galactic wars, especially after the collapse of the republic in the core. I have open door policy to these people, though we do have to insist they do some military service. As if any enemies come to planet we have to be able defend it, and even semi trained people are better than nothing. Though I do think biologists might find some of wildlife interesting, to say the least. They soon arrived at her modest palace, and she escorted her guest into it. Then said I meet you in the study in an hour say, your room has been made for you and your entourage. As her servants took her guest to there room, she head to study to go over the first draft of the contract.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Elysian's population was about 4-5 million or so. Flying twice a week to Elysian would require to earmark 150 tons apiece twice a week from Nar Shaddaa to Eriadu, and the configuration for that flight would involve 12 passengers in Pullman class, 63 more can be seated in bucket seats, 7 abreast. Even so, the bulk of the revenue would be earned by using 150 tons of freight each at Secret Courier rates; Star Tours often operates flights to backwater worlds that are often sparsely populated that no other companies regularly flies to, such as Elysian. Of course, interstellar mail is also an issue, most of it being parcels.

Then again, she might have overlooked one aspect: distributing the grenades once they were manufactured. Grenades aimed at Force-sensitives, and the question being: how much of the supply chain would House Thul wants Star Tours to occupy, just the delivery of the raw materials? Or she wants Star Tours to take care of the shipping of the grenades as well? Nevertheless it's win-win for Star Tours, even though shipping shiploads of grenades would require increased frequencies from and to Elysian, driving down prices for Elysian-Eriadu flights.

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

Elaine was waiting in her study, drinking earl grey tea. She had lot issues, that need resolving and this star tour company might be able to help her.
She need to ship out training companies to core worlds, to help fight the sith, as well as weapons and ammo. This ass well as get people out of the firing line, who could be trained to fight in long term. She did not want people who would never fight, unless they had some other skill that could help the war effort. She was nice to a point, but she was to pragmatic. She take child who could be trained, over a old age pensioner.

So she sat waited for her guest to come down from her room.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Now that Dunames was done stowing her belongings other than this datapad with an embedded printer that may be of use to her, and that the one-hour delay given by Elaine was up, she was guided to the study by the housecarls stationed inside the manse. The study was filled with bookcases on three walls with the last wall having some windows on it. She had a seat in the study, which was rather luxurious. To her this was almost as if she was sitting on cushions made of materials that had the mechanical properties of Lipsec lipstick. And man was Lipsec lipstick a wonderful product...

"With all due respect, there is an issue that I think needs to be resolved: once the production of anti-Force-sensitive grenades begins, I have to wonder whether you would like Star Tours to ship out the finished product as well as smuggling in the base chemicals for the active ingredients?" Dunames thought.

Dunames hoped that House Thul would want both ways of the deal, rather than just shipping in the raw materials. But she may never know what market there would be for anti-Force-sensitive grenades, regardless of whether the House would keep these grenades for themselves or sell them on other markets, black or legitimate. For 300 tons of chemicals a week, millions of such grenades could be made in that span. And not only death sticks would incapacitate Force-sensitives, it would also stun NFUs like she was herself.

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"] [member="Suravi Teigra"]

As her guest sat down, and she began to ask questions. She decide to answer them individually, Well you only have to smuggle the substance of world, once here I just need to know they gone to my factory. As for distribution, if you can get them past The One Sith I think the senator of Kiribi maybe interested. Also I happy to take any able body person back, with there families if they willing to join House Thuls Army. She then decide to add to that, Or they have other skills that would help my people, build this planet resources up.

She then took a sip of her tea, and waited for her guest to reply.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"Let's say that JanFathal is the closest hub Star Tours to Kiribi, but Eriadu is closest to Elysian. As of late, people wishing to take outbound Star Tours flights from One Sith worlds to non-OS worlds are mostly refugees from the One Sith, some of which would be willing to fight the One Sith back. However, there is no guarantee as to whether there are significant numbers of people willing to regroup and then fight back, nor is there any guarantee about the skills of the refugees that would arrive at any of their endpoints, only the rate of arrival on Elysian through that channel would be virtually guaranteed."

Twice a week about a hundred refugees will arrive on Elysian on each flight. The One Sith doesn't notice a thing about Tomorrowland Starport and, by extension, Eriadu, because it's a core Galactic Alliance world. The next few months for Star Tours are going to be massively important and may well determine whether the company will survive in the long run or not. Rumor has it that they are willing to move into larger-scale, almost planetary relocation-scale, refugee collections using ships as large as Maximum Battleship-sized ships to carry out their part in Operation Noah's Ark. But, for now, overpriced tickets is the lot of many would-be refugees.

