Game of Towers

[Hira Mitsae]

Tion Cluster​

Lianna​

[member="Gerion Ardik"]​

Every once in a while a man gets an epiphany, it could happen anywhere really. You might simply wake up from a bad dream, sheets damp from sweat and a subtle migraine coming up, might happen when you were in the shower, the head suddenly falling of the wall and hitting ya straight on the nose.

Really, it could happen anywhere and for Carach it happened during one of his weekly dinner sessions with some influential members of the Sith hierarchy, one moment all was well, the other? He could practically feel the ocean of ‘feels’ starting to approach his mental horizon, it took him two seconds to excuse himself and go visit the bathroom.

Which is where the true party started, a feeling of dread, visions of impossible quantities and at the end of it all? The distinct sense of purpose that shet was going to go down real soon, and even if Carach was not entirely sure what was going to happen? He knew that he would have to be ready, he, his company and the Hegemony at large.

Jacobs had taught him how to flow-walk, the Sith Lord wasn’t a Master of it by any means, but he had always been very attuned to the more esoteric arts of the Force. It had never been his prerogative to smash skyscrapers into each other, make himself invulnerable or shoot out huge lasers out of his eyes. His art had always been subtler than that.

Anyway, the construction of a new headquarters had begun the very next day, its location? Lianna. Carach was very familiar with Lianna, he had spend many weeks here directing Santhe Corporation and the Hegemony’s base of power was located within the Tion Cluster, so in an ironic way? This was coming home again.

It wasn’t coincidence that [member="Gerion Ardik"] was in the progress of moving his own company’s headquarters to Lianna too, and neither was it a coincidence that both businessmen would find themselves sitting in comfortable chairs, with cigars and wine, just exchanging conversation whilst in the background the construction of their towers were approaching the final stages of completion.

‘How’s our company doing these days anyway?’ the Sith Lord asked, sipping from his wine and pondering thoughts.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

"Steady, regular growth. The same as always." Gerion replied. "Our lead designer seems more intent on pinning as many ideas to the board as possible rather than actually following through, however."

Hegemon Towers, as the headquarters of Hegemonic Automaton would soon be identified, was now entering the final stages of completion. The building was constructed in its entirety, now all the wiring, security systems, and such just needed to be installed. The final product would be a gargantuan complex consisting of two linked towers that would dominate the local skyline. It was ridiculously large for just one company, though that was why parts of it would be rented out to smaller enterprises. Because nothing paid for a lavish construction project quite like regular rent payments.

"But quality remains consistent. I doubt I'll need to replace him."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

In contrast to the Hegemon Towers and its twin-dual design Neuro Saav Corporation was going for the more retro and old-fashion singlehttp://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/083/8/d/tyrell_corp_by_yogfingers-d7bi5oz.jpg dominating presence within the city’s boundaries, it was a good thing Lianna was one of those fancy ecumenopolises, meant that there wouldn’t be a clustered segment full of mega towers.

Might sound cool, but it was the biggest target one could ever devise.

‘Good to hear.’ Carach answered with a nod. ‘I will soon be ordering more droids, got a bad feeling and I don’t enjoy bad feelings.’

‘I’d suggest to move away from organical workforces yourself, but I have the feeling you have already sorted that out yourself, no?’

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Gerion gave an amused snort on an impulse after hearing the word "organical." Wherever his dear friend Carach had picked up his vocabulary, it must have been a quaint place. But friends did not mock the mistakes of other friends, especially not over friendly conversation. He quickly covered up that sudden lapse of composure with his sip of his wine. It was unfortunate that the Tionese weren't as adept at producing wine as they were revenue. Otherwise Gerion might have actually enjoyed it.

"Most of Hegemonic Automaton's manufacturing equipment is automated. Any actual employees we hire are out of obligation to Cestian labor laws. Mostly X'Ting to move crates around and make sure the repair droids don't miss anything, and they don't require much in the way of payment. But that's besides the point. Since when did you start getting 'bad feelings'?"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

These were good ideas and Carach would have to start implementing them himself, wouldn’t be all too hard to get an overview of how exactly Hegemonic Automaton had its business sorted out - being a minority shareholder gave certain rights, after all.

