Gelin' durin' business

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli smiled as the world of Galantos appeared in the bridge port of the Elytra frigate that she had traveled on. After her meeting with Alex, she had been searching for a planet that would provide a safe area to begin Krayt's new droid division and Galantos had won out because of the rich minerals that lay within the planet.

"The shuttle is ready, Lady Arcanix," the flight officer said, snapping a salute at the lime-green dress wearing Sith.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said, smiling and turning with a swish to make her way to the hanger. While making her way to the shuttle, she thought about what she had read about the world. It was ruled by a council made of even parts Fian and humans, with the Fians mainly living on the life supporting gelatin the planet was famous for, and the humans lived on the continents that drifted across the seas of gelatin. Ground-quakes were extremely common because of the nature of the continents, but that was fine as they would just reinforce against such things. While in the neighborhood, she figured she would visit Widek as well, since she had a business proposal for its Mad Queen, but that would be for later.

As she settled into the seat on the shuttle, the pilot began take off. Escorted by four Wrath-class starfighters, they began descending to the planet below for her meeting with the council. Little did they know, she had already ordered for the facility's components to be brought on the next few ships that would arrive in system, but she didn't see any problems ahead.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Touching down in the main spaceport, her escorts arranging themselves around the shuttle, Taeli adjusted her dress again and made sure to keep her lightsaber concealed in her satchel. It didn't pay to not be cautious as she had heard, but she didn't expect trouble from any of the natives or the humans living here.

"Lady Arcanix, I welcome you to Galantos on behalf of our ruling council," a human in statesmen garb said as she descended from the shuttle. "When we heard of your proposal, the council became very interested. Galantos has been unremarkable for so long and our populous has wished to find some way to contribute to the galactic scene beyond mineral shipping."

"Well Administrator . . ." she allowed the man's name to float to the top of his conscious thoughts, "Longo I must say the planet certainly has caught my and my company's attention. Building a droid production facility and mining operations here would certainly help boost the economy and provide a way for the people to gain a reputation. Lead the way to the council, please."

She could sense the man had been expecting a Sith that was a bit more . . . standoffish, not one that was as polite as her. It seemed a welcome change from what he had dealt with in the past, but then she didn't understand being cruel or arrogant for just being cruel and arrogant. It needed a purpose. As the man lead her into the city proper, she received a ping on her datapad that the Strider-class freighters carrying the materials for building had arrived on the edge of the system and would wait for her go ahead.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Entering the council chambers, Taeli could sense a mixture of optimism from some, and hostility from others. This meeting was going to prove to be very interesting, she could just feel it.

"Councilors, I thank you for allowing me the chance to speak to you on this matter of economic importance to your world. My company, Krayt Industries, is trying to expand in brand new directions beyond what we had done prior. Your world is rich in minerals and ores, and it is my wish that we would establish a brand new arm of Krayt Industries in the form of a large droid production facility as a flagship program. On top of this, we would begin construction of mining facilities to fuel our droid facility and would employ several thousands beings across both activities and would purchase ore from local miners as well to help stimulate your economy even further."

Her opening pitch, full of deference and open promises of increasing the footprint of the world, had caused some hostility to abate to be replaced by confusion. They had not been expecting the tone of her opening pitch she suspected and once again her opinion was reinforced that a Sith could be diplomatic and polite and didn't need to commit to arrogance and cruelty.

"When would you wish to begin construction of these facilities and would you employ our local populous?" a human member of the council asked.

"I would want to begin construction immediately and the construction crews would be a mixed assortment of your population and my workers as we need your expertise to build things resistant to the ground-quakes of your world," she answered.

A Fian councilor started gesturing wildly and she could sense he would be her main opposition, hostility was rolling off of him.

"Councilor Bronis wishes to know why we should allow a Sith to interrupt our peaceful way of life, even after it was agreed we would be left to our own devices," a translator said to her.

Turning to Bronis, she replied, "This would not affect anything beyond furthering the employment and reputation of your planet. I'm not interested in taking control of your world."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The Fian continued to gesture wildly and the translator paled a little as he turned to address the Sith again.

"Councilor Bronis does not believe such promises, when a Sith takes personal interest in a world, they always take control. Widek being a prime example of what happens when individual Sith gain a foothold somewhere. Councilor Bronis . . . believes your ancestors were not fit enough to return to the life nutrients that birthed you."

"I take it that is a vicious insult," Taeli sighed, looking to the human councilors for confirmation and receiving it in short nods. She could sense outrage at the councilor's statement, not just from the humans, but from some of his fellow Fian. Taeli was a guest and had come to them politely to ask permission to build something that would help their economy, and here was Bronis throwing it back in her face. They would not blame her for leaving or killing him, but that would upset the planet's population in her estimate.