"I do not doubt that Kiribi would be willing to harbor refugees from the One Sith, the question now being how many they can take weekly. It might be a minor quibble to you or to the Senator of Kiribi, but for me it's a question of ship allocation. Kiribi isn't served by Star Tours yet, and an order for ships has just been placed."

[member="Elaine Thul"] [member="Suravi Teigra"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"] [member="Suravi Teigra"]

I can't answer for the senator of kiribi, about refugees or what they plan to do about the one sith. Though I do know they intend to fight them, hence why I want my new weapons to get to her. As this will be staging point, for any fight back in the core worlds. I am interested in bring people back here, if they want as long as they willing to do something that benefits my world. Though if you wish, I am sure the senator might be willing to talk to you. Also if you do have the capacity, I do at some point need my army moving from here to the core worlds, to help in that fight. That would be a total three hundred thousand soldiers, plus the weapons and ammo, and all other paraphernalia that goes with moving an army from one location to another. She took another sip of her tea, and then changed the subject back to main reason the woman was here. She wanted the chemicals, so she could build her new grenade. So the chemicals, have you got them with you, and how much will they cost me? As her main concern was weaponising the substance, like the mandalorians had to help give them an edge on the battlefield against sith force users.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"The initial shipment that I have with me contains about 20 tons and, for 50,000 credits per ton, you've got yourself enough to build thousands of anti-Sith grenades with even one ton. In two days' time, the next one for 150 tons will arrive. With 300 tons of such chemicals a week you can become one of the major suppliers of such grenades in the galaxy. Because of the high level of risk associated with shipping such hazardous chemicals, I would be asking for a security deposit of 1 million credits, which will be refunded after a year if there has been no damage caused to a ship or to cargo. Of course, Star Tours reserves the right to withhold the deposit, in whole or in part, if the chemicals are found to have caused damage to the ship or to other cargo, or for any entanglements"

With just one ton of deathstick chemicals, Dunames estimated at least 25,000 anti-Sith grenades could be built. Now grenades cost more than 10 credits to build, and assuredly cost more than 10 credits to the end user. She began pondering about the business of deathstick-powered grenades. But even non-Force-sensitives caught in the blast will become toxicomaniacs especially if they manage to survive more than one hit. But for 50k credits a ton, she would only get about a quarter of that amount, while taking into account the cost of even procuring the chemicals themselves from Nar Shaddaa, and that's assuming none of the Secret Courier deposits are withheld for damage to the ships or cargo, perhaps a little more than that. The maximum security deposit that would be charged is the cost of a new Tofolk-class ship, up from the 500k that was the limit before Tofolks were ordered.

"It might be a little expensive but death sticks are worth quite a bit on the black market. Plus you really don't need a whole lot of a deathstck to render a Force-sensitive unable to use the Force. Even though it may not be otherwise much different from other grenades, anyone caught in the grenade's blast will be at risk of becoming a toxicomaniac, especially the more hits from such grenades they take. Is that an acceptable side effect?"

She would earn an estimated 4 million a week, if one was to include the refugees boarding the flights to Elysian. That was enough to save towards the construction of the Maximum Battleship(s) which will bring Star Tours that much closer to being able to take part in Operation Noah's Ark. But using the first leg of Operation Noah's Ark as a troop transport? That would severely compromise the neutrality of Star Tours. But Elaine or Suravi could still ask Ringovinda StarYards to build a few units of the same Maximum Battleship-sized cargo ships as troop transports, or perhaps a feasibility study for something smaller but still heavy cruiser-sized.

[member="Elaine Thul"] [member="Suravi Teigra"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

She listened to woman, over her prices and her terms, as she did she nodded her head in understanding. Her terms where fair, and it was nothing she could not do. She turned her head to an advisor, and said to him Make the monetary arrangements for the first year, and we see how it goes from there. She then turned to her guest, to see her reaction as her terms where accepted. Then she asked So once your first payment is received, can I have my hands on first assignment. So I can begin doing the research in the chemical formulas, so I can find the most potent version. Also just a note on side effects, war is hell. All people on the battlefield know that, so I am not concerned by it. As I do intend to find a way removing harmful effects from my own soldiers, and that of my allies. After she finished speaking she finished her cup of tea, and looked slightly disappointed in the fact it had gone. She could have another, but she spend too long on the toilet if she did that.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Dunames is left wondering what were the terms that other suppliers proposed House Thul for delivering such chemicals. What would be construed as unfair, if 50k credits/ton of deathstick chemicals were fair terms? Hedeek Shipping was the last supplier that House Thul contacted about that, and it failed spectacularly. Then again, Hedeek Shipping was too close to the First Order and the One Sith. And some of the other suppliers went out of business since, because they were perhaps affiliated with the Hutt Cartel or the Black Sun Syndicate, which both were failing factions at the time. She knew that much of the high prices deathsticks command are due to the refining process, and that a ton of deathsticks could be worth as much as 10 times the cost of the raw materials Star Tours is about to offer House Thul...

