Freaks & Geeks

[Carach]

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P O I N T N A D I R​

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[member="Aver Brand"]​

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The sentients waited calmly in the freighter bringing them 'ashore'.

Point Nadir was a focal point of criminal activity within this particular region of space and as such it was simply prudent to establish a presence of sorts here. Everything could be bought here, anything could be sold here and you could experience your wildest dreams here as long as you had the credits to pay for it all.

The credits and a survival instinct that caused you to avoid getting shanked in the dark alleyways of the shadowport.

Presumably you could also be a ten foot tall demon with impervious thick chitin hide, teeth that bit through beskar and talons that cut through phrik, but that seemed to be a goal that wasn't fair to be placed on the regular individual. Vulgrim was sitting quite patiently in the cabin of the freighter, briefly studying the void of space opening itself around them as they exited Hyperspace. The blue colors dimmed out and paved way for endless black.

It was beautiful in its own way that endless night stretching out afar, before being broken in half by the lights of the asteroid hub of debauchery.

"It looks quite wonderful, does it not?" The Maelibus remarked politely to the passenger sitting next to him.

It was a humanoid, who simply grunted an unresponsive answer and continued to read his datapad.

Presumably the humanoid would have reacted differently if he wasn't heavily nearsighted.

Finally the klaxons of the starship sounded their arrival in one of the many hangar bays of the shadowport. It took Vulgrim about five minutes, before he managed to track down his luggage and his escort.

A Tuk'ata - uplifted, very interesting and Blackwell wished to know more, but sadly Skairus did not seem interested in speaking much - and half a dozen of other enforcers. They were there for his protection, which he thought was very polite. After all, it wouldn't be pleasant if things got out of hand and his suit got ravaged.

He liked this suit.

With a sigh and bending almost in two the Maelibus exited the freighter onto the dirty durasteel floor.

A massive head was cocked slightly, before he shrugged and gestured for the men to follow him in a mild tempo.

They had a meeting to attend.

 

[Aver Brand]

Simple was good. In a world where a single kark-up could end with your bloated body floating down a sewage drain, simple was excellent. Anonymity served its purpose as well, and thus Aver yoked them both in this endeavor they called Point Nadir.

Meticulous and meretricious, the woman settled in her plush seat. She invoked images of wilting plants and nuclear waste merely sitting. The metal desk in front of her was devoid of any decoration, its dull expanse interrupted only once by the stem of a slim black monitor. The rest of the room was empty. No windows, no carpets, and not a single chair in sight.

It was here that the maelibus would be escorted. First through a series of detectors, where he would be relieved of any weapons. (Not that this particular criminal needed them to cause bodily harm.) Then past a reception desk with the kindest mass murderer to ever direct visitors into an office. It was here that his escort would be left behind, whereupon the gentleman would proceed through a final decontamination chamber.

Well, cell, more like.

A pair of guards would be stationed inside, head-to-toe in black armor. One of them would then let them all through the second set of blast doors and…

“Welcome to Nadir, Mr. Blackwell.”

The woman turned in her chair, setting down a datapad. Dead-center of the desk, too. Her lips stretched into a paper-thin smile, and her black eyes remained as cold and lifeless as the void of space.

“How may I help you?”


[member="Duan Xiangu"]

 

[Carach]

Vulgrim Blackwell was an imposing figure.

This was the honest truth of the word even if he wasn't aware of it himself. How such a thing could happen was anyone's guess, but for some reason Vulgrim simply did not seem to realize just what it meant for the large masses to have an immensely over-sized demon walk among them.

That did not mean he didn't attempt to put people at ease regardless though.

Sometimes the Maelibus shifted his form ever so slightly to be more assertive and pleasant in aesthetics. After all, he did not need to understand what people were uncomfortable with to empathize with their feelings, yes?

This time Vulgrim decided against that course of action. If they were to do business together it would be a good idea to at least start it in all honesty. So it was that the large demon looked down on [member="Aver Brand"] with something resembling polite respect and patience for a few moments, before deciding to settle himself down on the ground.

It would gather up some dust on the fabric of his pants, but he had noticed she was straining her neck to accomodate his height and that simply was not acceptable.

"Thank you for meeting me, Miss Brand." The low roaring rumble of a miniature earthquake sounded as the words flashed through sharp canine. Yet, it was a simple conversational tone the Maelibus assumed as they finally managed to sit eye-to-eye, somewhat, he still had to crouch a little bit to make it happen.

"Our mutual friend made it known to me that he wishes to formalize a relationship between Point Nadir and his organization."