"Councilor," she began, turning to directly address Bronis, "I will do whatever I must to prove to you that I have no intention of taking control of your planet and making it into a personal fiefdom like Darth Vivaldi has on Widek. All I'm asking is the establishment of facilities for the company I run, facilities that will provide jobs and income to Galantos your world hasn't seen in a very long time. What do you ask of me so I may gain your trust?"

Bronis pondered for a moment before waving his hands in an intricate pattern.

"Councilor Bronis requires that all workers be Fian, and that you cannot approach the council again without keeping your eyes directed at the floor," the translator said. "Councilor Bronis also demands that all droid models produced must be approved by this council and cannot be military in nature, as he does not trust you to not mobilize a droid army to conquer the planet."

Taeli kept her polite façade on her face, but internally she was grinding her teeth. The councilor wanted to stifle any sort of production for Krayt in military droid hardware, and she could feel that the other councilors were trying to edge away from their incensed colleague. They wanted the facilities no matter what, especially if they were for military purposes as that meant credits directly from the Sith would pour into the world.

"Sadly, Councilor Bronis, I cannot guarantee any of those," she said, letting a tone of regret seep into her voice. "Myself and my company will not allow ourselves to be curtailed in what we develop nor do we require any such oversight from planetary officials unless we invite them in. You have shown me great disrespect and hostility when I personally have done to you or Galantos."

"Then you will not have my support," the translator said, also edging away from the Fian council member.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"She does not need your support, Bronis," another translator said, expressing his Fian superior's views so she might understand it. "Her proposal merely needs a simple majority to pass this council and begin her enriching of Galantos. We only ask that she respect the gelatin and not do anything to damage our eco-system so we Fia may prosper."

"You have my word that nothing will be done to your gelatin pools and seas," Taeli said, easily able to make that promise. She didn't want to do anything that would destroy this planet . . . not when she planned to make the system a powerhouse for Krayt Industries production sites. But that was for the future, she just desired to begin establishing the droid facilities to begin work on another of her pet projects in secret while building new droids to sell to the Sith an open market.

"Then you have my support," the translator said while his Fian boss raised his hand. All around the chamber, hands were raised until Bronis was the only one not passing the proposal. His glare and the open hostility and anger he was sending her way made her hand drift instinctively towards where her lightsaber was kept but she stopped herself almost immediately.

"She will bring ruin upon this world!" the translator said before Bronis got up from his seat and waddled past her, revenge and retribution churning in his mind. Well, if he disappeared in a mugging or such, no one would miss him and she would have a Fian to experiment on. She would need to have a word with her escort to deal with the angry councilor. She might not desire to control the world, but that didn't mean she was above influencing the planetary authorities to her advantage.

"When might you begin building?" the human councilor that had initially supported her asked.

"Immediately, Councilor," she said, and the council looked at her in surprise. "I suspected the council would agree as it benefits all and most importantly your world, so I took the liberty of having several freighters waiting at the edge of the system with materials so we may not waste any time in getting Galantos on the map."

"Then we will immediately bring you our civil engineers so you may have no problems with construction," the councilor said. "Thank you, Lady Arcanix for this opportunity to further strengthen and enrich our world."

"It is my pleasure to be of service," Taeli said, bowing before each council member before leaving with her escort, the council jabbering excitedly behind her.

"Captain," she murmured as she sent a message to the freighters in system to begin moving to the designated spot for the facilities. "I want Bronis abducted and secreted away to my ship, make it look like he was the target of some criminal group or rebel cell trying to destabilize the planetary government."

"Yes, Lady Arcanix," the captain replied quietly as they emerged out of the council chambers and found a speeder to take them towards where her freighters were already breaking atmosphere and landing. Efficiency was the name of the game, and she wanted preliminary areas established quickly.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

As her ships landed and the offload of the building materials, temporary pre-fab structures, and the machinery to begin work on rudimentary droid types, Taeli couldn't help but smile slightly. Everything was proceeding smoothly, even though several small ground-quakes had thrown off the landing of a few ships for a short period of time, but that didn't bother Taeli too much.

The workers promised by the Galantos Council had begun to arrive, and working alongside her engineers, they had begun showing how to build the structures to be impervious to the ground-quakes that plagued the continents of Galantos. The non-Fia workers seemed to be especially enthusiastic, which greatly pleased Taeli as they recognized that once the facilities were built, they would also be employed to construct additional facilities nearby. The plan had now become to establish several facilities to build the first generation of Krayt droids, not just one, plus once everything was firmly established and she could see which workers could ultimately be trusted, she wanted a secret facility built to work on her pet project.

Watching the builders and the droids purchased to quickly build the things, she turned her attention back to the bound and gagged Bronis. The councilor had tried to rally some anti-Sith elements of the planet to try and sneak onto the beginning work site and sabotage things so a ground-quake would cause the facilities to collapse.

