Good Business

[Catalys Maijora]

Much like the galaxy around it, Kuat is changing.

The once magnificent ring which orbits the world now shattered, leaving pieces meandering around the planet and bits of debris still falling to the surface below every now and then. The command center in orbit is surrounded by a mothball fleet, ghost ships of the destroyed One Sith fleet still drifting aimlessly in the emptiness of the gravity well.

A door slides open, revealing the assembly hall for KDY's chief engineers of the various sections. "Sir, the final stages of project crown are underway. We need your authorization to begin testing." Catalys signed the datapad's viewscreen with a single finger, giving his approval for the operation. The company officer quickly ran off to his next duty. Everyone at KDY happened to be in a rush.

"There are additional clients here to see you," an artificial voice boomed through his comm-link.

"Understood."

Catalys moved off to his personal office, an unmarked room in a rather unoccupied section of the station reserved for storage and forgotten projects left half-baked in a cold oven. In here he awaited the meeting between those he had expected for a while now.

 

[Darth Osano]

Maleagant moved stiffly through the sparsely positive section of the station. This was where the office was? Most of the rooms he seemed to pass were either abandoned completely or being used as storage. Hardly where he would have chosen to put his own office on his own space stations. It must have been a matter of personal taste. In any event, the Shi'ido was being led to [member="Catalys Maijora"] 's office by one of his underlings. Was [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] also present? Had [member="Tai Fa"] also arrived? It was a mystery to him. Perhaps they would never arrive and it would fall to Maleagant to negotiate this sufficiently.

All the same, Maleagant was fine handling this on his own. It would give him the opportunity to negotiate for something else. Something more important in the grand scheme of things.

Eventually they arrived at the office. The attendant gestured for Maleagant to enter, which he obliged. In strode a rather nicely dressed, but thoroughly mundane, Rattataki. Maleagant did not think it wise to attend every meeting in his Sith robes or looking like a cultist. It was better to be flexible about these things. "Mr. Maijora," Maleagant said by way of greeting.

 

[TB-705]

A dark corner of the room behind the Rattataki shifted, shadow breaking from shadow.

Hot breath wafted across the back of [member="Maleagant"]'s neck. The air grew musky with the smell of... fur?

The tall, muscle-bound Cathar loomed, a rumbling like a pod racer's engine emanating from his chest.

"Greetings."

Thengil Ri'shajirr wore free flowing pants of black and a black, armless tunic. His bare arms crossed in front of his chest. Ripcord muscles rippled across his forearms.

He too had some business with Maijora. They all did, the GenoHaradan that is. The Sith were becoming resurgent. The Alliance and the Silvers kept a vigilant eye on those suspected of being Sith, making new methods of covert transportation necessary. Ships that could come and go as they pleased, right under the noses of the Jedi.

[member="Catalys Maijora"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

The stark office interior was poorly lit, but perfect for an Umbaran like himself.

Catalys sat at the end of an off-center table with various chairs surrounding it. "Please, take a seat," he gestured to the assortment of sitting devices. "I understand we have business..." The agent glanced behind his helmet to the familiar Thengil, before casting that same glance to the stranger Maleagant. "So let us talk business." A mouse droid entered the room, doing its rounds to clean up a spot of blood located in the left corner of the back wall. Once done it left as soon as it arrived.

"From what I have been told--what little I've been told--is that you're interested in a set of specialized starships, correct?" He reiterates the information provided prior to the meeting; something about corvettes but he could not remember. Catalys is an intelligent man, but a busy one as well. Day-to-day there's something which to draw his attention and certainly a meeting such as this would result in a pile up of work for him to spend the rest of the week on.

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Maleagant"]

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Catalys Maijora"]

Maleagant ignored the mouse droid, for if he had seen it he might have seen what it was cleaning up and promptly excused himself. Then it would have been up to Thengil to negotiate. Not necessarily a bad thing. The Cathar had a rapport with Maijora already. This was the treacherous Umbaran that joined the formerly-treacherous feline in poaching gladiators from his arenas. Maleagant remembered this. It still displeased him, but he was willing to overlook this displeasure for the time being. But he wouldn't forget it.

"Frigates. No more than five hundred meters in length." Maleagant was not a shipwright. He could only make vague requests. "They will need to include comprehensive stealth capabilities."