"Consider now that the cost of the security deposit covers the first 20 tons, which is awaiting unloading upon the receipt of the security deposit as we speak. Star Tours' responsibility extends only from the moment the cargo arrives at a docking bay on Nar Shaddaa for loading until the cargo is unloaded here and leaves the premises of a docking bay; it assumes no responsibility for what happens after the cargo is unloaded. The hands-on assignment may commence at any time after the first shipment has been unloaded. Now that you understand that you've got the best terms in the galaxy for these chemicals, I hope to see the resulting shipments delivered safely to Elysian"

It may become essentially 20 tons of chemicals on the house, if nothing was to happen to a Star Tours ship because of the chemicals, which was highly unlikely. Especially since Balosar, which was a natural source of death sticks, was too close from the One Sith to actually be a viable source, but Hedeek Shipping attempted to capitalize on it. The main question being why didn't the Balosars try to supply the death sticks themselves to light-sided parties in this conflict?

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

As long as what I pay for is in the create upon delivery, I am happy to take security after that. As she spoke she read her surface thoughts a little, the woman why she agreed so readily. The answer was, getting people to supply her was almost impossible. She had tried several times, all had failed to get of starting blocks, mostly due to her allegiance, or wrongly placed mistrust over actions on alderaan. So she was not going to scupper the deal over money, she was not going to do it under reasonable terms. As at end day, all she was interested in was replicating the mandalorian weapon, and improve on it if possible.

If you require any additional security, I am more than happy to help. Though I expect a discount due to the cost involved, but it would be at cost price. This was an offer, as it help secure the shipment meant a lot to her.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Dunames couldn't tell whether Elaine was taking about security in the sense of pirate or One Sith attacks or security in the sense of not having the cargo seized in port. Nar Shaddaa was a planet known to load any manner of cargo for the right cost. They had no security checks so the main problem would be at Tomorrowland Starport on Eriadu, where the cargo could be seized while changing ships. Using Secret Courier service would only guarantee that the cargo will go undetected at best and, as such, the cargo will be listed as "chemicals" without specificity on a cargo manifest. With an extra four million a week, this is going to be a significant source of cashflow for one route. Usually commuter routes to planets like these could yield about 50-100k in revenue a week. The main cash cows were routes from and to One Sith worlds, especially from them.

"The main concern is the One Sith, more than pirates. That is why I agreed so readily to supply the chemicals to build a Force-nullifying weapon. The ships in the Star Tours fleet might be lightly armed, but they can help repel pirates in a pinch. But I will let you take over security over Elysian"

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

Fair enough, though the option is always open if you have problem with any locals. As hate for the shipment to come to any problems, due to some local street gang, trying to take ownership of some dock on Nar Shaddaa. This was her only reason she offered help, as she did not like the idea of shipments, become delayed due to some street thug. Though if you need protection from One Sith fleet, I am not sure I can help there, as I have only got troop transports. She then ponder for the moment, and asked As for the weapon, other than my intended customers, do you have any others in mind? She was curious, as she did have people in mind, but there might be others that might be interested.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"These guys on Nar Shaddaa will probably pay a good price for a supply those Force-breaking weapons. We have little to fear from the GA; they usually turn a blind eye to the shipment of weapons that may be used against the Sith, especially if it's specifically targeted to them, but any deal we might have tried with them at this time is falling apart because they have their own supply of ixetal cilona."

Any light-sided faction with significant NFU forces would love nothing better than a weapon to render dark-sided Force-users unable to use the Force. With that in mind, Dunames knew that she would need to ask other light-sided factions for whether they want such weapons and, if so, how many. Perhaps House Thul's attempts to get the Galactic Alliance, or any supplier that was operating based from GA territory, to supply them ixetal cilona failed because of wrongly placed mistrust over Elaine's actions on Alderaan. But even bounty hunters that specialized on fighting Force-sensitives know that most Force-sensitives would rather close in than to fight from range and to prevent them from using the Force at a range would help.

[member="Elaine Thul"]

 

[Elaine Thul]

[member="Dunames Lopez"] (sorry for delay, been side tracked)

She looked and ponder what she had said, ​Very well, I think we can agree on everything. I shall make the initial payments, and I will also pay for the first year shipment up front. Though if you encounter problems, then I expect compensation for delays if it cost me money. She did this way as she wanted to secure it, and take her initial shipment know, so she could begin experimenting with it as soon as possible. She wanted to see what agents she could combine it with, so it could be absorbed through the skin and eyes, not just the lungs. She looked at her counter part, as to say is any other business with this deal. As if there was not, she invite her to spa, where they could enjoy tiffin.