Good Neighbors [ CIS/ORC ]

[Malok]

One could call this a natural progression.

It was one of the things that happened when the Vicelord had a Coalition Judge on speed dial. Although there was an ocean between the two, the respect that Darth Metus had for [member="Jorus Merrill"] was vast. This was, in part, due to the name her carried - Merrill - and all the significance his kin had brought to the Vicelord's life. However, the majority of their relationship had been that of distant support. Whenever Jorus had an off the wall scenario, the Vicelord would receive a missive. And whenever the Vicelord was at a loss, he could always could on Jorus to point him north.

But now they had nations.

The Outer Rim Coalition and the Confederacy were growing. They were neighbors, had a similar spirit in how they did business and how they treated their people. They also had an imperial warmachine living in their backyard. And so, the cocktail of these scenarios resulted in the perfect storm: the Vicelord reached out to the Judge for a meeting to discuss a relationship. And, the Judge provided coordinates for a middle ground.

The Veradune System.

From what had been discussed beforehand, the Coalition and the Confederacy would meet aboard a patrol craft stationed there. Quiet. Out of the way. Just the way both men liked it. They would have their talks and move forward - hopefully, together.

Darth Metus arrived with minimal fanfare: his shuttle dipped out of Hyperspace and promptly docked with the patrol vessel. He then, garbed in his typical blast vest and poncho, made his way into the innards of the ship - pausing only when he had arrived at the Common. The center console was doubling as a conference table, as chairs were situated around it. However, the Sith was far from first to arrive - as this was a Coalition vessel after all.

With a smile, he opened his arms.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

[member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Joza Perl]

The Outer Rim Coalition made it a point to be at least a little friendly with their neighbors—the ones they didn’t actively oppose, anyhow. For a collection of ragtag scoundrels, they’d managed to sit down and hash out some decent alliances in the past. So when the Confederacy extended a hand, the Coalition’s consideration progressed into setting up an in person meeting.

As [member="Darth Metus"] entered the conference area, he wouldn’t find [member="Jorus Merrill"] there to greet him—in his stead, at least temporarily, was a pink skinned woman clad in business attire with perfectly coiffed hair. Essentially the opposite of one would expect from a group of spacers and smugglers. Legs crossed and hands clasped neatly in her lap, she did not stand to greet the newcomer but offered a polite smile instead.

“Thank you for coming—Joza Perl, Bantam and I will be handling things until Merrill returns from the little salvager’s room.” Introducing herself, she waved a hand towards the plate of cookies that rested on the center of the console.

“Please, take a seat and make yourself at home. Help yourself to some cookies.”

It’s not a peace talk if you don’t have homemade cookies. Little did she know that this man was an old friend of her estranged father and, by his word, her godfather.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

The "Ossessers Crown" was an old http://starwarsrp.net/topic/27520-peregrine-class-armed-freighter that had been refitted and pressed into service as a sector patrol boat. Her vast cargo holds given over to fighter hangers and tramp freighter docs. Build to survive in the rugged outer rim she was a sutable if not ideal ship for the role. Her decks were clean but worn, and she was missing a few illuminators here and there but it seemed someone had put in a bit of work to make her look presentatable.

"She sure is a sight better than Jorus sir is she not?" Bryce quipped as he made his presence known.

"Welcome vicelord, we are honored by your presence." Bryce said holding his hand out to greet their guest.

[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Bryce Bantam"] ※ [member="Joza Perl"] ※ [member="Darth Metus"]

The woman had just arrived as Bryce made a comment about joza. One that made her smile as a thousand responses come to mind, but professionalism was key. "Sorry for my tardiness I'm running a bit behind." She said still wanting to make a quick remark. Ehh what the hell she thought. "And Bryce that's hardly fair. I mean there are few who can compare to joza's asset's." Sanya said giving a wink towards the woman and with a cheese grin too. "All seriousness my name is Sanya it's a pleasure to meet you vicelord." Her hand extended out to give the man a handshake after Bryce.

As of recent she had noticed the coalition had been getting a lot of attention as of late. She had been apart of one of the talks already and something gave her the feeling there was more to come. It almost felt like something was stirring in the galaxy. Something big just felt like it was around the corner.

 

[Malok]

Joza-Motherkarking-Perl.

At the instant of her introduction, Darth Metus found himself grinning. An old rumor of his old friend, [member="Zef Halo"], ran in the back of his mind. One that said he had kicked his child, an excessively pretty lass named Joza, off the side of a cliff. Personally, Metus doubted if that had actually transpired, as kicking offspring off anything wasn't a "Zef" thing to do. And, given that the woman in front of him seemed to be in perfect health, he quickly dispelled the rumor as just a rumor.

Little did he know it was actual fact.

Due to the nature of the day, Metus didn't speak on the fact that the woman before him shared a name with Zef's daughter. Nor did he try verify her identity. He did, however, seriously eye the cookies she offered.