The ability to move discretely around the galaxy was very important to the GenoHaradan. If you wanted to keep a secret society secret, you traveled to the appointed meeting venues discretely. A series of frigates designed to aid in that task would make things easier. Maleagant could have opted for starfighters or shuttles in that regard, but this was the GenoHaradan. Traveling with discretion meant nothing if they could not also travel in style and bring with them everything they needed on one ship.

He continued, "Production will be limited. No more than three for now."

Journeymen of the GenoHaradan did not require their own frigates. They could hitch a ride with their relevant Master.

 

[TB-705]

The former Sith Empire warlord, on the other hand, knew ships intimately, though not from an engineering point of view.

Looming behind the Rattataki, Thengil's voice rumbled out a list he wished included in the strike package capabilities.

"Electronic warfare suite. Ranged ion capabilities. Accelerated charged particle emitters. Shock net launchers. Hangar large enough for a freighter, several gunships, and a half-squadron of fighters. Capable of long range voyages while running on a skeleton crew."

Clearly, the Cathar had a very specific mission type in mind for these frigates.

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Catalys Maijora"]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

Catalys listened closely as the two explained their desired craft.

"Doable," he swiftly states.

The agent pulled out a datapad, pressing the screen he opened up a panel and slid it across. "We have a flat retainer fee but I've waived it, however you still need to sign this agreement. Essentially if for some reason you back out you will owe us half the estimated costs of production... To prevent losses, you understand." Indeed he wasn't lying--that is all the contract implied; no fine print at all.

"I can begin production immediately, although officially this will not be a Kuat Drive Yards design. The ships will be undocumented and unmarked. By all appearances they won't exist and thus you will be responsible for all repairs and maintenance. Crew training will be provided by virtual intelligence limited to need-to-know information. Everything else will remain classified as much for your sake as it is ours."

That did mean even for them, the buyers, they wouldn't know every detail of the vessel they'd be flying. A precaution employed due to the discreet nature of the starship itself. Ghost ships in every sense of the world, phantoms drifting through the dark abyss carrying out the deeds of their masters.

"Any questions?"

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Catalys Maijora"]

There was an instinct, somewhere in Maleagant, to contradict what Thengil had just requested. This instinct, he decided, was ultimately a terrible idea. Clearly Ri'Shajirr knew what he was on about and Maleagant could hardly deny that such a craft would be useful to him even if he didn't have any piratical leanings. Thengil knew more about these military matters anyway. Why Maleagant had showed up here in the first place was a mystery for another time. So the Shi'ido decided to do his best to look stern and in control rather than bewildered, nodding curtly.

"None from me."

 

[TB-705]

Yellow eyes glanced sidelong at the Rattataki, then flicked up to the Umbaran.

Thengil thought for a moment, ears swiveling back and forth, then nodded to himself.

"Yes. Do you have access to the mineral..." Thengil struggled to recall its name for a moment, "smokestone? If you do, then fashion a meditation chamber lined with the material. If you do not, then fashion one all the same."

No doubt [member="Catalys Maijora"] had had some experience with meditation chambers, given his history among the Sith. They could prove as powerful as any turbolaser or EWAR suite, if used appropriately. And they had other uses as well. Uses that cleared the mind of weakness and brought focus to bear.

[member="Maleagant"]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

"Whatever..." He pauses, eyeing a strange insect scurrying from one end of the room to another just behind the two. "... You wish to have I can surely bring. There is no resource out of my reach."

Of course, thankfully his helmet hid the movement of his eyes. To the outside it perhaps looked as if Catalys was simply thinking of the right words... Or having a stroke.

"As I explained..." If he even did. "We will develop a prototype first, and then once we believe the process is acceptable the starship will produced in enough numbers for those of you who will be needing them. No markings, nothing tracing it to any manufacturer. Short of looking deep inside the components there is no way of telling it's a Kuat Drive Yards vessel." Or that Catalys had a hand in it, for that matter.

"Pickup will be conducted anonymously as well, the ships will be scattered across the stars and kept hidden in private hangars at various worlds. Coordinates will be delivered for each one when ready." Again a process to help prevent detection. This wasn't exactly legal; or on KDY's books.

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Maleagant"]