It would be for the good of the Hegemony.

This should have been done ages ago, but Ovmar had always prided himself in the support of the lesser folk, trying to show off that pretty PR of his and it had worked to a certain degree. But in this… Carach was less Ovmar and more the Voice of the Dark Lord, progress would not stop for anyone, it would definitely not stop for ancient relics of a bygone age.

‘You know what I specialize in.’ Carach finally answered. ‘I have always been more attuned to the esoteric side of the Force, Rave would probably have been able to give us a better image, but she’s gone now. Around the time the construction of Neuro-Saav’s tower began I got an… feth, I can’t describe it.’

The Sith Lord looked at his friend, serious expression, it did not seem as if he was kidding around here.

‘We are men of power, Ardik. We play around with forces most people can only dream about, but something is coming. Call it what you want, but I have a feeling we will soon be dealing with troubles of a higher magnitude than we are usually used to.’

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Naturally, any attempt Carach made to influence the internal policies of Hegemonic Automaton would be vetoed by the majority shareholder. Any requests for information he made would summarily be ignored, though the given excuses would probably vary from being lost in bureaucratic hell to not having been received in the first place. Unless Ovmar intended to give Ardik an equivalent share of Neuro-Saav, he could expect this treatment to persist until the end of time itself. Otherwise, he should just be grateful for the paltry dividends he presently receives only as a result of Hannibal Oryen's poor decision making.

During his colleague's rambling, the only hint of response Gerion gave was a raised eyebrow. He did not buy into prophecy or lend any particular credence to people who had bad omens of the future. "I have a bad feeling about this." Of course they did. There's an entire galaxy out there were atrocities of an unimaginable scale are carried out each day. This is nothing new, and neither are your silly little notions of the future.

Well, he wanted to say that, anyway.

"Perhaps. Do you intend to do anything about it?"

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

The skepticism was palpable in the air and Carach could practically read Tyrin’s unbelieving mind. Which was fine. Ardik had always been the more practical and less interested in the esoteric parts of the Force from the two of them, everyone had a right to their own ways of doing things.

Carach waved his hand, almost as if waving away the question, before answering regardless.

‘Nothing drastic. Just an overview on how the Tion Cluster is operating at the moment, make sure the Whiteguard is prepared to instill order and law when necessary.’ A shrug. ‘How is our other protection coming along?’

A reference to the Blackguard that Ardik was currently spearheading.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Gerion suddenly stopped looking skeptical and instead took on a deep frown. "Oh. That."

It wasn't necessarily the topic of the Blackguard that elicited such a response. It was more the fact that his favorite Umbaran Sith Lady had apparently perished in order to deliver to him such a prize as her own personal army. The whole thing was quite ridiculous. If he had wanted an army of Force using lobotomites, he would have just kept Coruscant's vaguely Force Sensitive underclasses to himself. But instead he had shipped them to Kära Vi'dreya for her own use. Then she had went and offed herself and willed them to him, and Gerion had no way to care for for 3,000 elite warriors.

So he gave them to Tion.

Really, it also wasn't even the fact that she was dead that irked or displeased him. No, he was far more horrified with what she had done to these three thousand men. Eunuchs. All of them. Gerion Ardik was a cruel man to some and, as a user of the Dark Side, a villain in every right. But he certainly wasn't about to go around abducting homeless people and yanking their testicles off. That wasn't mean or effective, that was just needlessly barbaric. How could she do such a thing?

He willingly left the Blackguard's all-neutered-male status out of the dossier he circulated among his peers. Better to grapple with the details of his former apprentice's handiwork on his own.

"They've been moved to Fort Xim for re-training, evaluation, and re-armament. Once that's finished, they will be sent to their new posts throughout the Tion Cluster."

