Flying High Again

[Judah Dashiell]

Judah had been searching for an existing shipyard company to purchase for the longest. It wasn't easy, it seemed folks would rather let them rot and rusty high above planets than actually make a profit off them. News trickled through his sources that there was a young lady looking to hand over control of her shipyards -- for a price. Everything had a price.

Wanting to meet neutrally, Judah set up a meeting on Fondor, under the assumption that Protectorate space shouldn't be objectionable to almost anyone in the Galaxy no matter their affiliation. Dressed casually, he kept his datapad under his arm, waiting outside the local dining establishment. Seemed most people he met with were a little less nervous and a little more agreeable once some nerf steak was rolling around in their mouths.

Eyes remained trained on the eb and flow off sidewalk traffic. Any second now the seller should be showing for the transaction...

 

[Skree Ariko]

Skree had landed her ship in a nearby spaceport, taken a taxi to a couple blocks away, and then walked. She had a simple blaster pistol holstered at her hip and a datapad, along with the usual tools of the trade - blueprints and the like - in the bag slung over her shoulder. Her black jacket was zipped to the base of her neck, and the dark brown pants were comfortable and simple.

She was a little surprised the buyer had proposed meeting on Fondor - Skree herself was a member of the Protectorate, although she guessed he wouldn't know about that. Well, chances are he was friendly with the Protectorate then. And her shipyard was a subsidiary (was that the word?) of Omega Star Corp...
Stop talking yourself into this. You've already done that. She told herself sternly.

Rounding the corner, she paused, bright blue eyes scanning the storefronts for the buyer.

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

Pausing, Judah was fairly sure he spotted the client. There was a mention of Twi'lek and he saw no others milling around the area. A few confident strides later he outstretched his hand, hoping it was the person he was supposed to me meeting with. Why his information sources hadn't given him a better description was beyond his understanding. He did hear some information about the shipyards being owned by either one @[member="Noah Corek"] or one @[member="Cira"] under the umbrella of the StarCorp facade.

It would only be a problem if she wasn't the majority owner...even then Judah had his ways of dealing with Corek. Rumors swirled Cira was dead, so there was that.

"Ariko? Miss Ariko?" It struck him how young she was, then again he was no old man himself. "Judah Dashiell. Pleasure to meet you. Care to go inside and discuss this? I hear this is the best establishment in Fondor City."

 

[Skree Ariko]

Skree was, in fact, the owner of the shipyard, which was a partner of Noah Corek's weapon-production business. The blue Twi'lek inclined her head. "That's me." She said with a smile as she accepted the proffered hand. When he offered to discuss the matter of business inside, she laughed. "I've yet to turn down food when it's offered, and I don't plan on doing so anytime soon." She said by way of acceptance.

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

"Great policy." Judah said of the food, opening the door for the Twi'lek. With things settled in at the establishment, they could focus on the shipworks. To be honest, Judah had little idea regarding the details. It was more of a 'jump in before the chance was gone' situation. Leaning back in his chair, a flicker of embarassment crossed his features. Time to come clean about his lack of knowledge, hopefully without looking incredibly stupid.

"I'm afraid I dont know much about your shipworks. Location, scale...that sort of thing. Care to fill me in?"

 

[Skree Ariko]

Skree raised a skeptical eyebrow. Suddenly, all of her misgivings flooded back about selling her little shipyard. "Fair enough. We're located here on Fondor, under Omega StarCorp. Generally we focus on smaller ships - starfighters, light frigates, gunships and the like - for we are rather small ourselves." She paid careful attention to his reaction regarding the news that her business was an Omega business - sometimes it could make things awkward. And she would flat-out not sell if he planned to do business against Omega or with the Sith. "But tell me, what are your plans for the business, assuming I do in fact decide to sell to you?"

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

Judah could care less about her affiliation with Omega. He knew very well a number of their larger ships came from Corellian Engineering, so if he bought the company it wouldn't be as if he was making enemies in Protectorate space. At least the woman seemed to care about her company, asking him questions as if he was some teenage kid wanting to take a relative out on a date.

