Insert Travel Pun

[Joza Perl]

Joza sat in her office on Zeltros, conveniently located on the top floor of club Blush. The nightclub had always been popular with natives and tourists alike, giving off a charmingly gritty vibe while retaining the natural allure of the Zeltron race. It catered to handful of demographics, most of them looking to have a good time. Still, she made sure that her employees were cared for. After all, she’d been one a decade or so ago.

The commercial center was a project she’d had in mind for a long time, and recently Joza had reached out to other companies to gauge their interest. [member="Dunames Lopez"] of Star Tours had contacted her back and the two had set up a meeting to discuss the finer details. While she didn’t know Lopez personally, she knew Star Tours to be one of the most popular and wide spread travel agencies in the galaxy. If she thought back a little further, she’d remember that Star Tours owned the ski resort on Hoth that she and several other members of the Outer Rim Coalition had used as a cover story during their attempt to rescue the wampa. Unfortunately their ship had been shot down in the crossfire between Alliance and Order vessels.

They’d made it out alright but things had gotten ugly from there.

The Zeltron was busy at her desk, several holoprojections live in front of her as she worked with them, shifting them about and expanding details. The largest sat front and center, an image of the building she was going to use for the mall.

When Dunames arrived, she’d be escorted up to Joza’s office by security.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

So [member="Joza Perl"] invited Dunames to Zeltros after the trip she made to Commenor? That wasn't far. She might have been to that tiny Hoth operation, the one that virtually everybody that went to it (and sometimes at heavy discounts) complained that they couldn't get down more than one slope before having to get back indoors, to save wampas, just that she didn't realize until now that it was actually an attempt to get her an "in" for getting a Star Tours location inside a mall. But even the ORC's intervention on Hoth to save wampas didn't seem to do that much. Physical travel agency offices all doubled as post offices, so this one would be no exception. As she arrived on Zeltros, she began to search for the club Blush, as run by Heartbeat House, for her appointment. Upon arrival at that nightclub, which appeared crowded at all times due to the nature of Zeltron partying, she was escorted by the club's security guards, who did not hesitate one second to ask about her ID:

"Dunames Lopez, from Star Tours" she told the guards, while flashing her First Order passport.

 

[Joza Perl]

One of the bounces scrutinized her passport for a few moments before nodding.

“Follow me, Miss Lopez. Miss Perl is upstairs.”

The two burly men would escort Dunames up to the top floor where the VIP room was. Lowlights shifted over their skin as soft music played in the background in stark contrast to the throbbing bass played a floor or two down. This room was more relaxed.

One of the men knocked at a door in the back of the room, opening it part way as he informed Joza that her guest had arrived. He stayed to the side as the Zeltron exited, closing the door behind her.

“Miss Lopez? Welcome, I’m Joza Perl. It’s good to meet you in person.” She held her hand out to shake and then gestured over to one of the low tables with comfortable looking lounge chairs on either side.

“How was your trip? Can I get you any refreshment? As you can see, we have a full bar.” She chatted while settling herself into the chair, tiling her chin over to the bar in the back of the room. A light blue skinned Twi’lek was shuffling liquor bottles behind the counter.

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"No thanks. Nevertheless I applaud you for your courage for wanting to go perform at the Mt. Ison ski resort on Hoth: that place is a bit... extreme in terms of temperature"

Eating refreshments was, for Polydroxols, the sign that someone was to go to sleep; she wasn't sleepy in the slightest. Not only [member="Joza Perl"] was, well, a performer in that place, she was one of those who made the famous beyond First Order space. She wasted no time on pleasantries, other than her relationship to Hoth, whom she knew was to be marketed as an extreme adventure package. True, Anastasia and the others often told her to try to set up another shop of the same nature somewhere else, such as Dosuun's mountains or Belasco, for a less extreme version that will allow the patrons to go down more than one slope before having to get back indoors. Just that it's the extreme version that garners the publicity. However, Hoth may no longer be fashionable a few months from now, so may as well make the most out of the six slopes and the limited number of hotel rooms while it still is, and then Hoth can toil in obscutiy once again.

"The location we want to establish inside the mall comprises two sections: one to act as a post office and the second to act as a travel agency. Are there locations large enough inside still available that can accomplish both? We'd probably need about 5,000 square feet to accomplish all the functions"

 

[Joza Perl]

Zeltrons were used to having plenty of refreshment and time to relax while they hashed out business deals, but compared to most others Joza found it difficult to relax. She’d always attributed it to mixed blood but she was tightly wound and always needed to have her attention somewhere. Keeping busy was a good way to quell the wild thoughts in her mind and she was no stranger to feelings of anxiety, the sort she’d been taught to smother on her homeworld.

In that roundabout way, she appreciated Miss Lopez’s willingness to get down to business. Of course she would not mind if Dunames wanted refreshment or to chat, but Joza had a feeling that she was a busy woman and the sort to get right to the point.

“Well, that’s Hoth for you.” She mused, a small polite smile perking the edge of her lips. “It’s a shame we never made it there. Dancing in the snow would have been much more pleasant compared to crashing in it.” Even though they’d made an attempt to go in undercover their ugly rust bucket of a ship had been downed. As far as she knew their motive hadn’t been discovered, likely because they didn’t have the time to pull off the mission they’d come to do. You win some, you lose some.