"Excellent. Don't mind if I do!" he began, before the previously named [member="Bryce Bantam"] and unexpected [member="Sanya Val Swift"] made their presences known. The Vicelord found himself chuckling at the quips they delivered and shook both of their hands.

"I don't know about all that, Bantam. Jorus had this stubble thing going on a few years ago that was glorious to behold."

Given the light atmosphere, a joke comparing Jorus' facial hair to Joza's stellar assets seemed appropriate. Seating himself beside his goddaughter, Metus said plainly.

"The honor is mine. You've no idea what a comfort it is to know that, next door, some of the worlds my teenage self defended are in good hands. I've heard nothing but good things."

He paused, taking a cookie.

"But getting down to business, what I would like to do today is walk away friends. Not just myself and these cookies mind, but the Confederacy and the Coalition. Ideally, I would like us to have each other's back - especially in the case of the Empire next door."

He took a bite. Chocolate chip. Yes.

[member="Joza Perl"], [member="Sanya Val Swift"], [member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Bryce sat across from [member="Darth Metus"] as he continued to expound on his idea's of peaceful co-existence and mutual defense. Grabbing a decanter of blue milk he proceeded to pour himself a glass before partaking of Joza's cookies as well. For what are cookies without milk.

"Walk as friends, elegantly put. I know I got no taste for war, but when it comes best to put it to a swift end with all the intent needed to do so. How do you see this friendship shall we say playing out. Even here on the rim we understand the need for more formal things, treaties and all."

Bryce waited for their guest to continue, as he did he could help but notice the gastro intestinal sounds coming from the refresher, "You ok in their Jorus?!"

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Sanya Val Swift"] | [member="Joza Perl"]

 

[Malok]

"First and foremost, trade." he began, after completely and utterly decimating the cookie. "The fact that Jorus is around means there's a market for starship modifications and the like around these parts. Don't know if it's large or small - but the Confederacy can use anything out of the ordinary. Period. As for our end of things, we specialize in droids of all sorts. If there's a need for vastly affordable labor or protection, we can provide it quickly and easily.

He reached for another cookie, undeterred by the unholy horrors being unleashed in the background.

"As you're probably aware, the first attempt at the Confederacy reached Utapau a few years back. If you're willing, we'd love to reactivate a facility or two there. A foundry and an embassy ideally. We welcome the same of you on any world of ours - a home away from home inside our space." This time, he helped himself to a glass of blue milk as well. After all, when in the Peregrine, do as the Spacers did right? "And, lastly, the elephant in the room. War."

"Suffice it to say, if war comes to your door, we will come running. We'll hit whoever has the gall to come your way with everything we've got. Now, both of our nations aren't the conquering or crusading type - so what I doubt what I'm about to say applies but we've got to cover bases. I wouldn't expect Jorus to send his family to die over my stupidity. If I'm in the right, back me up. If I'm in the wrong, then I learn the hard way."

He put the cookie in the milk.

Perfection.

@Bryce Bantham, [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Sanya Val Swift"], [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Bryce dunked his cookie intently as he listened to the vicelord, bring sure to take intent-filled and meaningful bites of the confectionery. It was a good start a bare bones if you will... the droid operation gave him pause though.

"The factory is still mothballed but could easily be brought back on line. Honestly we have the area quarantined as many of your old defenses are still active and the cost of taking the facility would be worth more that what was left of it after the battle. Ok so lets say you are honest in just want to get the factory back up and working. That would be acceptable but odds are we could be leaving ourselves open to letting you have a base to attack us well inside our boarders...."

He paused a moment and swirled a cookie in his blue milk as he thought.

"I would think a better option would be to allow a 3rd party control of the facility. You offer up the codes so they can safely enter and take it over. Then we each develop contracts to purchase said droids at a fair market price. The overall operation of the facility would be ours to control, but you would still be able to get the forces you needed."

Bryce clicked a few buttons on the table next to him and brought up a map of the area.

"As we both are expanding our circle of influance I agree it would be best if we mapped out our boarders, the white line above indicates a neutral zone of sorts. We post that we will not go north or east of this line. You in turn would not go south or west."

"Thoughts?"

[member="Darth Metus"]

 

[Malok]

"As far as the facility goes, I completely understand your concerns. I think having a Third Party control the facility is fair, given the circumstances. Would you be comfortable with allowing us to - under supervision of course - deactivate any lingering defenses and clear out old assets? At least this way we don't have to worry about a random code going off somewhere down the line."

Brevity Code: Bantha was very much still a thing.

"And given the current trend of expansion, I think the proposed borders are perfectly fine." he began, before reaching out to the map itself. With the flat of his pinky finger he drew an imaginary line from Geonosis, Relovian, Drexel, Alakaha, Utapau, and Adarlon. "And should we become good friends and good neighbors, I think a Hyperlane would be in order. An Outer Rim, direct connection between the Corellian Run and the Rimma."

"But, of course, that is significantly in the future. That thought aside, I'm agreeable with both items."

[member="Bryce Bantam"]