"Assuming you do sell it, I imagine over time I could consolidate the shipworks under my company." Judah had higher plans for KRDS, but that wasn't important at the moment. "Now if you are selling me an orbital shipyard, I would eventually move it, to say...Caamas or somewhere similar. The Imperials are knocking on Fondors back door and I have no interest in paying Imperial taxes."

"If you're selling a landbased shipworks, which I am going to assume you are, judging by the scale, then it would remain on Fondor here as long as possible. Yet back to what I really plan on doing with it. Pushing out designs proprietary to my two companies, Kesh-Rimma Droidworks and Salvage and Sedna Mining Corporation. I have some plans for larger salvage and mining vessels, but havent found a shipworks that really suits my needs. Too large in scale, used to building capital ships."

 

[Skree Ariko]

Consolidating her company under his own - fair enough. As for the type of shipyard... "Yes, it is land-based." She confirmed with a nod of her head, listening to the rest of his plans. Ah. So he needs a smaller-scale shipyard, such as mine, to help his other companies, salvage, droidworks, and mining. It made sense. Materials found from his companies could be passed along to the shipyard to help in the production of ships, which in turn could be created to aid the mining and salvage processes.

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

"Land based works. I have locations up and down the Rimma Trade Route, so it won't be a stretch." Pausing to observe the woman, it was time to get serious. Or at least move to serious discussion about credits and shareholding -- if she was selling of course. "What would it take for you to sell? I'm sure you have an ideal price in mind. I'm also quite confident you want to retain some ownership in the shipyard, which is understandable. The Galaxy is getting a little tilted and after all everyone needs credits to hunker down to weather it."

Nerf steak arrived, topped with glasscap mushrooms all the way from Felucia. He took the break of conversation to dig in, wasn't everyday he got to eat like this.

"So why are you selling, if I can pry."

 

[Skree Ariko]

Surprisingly, Skree shook her head. "I'm not selling for credits. I won't sell for a bargain-basement price of course, but you're right, my main concern is retaining some voice in the business." As to why she was selling..."I don't have the time anymore to run the company properly. And if I can't do it right, then I shouldn't be doing it at all."

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

"So you want to retain a voice? Some small semblance of ownership." Seemed logical enough. He doubted that given the same position walking away would be an option. Building something up from the ground is hard work. Quiet for a long moment, Judah was debating how much ownership or voice to offer. Obviously he would be the main shareholder or decision maker in this situation, there was the future to think of.

"Twenty five percent ownership stake. Not to mention the credits from profits and from buying the shipyard."

 

[Skree Ariko]

For a fleeting moment, Skree considered bargaining, then realized that would be stupid. She was selling, not looking for a business partner. So she nodded instead. "Fair enough." She agreed.

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

"Looks like we're in business then. I will do my best to keep you informed of decisions. Especially if the shipyards have to be moved due to Imperial activity, yet this is a long way off."

Finishing up his steak, Judah felt they were close to being finished -- for now. Of course he would stay true to his word.

"Any other conditions?"

 

[Skree Ariko]

Skree shook her head. "No. There's nothing else." She confirmed, inclining her head politely.

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

Judah paid the tab for lunch and pulled open his datapad. After all, Miss Ariko would probably appreciate her credits being transferred in right before her eyes. Judah knew he would. Made things less messy in the long run.

"If there is nothing else, I'd say we're done."

 

[Skree Ariko]

Skree nodded. "So would I." She responded with a polite nod, glancing at the datapad. Credit transfer. Good.

(Argh, so short. x_x)

@[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

@[member="Skree Ariko"]

Finalizing the transfer(and nearly having a mild shock at the amount drained--he grew up a poor farmboy afterall), Judah forwarded the transfer onto his bookkeeping department....which in reality was just a few secretary droids. Saved on costs and the droids were far less corruptible. Closing up the datapad, he put the item back in his inner jacket pocket and stood. Reaching over, he shook Miss Ariko's hand once again.

"Pleasure to be in business Miss Ariko. I'm sure we will be in touch over the coming months."

[OOC- Its fine. I think we're complete now!]