Despicable Things

[Jacen Cavill]

Lianna

Hegemon Towers

57th Floor

The music that was playing was like a miniature assault on his ears, the sharp tones bludgeoning his ear drums. The sterile, white walls only served to further agitate him. Loud, breathing from an obese man's mouth didn't help the cause any. Even the tailored suit he wore was bothering him. Rough fabric rubbed his neck the wrong way, but he kept a pleasant smile on his face as he stood waiting. The glasses he normally wore in this persona were tucked in his breast pocket. Antsy fingers played with the ring that hid his power.

To the galaxy he was a Dark Lord of The Sith, today he was just a former executive seeking a meeting with an affluent man he used to know. The particulars of their relationship didn't need to be spoken of publicly. No, a private meeting would had to do.


But only through official channels. Umbarans were the worst sort of cowards.

"Mr. Ardik will see you now, Mr. Lee."

With a curt smile he walked straight into the office and pulled the door shut behind him. Cerulean eyes scanned the vast office, before falling on a familiar paperweight. "How's grandmother Ardik doing these days?" Calmly striding seat across from the desk before him, he sat and leaned back casually as he removed the ring. "Better yet, how's your father?"

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

As he often was, the Umbaran with the impeccable platinum hair was seated behind his desk. He had cleared off any paperwork he had been handling in preparation for his meeting with the routinely insufferable Jacen Cavill. Or, rather, this was Cade Lee. Cavill preferred to call himself that whenever he was either wearing or carrying a pair of discount glasses. The desk was clear aside from the various knick-knacks he kept on it, including the paperweight gifted to him by his grandmother, Elisa Ardik, a number of years ago. It was still warped from when Jacen Cavill had crushed it in a show of force against Jak Sandrow.

Gerion had most likely placed it there specifically for this meeting, but more as a nostalgic artifact and not for any familial love for Elisa. His grandmother hated him, and the feeling was mutual. Hence why she thought paperweights were an appropriate gift.

The Umbaran leaned back in his chair, fiddling idly with a pen. "She went missing in the wake of the rapture. I was hoping you had joined her in the Netherworld. As for my father, he's still recovering from heart surgery. But if you're referring to the double your thugs kidnapped from his estate several years ago, I have no idea. He hasn't been writing me."

"Do you actually need something, Mr. Lee? Or have you come solely to waste my time, as per usual?"

 

[Jacen Cavill]

"I did join her in the rapture," Jacen's eyes went blank for a moment. Memories of that time were vague at best. He could only feel emotions and the desperate struggle for survival. That blank stare left him as he zeroed back in on [member="Gerion Ardik"]. Sitting up a little, a slight grin crossed his face. Years ago the expression would have been genuine, he now looked like a Krayt Dragon attempting be cordial.

The man had become the monster, and he loved it.


"Sorry to hear about your father, it's probably hard to write when you lose a hand." That grin he wore turned into an annoyed expression. " I didn't come to discuss the past, nor talk about your family." Thick, calloused hands met as he pondered a moment before speaking again.

"I came here for your help to restore my presence in the business world and rejoin the Hegemony. I won't apologize for my actions, you have gotten everything you have deserved." Blue eyes turned red and his face took on a sickly color as the dark side flowed through him. "Watch how you speak to me or I will just kill you and take this company. The choice is yours." The air was buzzing with tension.

"Either learn manners and stay useful or I'll use your skull as a paperweight."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

Gerion frowned. Not five minutes into this meeting and he was already being browbeaten by this man again. Very well. Gerion had no desire to get decapitated and have his corpse defiled into something to weigh down papers. He had far too much to live for. Like the Queen of Kuat, for instance. He sat up in his chair and placed his pen down, taking on a more somber demeanor.

"How can I be of assistance?"

The Umbaran had many things. Backbone had never been one of them.

 

[Jacen Cavill]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]'s change in demeanor was quite pleasant. Jacen thought of sliding the ring back on his finger, but he preferred keep the threat of danger there. Ardik was many things, but a direct confrontation and the thought of losing anything wasn't something he enjoyed. "Good, I prefer you when you know your place." That predatory smile came back as he eyed the umbarans desk. "I like what you've done here. So let's spread some wealth here buddy." Cavill's use of friendly terms was pointless.

He cared for only himself, and hated the man before him.

"I've got some employees from my finance department on retainer. I want to open a galactic bank and get most of Blas-Tech back. In exchange you'll get ten percent of my old company and preferred dealings with my new one. I just need an investment to pair with my sizeable fortune."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

Buddy. It was all Gerion could do to keep from projectile vomiting all over his desk and Cavill. Despite the apparent lopsided nature of this meeting, all power being concentrated on Cavill and Gerion being left to squirm uncomfortably, these terms had the potential to be amicable.

"Ten percent of BlasTech?" Gerion's frown deepened. Maybe he was a cowardly wretch, but he was a cowardly wretch with standards. "That company has changed hands too many times; fallen from too many charts. Its value scarcely a fraction of what it was back in the day. I'll get you whatever it is you want, but it'll be for ten percent of your new operation."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]'s point was valid. Blas-Tech was a shell of the titan he had turned it into. Whatever sense his board had while he owned the company was long gone. Thankfully his financial advisors had kept his finances secure. So even without his company he was still wealthy to buy one global spanning corporation.

Or two.

"I appreciate your compliance, I hope one day we can get back to where we were." Another lie he said for no particular reason. "Give me one good reason why I should let you get ten percent of my next venture."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

"You'd hardly be giving me anything. This is a trade, and a disproportionate one at that." Gerion scowled. He wanted to add that he was also effectively being extorted and that this was little more than a pathetic consolation prize. Yet somehow he suspected it would jeopardize his plans to walk out of this room alive at the end of the day. Then again, haggling with Cavill was doing that already, but any more than that would have an even greater chance of getting him burnt.

"You've asked for an investment. If I invest ten percent of the money and material your new venture needs to start, I am entitled to ten percent of that venture. And that's at the very least if you're also conscripting me into helping you get some measure of control back over BlasTech."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]'s attitude was coming back, but his words were true. "Up your investment to fifteen percent, and give me some discounts with security and droids and I'll up your share to fifteen." Cavill finally rose from his seat, then made his way to the large window behind his fellow Sith.

"This is the part where you tell me what worlds I should start with and what the hegemony will need from me."

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

"Done." Gerion said.

Cavill already had a discount because of his membership with the Hegemony, but Gerion wasn't going to remind him of that. He was not in the habit of keeping the people who regularly threatened to murder him in the loop on what discounts they held. Abruptly Cavill got up to stare poignantly out the window, asking what he needed to do to realign himself with the Tionese corporate powers. Despite being a malignant brute of a man, at least Jacen still knew where the real power in this galaxy lay.

"All the hegemony expects is favoritism towards its members and the Tion Cluster. As for potential worlds to start with, I would recommend Dellalt and Kanaver. The former is renown for its nigh-impenetrable treasure vaults, the latter a prominent trade world within the cluster. You should find no shortage of customers, especially if the rest of the Hegemony promotes you as a central bank."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

"I shall be in touch, thanks for your help."

Cavill left abruptly, there was much more to do.

[member="Gerion Ardik"]