Glass

[Jairus Starvald]

Mechis III
[member="Kaili Talith"]

It was surprising when one miss. Talith contacted him about a week ago with a proposal.

After some deliberation with his Head of Engineering, Rash, that he was reminded of her work for them in the Erilnar project. Apparently her droids had been quite helpful in the restoration of the underground magrail that spanned the entire surface of the world, but now Kaili wished another meeting with Lord Fa. The details were a little fuzzy - yet, as far as the Thirriken understood it, she was looking to outsource some of the production her company did to them.

The meeting was set on Mechis III, the site of the automated foundry Fa Holdings had purchased and then cleared out from hostile droid rebels.

Apparently it had been quite the battle, but Lord Fa had been high up in the sky, amidst the merchant fleet of Arceneau Trade. As he had not been around for it, Tai simply needed to take the words of the Vigor troopers and believe then, when they said that Rash had single handedly saved their arses.

At any rate.

Lord Fa was currently standing on one of the landing pads of the foundry. In the distance lava (or magma, whichever was more logical to the scene at hand) and molten rock, behind him three Vigor Troopers as a honor guard.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Mechis III. Last time Kaili had been here she had met with the most adorable replica droid of all time, and while she had separated with said droid for now, she was hopeful that she would meet the little cathar cub again. But she wasn’t here for rescue missions this time around. This time she was here for business. While the Alliance had probably secured some facilities of their own around here she was still in the know of a certain peacock who owned foundries here as well. From previous dealings she knew him to be a trustworthy partner. Or rather, his chief engineer and head of security were, but that merely spoke of the CEO himself by association.

Only an idiot would hire someone they did not trust, after all.

So, her ship touched down on the surface of the planet’s once more and the loading ramp lowered to expose her to none other than the peacock himself. She stepped out onto the metal platform and approached him as well as his guards as unarmed as she could get. The ramp into the ship closed behind her and she bowed her head and upper body to great the peacock.

“Greetings.” She rose from her bow. “I admit I am a bit surprised, I expected Rash to be the one to receive me.”

Not that it wasn’t a welcome change, of course. “Will he be joining us later?”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Lord Fa looked on as Kaili bowed to him.

It pleased him, of course, it was not often that sentients outside of his immediate circle realized how to properly convey respect and acknowledgement to their betters. But it seemed like Talith had been educated with proper manners. Once she rose up, Tai Fa himself inclined his beak in respect.

Shallower in inclination, but still substantially more than most individuals received from him.

"Welcome, miss. Talith.​

He's otherwise occupied.​

I shall tend to you."​

​

"Will you follow me?"​

​

As there wasn't much in the way of technical specifications to talk about, Lord Fa decided to leave Rash to his devices on Humbarine and do this meeting personally.

It was more business anyway.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

So Rash was otherwise occupied then. It was a shame on one hand, made sense in the other. As far as discussion for the day went she imagined there would be less talk about design and sketches and more talk about how to fund the proposition that Kaili had sent prior to their meeting. It wasn’t rocket science, but it was still fair to assume that the amount of money that the girl made in comparison to Fa Holding was still worlds away.

And most likely in a more literal way than she cared to admit as well.

Still, “Of course.” She nodded and followed the peacock to wherever he intended to take them. She considered his manner of speech for a moment and the way that he carried himself. It was peculiar, and she was fairly certain she had not met anyone of his species before, but she was not one to judge. Her eyes were usually a vibrant orange color due to the genes inherited from her father, but today they were masked behind an artificial blue. It made weak men frightened when they saw orange. Out of a business perspective it was just for the better to mask up a small part of who she was for the sake of, well, getting anywhere.

“I am thankful that you were able to meet me.” She looked at the peacock, tried for eye contact. “Many prospective partners have shied away at the idea that a woman would tackle a market such as this.” Not that it was an all that noticeable trend unless you were actively part of it. Some people simply had their superiority complexes to feed.

Holding back the urge to shake her head at the mere thought Kaili settled herself instead for following Lord Fa to wherever he lead her.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Lord Fa cocked his little head slightly in pondering thought, before looking up at her and meeting her eye.

"You may be surprised.​

I feel you more than you know.​

A world of humans."​

​

"The first Thirriken.​

To build what I have here now.​

Most see me a pet."​

​

"Waiting for owners to show."​

Of course, sometimes the Lord Fa used this to his own advantage. It wouldn't be the first time that he put people off balance, once he showed his intelligence, which was quite helpful in any form of negotiations. So, in truth the Thirriken didn't mind too much of being seen as a pet at a first glance. The moment that thin veneer disappeared and they were left shaking in their boots?

