Private Draw the Line

[Riamah]

Over the years, Ra had built up her business. It had started as a single freighter that delivered supplies to parties. In what felt like a very short time, she was taking care of several fleets of delivery ships across the breadth of the Galaxy. Though there were a few places she refused to deliver to or travel to.

As she built her business, she had also gathered up a following of friends. They varied from Jedi to Sith, troopers to clones. Ra didn't care where in life a person came from or what they offered to her. She helped them in their own lives to improve them. That brought her to today.

A group was approaching an old location she had some interest in. If she could strike up a trade deal with the Diarchy, they might allow her to continue refining this location. Tapping her finger to her teeth, she knew a few representatives would arrive at her home soon, and she was ready for them.

Ra had prepared lists of some items she carried and was willing to export into their territory. Perhaps they could give her clients things they might want as well. Time would tell, and Ra was looking forward to this meeting.

Maldor Mecetti

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

Executive Shuttle Entering Naboo Airspace
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The House Sancetti Tie Fighters- brand new off the assembly line- remained in orbit as Maldor's Executive shuttle descended from orbit into Naboo airspace. The fighters had been made in preparation for the formation of a new House under the Mecetti-Santhe union. Maldor suspected he was more of a pomp and ceremony man than his soon-to-be-wife, Vyllia Santhe . She was pure class, but she hadn't been subjected to the same upbringing Maldor had.

Such was the way of Tapani sector nobles. While proving himself to the Diarchy as their High Chancellor each day, Maldor had pored over countless plans for House Sancetti each night. Coat of arms, troop uniforms, ships, even individual personal arms to be carried by House guards. Today was the first time he'd taken the new hyperspace-capable Tie-fighters out of Diarchy space.

He'd contemplated coming to this meeting without an escort, but it did not seem right for high officials of the Diarchy to travel completely unescorted. A fighter escort was demanded for people of status. Nothing he or Vyllia did could be weighed for its own sake, nowadays. Everything had to be weighed in regards to how it reflected on their adopted nation.

The subject of today's meeting might never know he had brought the fighters. But if they inquired, they would learn that he'd arrived with the escort, painted with bold red or blue stripes, a representation of the House colors for Mecetti and Santhe. The palette of their union.

Having done the necessary thing by bringing the fighters, he'd left them in orbit according to the preferences of Naboo sector authorities. His final descent in the Executive shuttle would hopefully communicate their lack of real concern. Perhaps. The galaxy was full of various cultures and customs. Maldor tried to create a narrative with the actions he took, but he could never be completely certain that the propaganda he laid down would be read as he intended it to be. It was all part of the game of politics.

They received final clearance to land, and the shuttle flew into a cavernous hangar near their host's Naboo home. As it set down, the wings folded up and the rear ramp lowered, allowing them egress.

Maldor smiled to his fiancée, then spoke softly. "It's not very likely that this is an elaborate ruse to facilitate our assassination, but just the same I hope you'll allow me to disembark first."

Maldor did not advertise his skills. He was widely known as an ex-Senator of the GA, an ex-Moff of the Empire of the Lost, and the current High Chancellor of the Diarchy. In his younger days, he'd been one of the Saber Rakes- noble duelists of the Tapani sector. He'd also been known as a collector of Sith artifacts- a crime which had seen him jailed in the Galactic Alliance. But only a very few people- a circle which included Vyllia- knew that he had mastered a number of Sith talents.

He went to the ramp, stepping down and out to look at the cavernous hangar. It was the most luxuriously appointed hangar he'd ever seen- and that was saying a lot considering where he was from. The inside of the hangar had been furnished as luxuriously as the inside of a grand banquet hall. The floor was tiled and polished. The walls were elegantly finished. A dark stripe of obsidian ran down the center of the room, leading to the turbolifts and doors at the far end.

Maldor wondered if the hangar had been used by some past member of the Naboo royalty, or whether all high-end Nubians decorated their spaces so lavishly. Perhaps this was a neighborhood hangar feeding a number of luxury estates. Still, even so, it was quite a structure.

There was not a squad of assassins waiting at the bottom of the ramp. Maldor closed his eyes and tried to sense danger. He didn't feel anything amiss.

Turning around, completing his visual tour of the space, he extended a hand, inviting Vyllia to join him.

Riamah Vyllia Santhe Tertius C. Nargath