Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Delivery for Ms. Ventus

Not long after the One Sith's conquest of Anaxes, [member="Selka Ventus"] would find a rather haggard, but pleased looking Orcus on her doorstep. This time it was he who requested the visit. In his hand he had a pink box with a red bow on top.

The official speculation from any who paid attention to the orphanage-owning Sith Lord was that he was attempting to woo the corporate femme fatale. To such speculation Orcus merely presented a toothy smile.

The door slid open and admitted the hefty cetacean, who had apparently regained his sense of pompousness since the last Sith mission.

"Hauum, a pleasure as always Miss Ventus. I believe I have acquired something that might be of interest to you. Are we.... alone?"
 

Ashin Varanin

Professional Enabler
[member="Hion the Herglic"]

Selka's life had been, as of late, immensely frustrating. Her Caluula expedition had procured no intact samples, she'd been forced to run from a flight of StealthX's, she'd found herself on interminable dinner dates with a succession of Sith Lords, and her only student had hit Master before her. That, and solidifying control over Silk again was proving problematic. Hion's presence in her office, ominous at it always was, ranked among the more pleasant and comfortable aspects of her life as of late.

She'd had the office swept today -- two or three times a week, randomized; that was the normal schedule -- and now she reached into her desk to activate a comprehensive localized jammer. "Entirely, Lord Orcus," she said. "Welcome back to the Nexus. For me? You shouldn't have."

In the back of her mind, she sensed the interest emanating from her semi-sentient foliage -- a Kaas dart flower and a Murakami orchid, both potted and ornamental, both on their best behavior.
 
The botanically minded Herglic's sweeping gaze spotted the exotic, frondescent frou frou and regarded them with equal parts suspicion and respect.

A muscle-heaped shoulder twinged and he rolled it to ease a new ache, muttering absently under his breath something nigh-unintelligible. It almost sounded like, "...literally florid."

Obsidian eyes turned back to the Silk executive. "Hauum, for you madame."

A large flipper gently set the box down on the table. Too gently. Inside she would find one grey cylinder, covered in warning labels, with the words "Alpha Red" clearly imprinted.

"Compliments of the One Sith."
 

Ashin Varanin

Professional Enabler
[member="Hion the Herglic"]

Selka stared at the contents of the box for a long moment, then closed it and slipped it into one of her desk's more secure hidden compartments, the one she used in case she suspected an object in her presence was about to explode. The compartment's seal closed, and she allowed herself to relax. Partially. There was still a chance this might be a loyalty test, though Hion struch her as a sensible sort rather than a loyalist. "My thanks," she said at last, and meant it. "After I failed to find an intact RNA sample on Caluula, I'd almost lost hope. Without wishing to devalue the gesture, I have to insist you allow me to reward Darkwater over and above the payment rendered for the Caluula excursion. Name a number, Lord Orcus, if you would."
 
"Of course," Orcus inclined his head as much as his stupidly short, stout neck would allow. He blinked, thoughtful for a brief handful of seconds. "Hauum, liquid assets I have, enough perhaps to expand operations. But Darkwater Security must have somewhere to expand to. Of far more value would be a contract with Silk, where Darkwater provides bodyguards for top executives. Would that be amenable?"

[member="Selka Ventus"]
 

Ashin Varanin

Professional Enabler
[member="Hion the Herglic"]

Selka adjusted herself in her chair. It was refreshing to not have to monitor her image as before another near-human; the whale certainly didn't care about how many inches of skin might show where. "Silk's executives handle their own security arrangements privately. That said, I sit on the board of directors, and I may be about to begin my second term as interim CEO. I'll gladly contract with Darkwater for my own security and recommend them to my fellow executives, most of whom are becoming displeased with their unreliable Echani contractors -- you know of the Fenni regime's vacillations, I assume, and the connections are from that era. I suspect you'll do more lucrative business head for head, so to speak, than if you'd gotten the broader company contract you suggest."
 
The cetacean's rotund head bobbed, mind entirely preoccupied with monetary matters. The popular droid-like saying came to mind, 'disregard women; acquire currency.'

"Undoubtedly. Hauum. Such a tragedy, the flagging reputation of Echan." It got him wondering which other corporations were so displeased with their current bodyguards. Titan Industries certainly seemed to be booming at the moment. Perhaps it was time to pay the unexcitable Alric Kuhn a visit. "Very well, they always tell me to stop betting when I'm ahead, but I'm afraid I never listen."

Gambling was how he'd lost thirty percent of his family's stock twenty years back.

"Any preliminary estimations as to a timeframe for weaponization?"


[member="Selka Ventus"]
 

Ashin Varanin

Professional Enabler
[member="Hion the Herglic"]

"I don't have it down as any kind of bon mot maxim, but I've always believed that when the powerful fail, opportunities are created. Eshan's decline in quality began the moment their corporations left Silk. Eventually, I have no doubt they'll be in dire straits, and Silk can acquire them again for a pittance."

At his question, she leaned back, rested her elbows on the arms of her chair, and rested her chin on her laced fingers in thought. The entire Alpha Red project was off-book, and she'd taken the time to secure the necessary equipment piece by piece before she'd contacted Darkwater for the Caluula op. The rewired medical droids had given her various parameters, but if this sample had anything like the volume and purity implied by its container, and if it was still viable after eight hundred years, all of those estimates went out the window.

"While I put those numbers together, who else knows you had Alpha Red, and who else knows you're giving it to me?"
 
The briefest of pauses preceded the Herglic's reply. When asked a question like that, with the fate of an entire species in the balance, it was best to take a second glance at the cards you held. Did a Herglic Sith Lord really need to fear this human woman when she sat within arms reach? Perhaps he could break her in an eye blink, but then again appearances were deceiving.... and something about [member="Selka Ventus"] felt profoundly familiar. Not in the nostalgic way fresh-baked cookies smell, bringing back warm memories of home. This was more akin to the glimpse of the shadowed corner of the playground, where the childhood school bully used to prey on the weak. Irrational fear crept in, but the cetacean was loathe to let it find a home.
Orcus blinked.

"Hauum... Ardik, of course. Carach knows I acquired it, though not that I am giving it to you. The rest of the Sith believe it destroyed."
 

Ashin Varanin

Professional Enabler
[member="Hion the Herglic"]

"Ardik, and Carach will certainly guess. You've kept it in the family. Excellent." She crosschecked timetables in a desultory way; she'd already known the answer. "A handful of weeks at most, to answer your question. The margins of error are fairly low; Caluula left enough data to extrapolate Alpha Red's reproduction rate. We were already set up for replication when Caluula fell through, even if the resources I've devoted to it are fairly small-scale as such things are reckoned. And of course the entire operation is disposable, ourselves excepted."
 
"Excellent," the cetacean boomed in a rich and rolling timbre, "I leave the matter in your worthy hands."

He stood ponderously. "As always, it has been pleasure doing business with you, [member="Selka Ventus"]."

And then he walked out the door, invigorated with the sensation of progress and the adrenaline rush of high-risk, high-reward ventures. Ah, capitalism. Nothing sweeter.
 

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