The pleasant Thirriken had made it clear that his name was unnecessary. The meeting was already set-up, otherwise Vulgrim wouldn't have made it this far, which made sense to the demon.

"I have arrived to discuss terms to operate within your domain."

 

[Aver Brand]

She gave a sharp dip of a sharp chin. Reached down to sweep an imaginary speck of dust from her desk. As if dust would dare gather here. Turned on her datapad.

“I see.”

The woman leaned forward, boring her black eyes into the demon. She, unlike most people he’d met before, did not seem intimidated. Frankly, she didn’t seem like anything. Calling her face expressionless would be generous; more than anything else, she resembled a skull that someone had hastily draped with old skin.

“Let’s hear it, then.” Despite the small movement of her mouth, her voice came out clean, keen.

[member="Duan Xiangu"]

 

[Carach]

In response Vulgrim did not seem to notice anything peculiar about this [member="Aver Brand"] madame.

This was because every human looked like one another to him.

More often than not the Maelibus even had some difficulty gleaming the difference between the females and the males of these humanoid species. After all, they had no scales or chitin, neither did they exude different aromas depending on what mood and state they were in. In fact there was little to nothing to tell him, besides the strange humps some of the members of their species had on their chest region?

Very peculiar indeed.

"Certainly." A fine - but huge - briefcase was slid open next to him and out of it came a slightly oversized datapad specifically made for his hand... claw. Reaching out from the center of the room Vulgrim's long arm carefully settled the datapad on her groomed desk.

"Our mutual friend deals in pharmaceuticals, indentured workers, outdated weaponry and a host of other valued services." This was lawyer speak for drugs, slaves, illegal weapons and shet like that. "He is interested in purchasing several warehouses and hangar bays on Nadir itself to start with."

A light shrug of immense shoulders followed next.

It looked more like the rolling of a small-sized continent than anything else. It even made the floor vibrate just a little bit in response to the quite sudden movement.

"If the cooperation proves to be mutually beneficial further investment can be discussed."

The datapad helpfully supplied the woman with graphs and statistics that displayed the rise of profit for Nadir once the new stream of merchandise would flow into it.

 

[Aver Brand]

“How wonderful. Nadir also has a great stake in that… kind of trade.” She stabbed at the datapad a few times, then turned it around to show the screen to the demon.

“We have several acres of real estate reserved for wise entrepreneurs such as your employer, as you can see. If you could specify in which district you’d like to lease housing,” she offered him another datapad with a cursor already blinking for his input.

“You are aware, of course, that Nadir requires a percentage of the profit for every successful transaction you complete.” Her cheeks twitched in a brief attempt at a smile. “As they say, we deal in certainties.”

“Death and taxes.”

[member="Duan Xiangu"]

 

[Carach]

Of course it was not a surprise that taxes had to be paid.

Most businesses were required to pay taxes and it shouldn't be any different when you were utilizing the services of a grand trading hub such as this one. Regardless if the services themselves and the goods were.... suspect in terms of legality. Actually, especially if things were gray and black in terms of legal status, you needed a stable framework. Otherwise business would become unsustainable in the grand scheme of things.

"Of course." Vulgrim responded in tune, before delicately picking up the datapad and studying it with a practiced touch. There were about a dozen of pieces per district.

Most of them were average investments.

They weren't terrible, but weren't especially good either. Not so far away that they would drive up the costs too much, but not close enough to minimize them completely. A couple of them were duds, pieces of crap that looked alright on first glance, but were in reality put in place for a specific purpose.

Maybe to test out their level of competence?

Vulgrim wouldn't know.

Then there were a handful of locations that were simply perfect, but the prices were equally... perfect. Lord Fa mentioned that the price was not an issue though, so after localizing exactly the real-estate they needed, sharp talons ticked on the screen and highlighted them for [member="Aver Brand"].

"Our mutual friend expects the tax rate to be representative of the amount of revenue he will be producing for Nadir, miss Brand." It was obvious that Nadir would already be profiting from his business without the taxes, so it only made sense that a high-level player would enjoy more diplomatic fees to encourage further investments and increases in business done here.

 

[Aver Brand]

This time, she did smile.

Well, at least something smile-shaped oozed across her features. It flickered there for a moment, like a flame struggling to survive against strong winds and— died.

“Naturally.”

Her long nails clicked against the datapad as she relieved him of it. Reviewing his choices, the woman spoke again: “The tax is dependent on a number of criteria. The larger your investment here, the larger your bargaining chip grows for renegotiations and… deductions.” A nod.