Joza leaned forward a bit as Dunames described the locations she had in mind and the amount of space she needed. The Zeltron thought for a moment, fingers twitching towards the datapad before coming to rest atop its sleek surface. “Yes, we should have 5,000 available.” She placed the device on her lap and swiped at the screen to activate it. “Do you have any preference for floor location? And would you like for your two locations to be next to eachother?”

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"And even if you made it to Mt. Ison, you would have likely found the audience to be a little... limited. Most patrons of that place can't go more than one slope before seeking heat back indoors and hence the audience is large enough to operate only a half-dozen expert-level trails. But enough about Hoth"

Because she knew that Hoth was just a fad, it made no sense to expand the place. The one bright spot is that one could get a chairlift ride in short order. Nevertheless, the questions asked by [member="Joza Perl"] brought her to more questions that many would ask before signing the lease. The essentials about signing a commercial lease had to be covered: utilities, tenant and landlord responsibilities. But she was also reminded about the practicalities of running a post office: they will have to use the backroom delivery gates on a regular basis, multiple times daily even, and in most malls these were on the ground floor, and they were also used for resupplying the shops. While, of course, the travel agency office would use little physical supplies...

"I would prefer to have the post office on the ground level, close to the backroom delivery gates. To have the travel agency office next to the post office is nice but by no means a must. Also, I have a few questions about the lease: are utilities included in the rent? What is the tenant responsible for and what is the landlord responsible for?"

 

[Joza Perl]

“It seemed busy enough when we made our booking—they just managed to squeeze us in.”

The resort seemed to be doing well enough from Joza’s perspective, but her reach in the entertainment industry hadn’t been extended to resorts and she would’ve been the type to set something up on a more temperate world given her clientele. Dunames seemed to capitalize on a hidden market.

The conversation shifted away from talk of Hoth and onto more direct business matters. Joza tapped and swiped at the datapad, nodding vaguely at Lopez’s space request. “I’ve got room on the ground floor near the delivery area for the post office but not much else—however, there’s space on the floor above for the travel agency. Both spaces are near the stairs and elevators so there won’t be much of a walk between them. Is that alright?”

She marked a few things down before setting the device onto her lap. “As for utilities, the landlord will be responsible for water which is listed at a fixed portion of the rent and the tenant will be responsible for electricity. All heat is electric. Given that you intend to run a post office, you’ll have to consent to our security measures to ensure that illegal goodsaren’t being moved.”

They weren’t the tightest security measures, moreso lax and mostly after guns and drugs.

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"That layout would be alright"

Hoth was a hidden market, but in a niche whom she knew was stretched at its limits. Expert-level trails were definitely not for the faint of heart: the reason why Virginie, Anastasia, Frank and the others wanted to open another location of that nature on Dosuun was precisely because not everybody looked at alpine skiing for the thrills, nor had the ability to. But given the description of security measures, it didn't seem to be much tighter than typical spaceport security; what would pass spaceport security, will also pass the mall's. [member="Joza Perl"] may have an idea of how the business of commercial leasing is run, just that prospective tenants have different areas of issues. Post office duty is one thing, but water and electricity are only part of the equation. Yes, the travel agency part will probably pay for the rent of both portions, just that property damage liability is the main thing that can eat up profits if something goes awry in the post office.

"As for utilities and security, I can agree with that. But one question remains: to what extent is each party liable for property damage?"

 

[Joza Perl]

“Tenants will be responsible for any damage to their own equipment. The landlord will handle repairing any natural wear and tear to the unit or any damage that comes from consumers. Damage inflicted by the renter will be handled by the renter.”

She tapped and swiped at the datapad a few more times, bringing up a document and zooming in on a few areas.

“If you find those terms agreeable, I can draft up a lease and have it sent over to you fairly quickly.”

She’d been taking notes during their conversation in another app, making note of the space Dunames needed and her agreement to the proposed layout. She made sure to block out those two sections on her commercial center map as filled for now.

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"I think we reached a common accord. Please let me know when the contract is ready"

[member="Joza Perl"] realized that Dunames is a conscientious businesswoman for whom best practices included knowing exactly where the boundaries are in contractual obligations. The one thing left to resolve is the rent. That is the main thing that the managers of the post office and the travel agency respectively must take into account, beyond any terms. Of course, Dunames would be willing to pay the security deposit upon signature, but even that is not the end of the story. She had to post some job postings, she had to hire the managers of those places, whose jobs are to get these businesses up and running. Hopefully Joza can be reasonable with the rent, so that it does not smother the tenants' revenues. She heard tales of abusive landlords being driven out of business because of abusive practices, and also others who use the landlording business as a venue to gouge tenants.

 

[Joza Perl]

“I’ll send it your way when everything has been finalized. Shouldn’t take later than tomorrow, perhaps this evening.”

She put down her datapad and extended a hand of Dunames to shake, smiling at how painless this deal went. While business meetings could be tedious, she enjoyed working with others and often got a sort of rush from hashing out deals. There was the occasional difficult client though—once or twice, company representatives from more conservative worlds had been put off by her race when reaching out for humanitarian contracts.

“Is there anything else that I can help you with, Miss Lopez?”

[member="Dunames Lopez"]

 

[Dunames Lopez]

"No thanks, my signature will be there once the contract arrives"

She was grateful for the painlessness of this deal, whom she knew she could not always get. And so was [member="Joza Perl"] apparently. So she could finally get that one last deal until she could let Star Tours take a backseat in her personal life. She spent so many years getting Star Tours to where it is now, it was hard to dissociate her from the company, especially not in First Order-land, and she knew it.