"So now what do we do with you?" she sighed, looking at the Fian.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I really don't want to kill you, Bronis, I'm not even all that offended that you tried to disrupt the operation," Taeli said, sitting down in a chair across from the angry Fia. "But, I can't allow this to go unpunished or I would be viewed as weak amongst both the people and my fellow Sith."

Pulling a small box over to her, she lifted the lid and a Yuuzhan Vong implanter crawled out of the box and scuttled over to bound and gagged Bronis. The Fia's eyes bugged out as the spider-like creature scuttled up to his chest and then stopped what it was doing, heeding Taeli's command as she slipped into her Vongsense.

"It would be so easy, you know," she sighed, looking out the window and watching the workers begin breaking ground for the facility. "Oh, so easy, to kill you, but why waste such a valuable resource as having one of the most prominent politicians of your world in my pocket to make sure no one notices the secret projects that will be developed here. That implanter will put a special Yuuzhan Vong coral seed inside you that will enslave you to my will, forever mind you as the seed will bond with your nervous system and be impossible to remove without killing yourself. And you won't be able to go that route as it will prevent such thoughts from crossing your mind."

With a flick of her hand, the implanter slashed an opening in the Fia's chest and the seed was slid into the weeping slit. The Fia started thrashing as the seed began to bond with his entire nervous system, but the councilor had lost her interest for now. She got up from her chair and pulled up her datapad, looking over the near constant reports flowing to her from her engineers and foremen.

The Fian civil engineers were certainly a blessing as they were showing her men how to place the shock absorbers in the foundations and in the walls to absorb any such activity from a ground-quake. The facility was coming together quickly, but it helped that most of it had been constructed off world and brought here in pieces, but the prefabricated areas would only serve as the beginning parts of the large droid production facility.

"Oh, the fun that will be had," she muttered to herself as another ground-quake rumbled the ground, but no one stopped working.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Several days later, Taeli was walking around the nearly constructed facility with both her engineers and the councilors, even Bronis was amongst the party. After being implanted, he had struggled for a time but he had not been able to stop the dominance, he was now little more than a puppet for her interests.

"As you can see, the facility will be up and running very soon as construction is almost done," she explained as they entered into one of the two completed assembly areas. Another two were still under construction, but the ones they were touring now were under going final tests to make sure they would be ready for production. "Four production lines will be established, and we will be supplying the lines with ore and materials from both the planet and from abroad as promised. The unique mixture of the massive amount of chromite and durasteel will give any droid produced here a distinct dark blue hue that will scream of where it came from."

"What of the environmental impact?" Bronis's translator said, and Taeli smiled internally to herself. Had to keep up appearances.

"Negligible," she answered. "Thanks to your civil engineers and the workers we have already begun hiring, we are being very careful to do nothing that will trigger additional ground-quakes or anything that will affect the gelatin pools."

"How much longer until it is ready?" a human councilor asked.

"Within the next three days," Taeli responded. "Expansion and work will be ongoing for some time, but the first four production lines will be up and running by then."

The councilors were oozing pleasure into the Force, and she could sense greed from several of them. It was always good to play to the needs of these men, it would make them that much easier to control and dupe to her secret work on the planet.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Three more days passed, and Taeli proudly stood near the entrance to the droid facility, along with other dignitaries of the planet as a small opening ceremony of the new facility was held. The facility would have the capacity to churn out thousands of droids, both for civilian and military purposes, but it would also serve as a testing site for her secret project. It wouldn't do to mention such testing to her partner though, but then Alex was busy doing other things such as establishing herself on Crystalsong.

"And now, Darth Arcanix, the woman responsible for this source of prosperity that will enrich Galantos beyond anything we could have expected," the lead human councilor said, and a smattering of polite applause rose from the crowd as Taeli stepped forward.

"Thank you, Councilor," she said, bowing graciously to the man. "And I want to extend my thanks to the rest of the council and the civil engineering workers of Galantos for making this facility possible. The One Sith strive to bring structured order to the worlds of this galaxy, to eliminate the fractious nature of galactic politics, but that is not our only mission. It is our duty to make sure the worlds we have liberated and uplifted into the One Sith are enriched and made powerful in their own right."

More applause rose from the crowd at her words.

"This droid facility, along with the mining operations that will be used to gain ores for the facility, will employ thousands of Fia and humans alike," she continued. "These new jobs, along with the droids developed here, will allow Galantos to grow, in both prosperity and power. It is my wish that this is only the beginning as Krayt Industries and the Sith strive to make Galantos an economic powerhouse for production of all things."

With that, she stepped away from the podium as the applause rose to new heights and she began shaking hands with the councilors. As she reached Bronis, her internal smile grew as the Fia could only direct his hatred of her and the Sith inwards. There was nothing he could do stop her now, but she would gladly allow him some piece of the pie, to make sure her puppet would at least be content. A new day for Krayt Industries had begun.