“Now. I’m certain you’re not new to the nature of our trade, but you are new to Nadir. We don't have much in the way of rules. I do have a few recommendations, however, which you'd do well to follow if you wish to prosper here.

“There is a multitude of organizations conducting business on Nadir. Our policy is… not to police them. If someone attacks your interests, you have every right to retaliate however you like. However, you also bear the consequences of that choice, so consider your methods carefully. The Great Clans especially don’t take kindly to trespassers in their territory.

“If you’ve desire for additional luxuries, Nadir can provide… for a fee. This includes our direct protection, in which case you won’t have to worry about potential incursions. You may also acquire private docking in the Slips, and a host of other benefits which you will find listed here.”

She paused, depositing the datapad in an invisible drawer. Another appeared shortly after, slim and painfully white. Against it, her skin took on a sallow pallor.

“I expect you bear the power of signature,” she said as she handed him the contract.

[member="Duan Xiangu"]

 

[Carach]

[member="Aver Brand"]

Lord Fa had been specifically clear about not accepting the assistance of Nadir's staff in terms of protection.

It had confused him - money was not an issue, not when their pockets were flushed with a steady influx of unmarked gems from every corner of the Galaxy and yet, when Vulgrim had inquired on the reasoning Tai cocked his head. As if it was immensely obvious to him and was second-guessing putting the Maelibus in control of this operation in the first place. It concerns the reputation we cultivate, mister Blackwell, if we simply throw money around to try and make the problems go away?

It will only attract more problems. No, we need to ensure it is our own strength that these mongrels respect. Anything less and it will only be a temporary fix.

It seemed rather unnecessary regardless, but the Maelibus was still only learning the ropes of this business. Why argue when you could simply accept the arguments and learn from the lesson?

"Private docks on the Slips would be interesting for us, yes." That way they could move the merchandise without needing to worry too much about loose hands. They would need to handle their own security, but Skai was more than capable of setting that up for them, that was not something Vulgrim was worried about.

The small datapad was taken carefully between Blackwell's talons, where he carefully studied the lines of text scrolling past the screen.

Whereas others might have simply signed it and be done with it, Vulgrim was a careful sort in his own way. It would take a few more minutes, but eventually Vulgrim was satisfied he wasn't signing anything that Tai would have an issue with. It was followed with the soft indication of his talon that sealed the deal.

"There." He retorted, before returning the datapad. Almost immediately Vulgrim rose from his seating position which would force the lady to look up again. "Thank you for your time, miss Brand."

 

[Aver Brand]

While [member="Vulgrim Blackwell"] scanned the contract, the woman finalized the details on her end. With a few brisk keystrokes, a section of the Slips changed hands – for a considerable sum of money, of course. Her keen black gaze went over the last of the contract when the demon finally dragged his talon across the indicated field.

“Very good.”

Standing from her perch against the desk, the thin woman stopped in front of the towering maelibus. Without looking up from the contract in her grasp, she spoke again.

“Will that be satisfactory, Miss Brand?”

A presence would shift behind the demon, like a statue shaking the stupor from its limbs – like a mechanism stirring back into life.

“That’ll be all, yeah.”

The mercenary opened the blast doors, then bystepped the demon on the way to her desk.
“Give my regards to the bird, big guy. Or, you know,” she turned on her heel, arms spread wide, “stay a day or two. Partake in Nadir.”

Her grin, though he could not see it, spread from ear to ear.

 

[Carach]

The rigid chitin that made up Vulgrim's 'brows' rose in mild surprise when the lady he had considered Brand addressed someone else in the room.

It would have been unwise to turn around the room though. He was too large to do it quickly - without cutting through innocent bystanders with his sharpened plates anyway - and by the time he would have carefully spun? It would have been irrelevant anyway. So Vulgrim simply cocked his large head and waited patiently.

Eventually the real [member="Aver Brand"] stood up and circled around the large behemoth.

"Ah. My apologies, ma'am." The demon finally responded, directly to not-Aver. "I simply assumed, but clearly I was mistaken."

From there his attention shifted back to Aver. He sized her up and it was clear that there was power hidden within the small humanoid frame. The armor was pretty though, if there wasn't a human hiding inside of it Vulgrim might have been interested in brushing the sharp angles of the almost-chitin.

"I would love to, but I am under strict orders. Perhaps another time?"

They would presumably meet again.

Reoccurring business had a tendency to allow for the crossing of paths, especially when his territory was relatively close to Nadir in the first place.