For Xim was a large complex located in one of Lianna's mountain ranges and served as the Whiteguard's headquarters. Location submission pending.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

He wasn’t getting much from Ardik at the moment, something about a girl, Sith definitely, hell there was a familiar feeling about her, but Carach couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly. Then something about… balls? Suddenly the Sith Lord blacked out for half a second as the mental imagery became simply too horrific to comprehend and his own mind blocked it out for his own safety.

A blink or two and the Sith Lord was back again, just right on time to catch the next sentence. He wasn’t sure if anything else had been said, but let’s hope @Tyrin Ardik hadn’t been saying much more than simple opposition between the lines.

‘Excellent.’ Carach finally replied, pondering on what was next on the agenda. They didn’t really have an agenda, they were people, not some imaginary characters that were simply here crossing off a list for posterity reasons. It was simply a manner of speech, Soldamnit.

‘Ardik, in your previous occupation.’ a reference to his Sith Emperorness. ‘You must have had access to various interesting… resources, archives if you will.’

The Sith Archives to be more concrete.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Oh, so they were on to business, then? Without even the faintest pause after the end of Carach's statement, Gerion had entered haggling mode and already begun to outline his terms.

"You have two options," He started. "And then perhaps I'll invite you to assist me with something else- something you can derive benefit from."

"But before I get to that, these are my terms: either return to me the minority shares you hold in Hegemonic Automaton or bestow upon me an equivalent percentage of shares in Neuro-Saav. Then you can have a copy of my assembled archives in their totality, along with a complimentary fruit basket for being a good sport."

Gerion placed his wine glass down, reclined in his chair, and neatly folded his hands within his lap. If they were going to be bartering like this, he had better be comfortable.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

And there it was, the haggling. Carach lit up a cigar for the occasion and pushed another one over for Ardik. He didn’t actually know if the guy was a smoker, but come on, during negotiations ya gotta smoke a cigar or two, otherwise it ain’t any fun.

‘Mmhmm.’ the Sith Lord murmured while puffing out some smoke, it was a good offer, not the best on there. But really, did he need those shares in Tyrin’s company? Not really and why should he offer his copies of the Jedi Archives, if he could simply do this?

He continued to ponder the suggestion, before finally saying ‘Hmmm, a very intriguing offer.’

‘I am willing to let you buy back half of my shares in the entity formerly known a Cestus Cybernetics. On top of that I can make the equivalent percentage in Neuro-Saav Corporation stock available for purchase.’

‘In return, a copy of the Archives and the opportunity to create an adequate copy of the Telos holocron.' A pleasant smile was flashed. 'You may keep the basket.'

And then he awaited the counterproposal, because his offer had been ridiculous, Carach was slowly counting off the seconds until he would hear Tyrin choke of laughter. But that was the whole point with haggling, you began with something ludicrous and slowly came to an agreement in the middle.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Gerion snorted lightly and rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't care to spend any amount of money. I won't even address the possibility of having another copy of the Telos Holocron floating around."

He regarded the cigar for a moment. He didn't smoke. Not now, not ever. The Force could stave off most diseases, sure, but there was absolutely no reason to engage in smoking when the only immediate benefit was smelling awful and shaving years off of his lifespan. The Dark Side was already doing that to him. There was little incentive for Gerion to speed up the process. He looked back at Carach, unsmiling and stern even in the face of Carach's suddenly pleasant demeanor. As if they weren't vaguely alluding to an apocalypse three minutes prior.

"I'll reiterate the deal most amicable to you: your shares of Hegemonic Automaton for the archives. Accept that as it is and I might be persuaded to allow you a discount on certain purchases you make from me in the future."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

Carach had almost forgotten that he was haggling with a bureaucrat, they really didn't have any imaginative properties when it came to things like this. That being said, his offer was more than reasonable, he really didn't have any use for the shares in the company. Really, accepting the offer was the smart and reasonable thing to do here. The Sith Lord took another puff from his cigar and pondered the eventualities, really the discount thing was an additional bonus.