That was all worth it in his opinion.

He inclined his beak again, this time as an acknowledgement of an experience shared by the both of them. After which he resumed his careful, measured and patient walk through the facility, before they arrived at his office at the top-floor. She had been using his personal landing pad, after all. For the convenience of it. The Thirriken walked around the desk and settled himself down in one of the chairs.

His wing gestured for her to sit down behind one of the other chairs across of him.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

So he understood. Cool.

The girl took her indicated seat before the businessman only after the gesture had been made. Her legs crossed and she immediately leaned forward. Back straight, hands on her knee. It would be evident in her general posture that she wasn’t usually one to actually sit in meeting such as this, but perhaps Lord Fa would understand that as an engineer and designer she spent more time hunched over a worktable than a desk.

Even if significant others would try to tell you otherwise.

“I contacted you about outsourcing a big part of my production line.” Kaili got straight to the point. “While my company is still growing I find that the foundries I have are currently too small to keep up with the sales of some of the smaller products Andromeda sells. Datapads, sensors and other widgets that seem to go by the dozens at a time.”

“So, faced with a problem I turned to the first man that came to mind who could help me fix it.” She gave Lord Fa a look. “I believe that is you.”

“You and your engineers have already impressed me with your work. It’s quite rare that I get to meet someone with the same… Skills as me,” Mechu Deru did after all seem a bit rarer than the girl would think. “And I enjoyed working with Mister Rash, which by way of association means with you.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Lord Fa shimmied a little bit in his seat, until the comfort settled into his feathers.

​

"Proposal was good.​

I was quite interested.​

I am honored.​

​

You opted for me this time."​

​

This only underlined for him how important it was to guard your reputation. Of course, people could backstab and betray, but at the end of the day that was just a silly preposition. It made people hateful and very likely to retaliate some way at some point -- in the worse case of course, the best case would be them simply not doing any business with you anymore.

But Lord Fa had treated Talith with respect.

And this was what was returned to him.

"How would you like to proceed?" ​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

“Well, Silk is great, but I need a steady provider rather than a per-job basis supplier.” Kaili nodded in acknowledgement of the peacock’s choice of words. She ‘opted for him’ because he was one of the few she actually knew to have the ability to help. Silk was more of a ship construction company. Andromeda wasn’t quite there yet.

“My idea is to outsource the parts that I mentioned with a split of profits. Twenty percent goes to you while the rest goes to the employees affected, the designers who had their hands in the product built at my company and finally the company’s coffers themselves.” Kaili really wasn’t worried about income. “I don’t run my business for money, Lord Fa. It’s merely a convenient way to get paid to do what I love.”

Honesty was always the best policy.

“What you do with the twenty percent is none of my business, I only need the foundries supplied for me.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Twenty percent... twenty percent was a very reasonable sum.

Probably even a bit too much, considering it was mostly high output manufacturing, which meant there wasn't much in the way of maintenance and the sort. The foundries were already churning, so to add more work onto the pile wouldn't cost all that much to them, only shipping would need to be paid for.

Which was probably also negotiable.

Again, Lord Fa needed to ignore that whisper at the back of his mind to overstep his bounds here. To try and squeeze more out of the partnership than he was already getting.

There was no profit to be had when you got greedy, in his experience.

"I see what you need.​

This seems reasonable, yes.​

How about shipping?"​

​

"We could provide this as well."​

​

"For a price, of course."​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Tai Fa"]

“If possible, that’d be a bonus as well.” Kaili really, really didn’t care about the money she made. The company in itself was created out of amusement more than necessity. The necessity was simple something borne within others after she had reached a deal with Silk to help rebuild Coruscant, something Kaili had only ever done because she wanted to test herself and what she could build.

It would seem miniature tractor beams would be the results of that. The girl prided herself on it, if she was to be honest with herself. It had been no small feat.

“I understand what you mean. No use in having a foundry if you can’t move the product.” Kaili nodded. “But I am already offering you twenty percent of all income generated from the products created on the assembly lines. If you could throw in a slightly reduced price, on account of the long-term net gain from said production lines, then I think you’ve got a deal on transportation as well.”

Haggling had never really been her strong suit. Impatient by heart she preferred the easier solution. It was why she worked engineering in the end anyway, wasn’t it? The pursuit of simplicity and comfort?

Yeah, something like that.