That way he could order all those droids he would need to start making his company more efficient and less organic-friendly.

He would still need to figure out a way to get his hands on a decent copy of the Telos Holocron, but that could be handled another time. Perhaps by that point he would have something that Ardik desperately needed and they could haggle again.

'Reasonable and safe, Ardik.' the Sith Lord finally replied. 'You got yourself a deal.'

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Gerion nodded. "Exquisite. I'll have my people get in touch with you once we are done here."

Sometime later he would have to sit down and determine the exact terms of Ovmar's discount. Certainly nothing that would be hostile to Hegemonic Automaton's already generous profit margins. That's enough corporate talk for one day, though. There were far more eldritch things to discuss. Holocrons of the most powerful variety were still floating around in space, waiting to be found. Sooner or later, Gerion felt, he would run into a wall with his advancement in the art of Mechu-Deru. It would be better to demolish such a wall before he came into contact with it.

"I believe you mentioned before that you favored the more 'esoteric' side of the Force... Perhaps, then, you'd be interested in procuring the Adas Holocron for your own personal collection."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

Slowly Carach would turn his head again, fixing Ardik with a stern glance. He studied him for a while before deeming it worthy to give a response, the fact of the matter was that pebbles were a very important and serious business. One could not simply joke about such matters, you had to approach it carefully and subtly, especially with a man such as Carach.​

After a few moments of study and the very light touch of the mind, it seemed that Ardik was completely serious in his proposal and the Sith Lord nodded slightly.​

‘I see.’​

A few more moments came and went, before he added the real question.​

‘And you have a way to accomplish this?’​

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

Yes, pebbles were a serious business. But this was the Adas Holocron they spoke of- an unrivaled archive of the most advanced forms of Sith Magic, not to mention a catalog of Sith history. It was a valuable device. This was no mere pebble. This was a boulder. And in order to lift boulders from where they lay, one needed the appropriate amount of help.

"I believe so. I managed to secure a record of that infamous holocron auction. You know, the one that still haunts my very dreams." He continued, adding the second sentence after coughing into his fist.

"If the records are accurate, the holocron was shipped off to the then-Grand Poobah of that Black Sun-Hutt Carsyndicate or whatever they called themselves at the time. Domino or something. She's long since vanished from the galaxy at large, but I've plied the underground. Her apprentice is still alive. If there is anyone likely to have it in their possession, it would be her. I intend to trade my falsified version of the Telos Holocron for it."

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

This was an interesting turn of events, very interesting… and yet there was only one thing that Carach could think of now (well, honestly two things. Because that particular boulder would now haunt his dreams forever, or until he had finally acquired it) why did Ardik want his help, when it seemed as if he had this on a lockdown already?​

Must be a catch, something that he needed to make this successful.​

More important, why would he simply gi- ah. The Adas Holocron wasn’t Ardik’s true purpose, he was after something different. ​

‘What are you after, Ardik?’​

Cards on the table.​

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Darell Irani"]

"The Darzu Holocron." He answered simply, as if that was what Carach had meant by his question. Gerion went on to elaborate, thankfully. "I have no use for Adas' magic, as I'm sure you know. A little mynock has informed me that the person responsible for abducting the Darzu Holocron would be open to a trade if something of greater perceived value were offered."

Gerion paused to sigh, largely because he was defeated by his own sensibilities.

"As I'm sure you also know, I'd never in my right mind give up a Holocron such as Adas' to languish in some Jedi vault. I'd never forgive myself. Sith knowledge is precious far beyond my personal whims. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you're still on speaking terms with the galaxy's premier forger of Holocrons. If you would kindly enlist Dissero's service in constructing a duplicate Adas Holocron that I can present to the Jedi, the real Adas Holocron will be yours to keep. After, of course, I have Adas' history of the Sith recorded. For posterity, you understand."