Mirror

[Ugoto Chivaro]

HUMBARINE
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE

Derrenger did not know why, but he suddenly had the vague sensation that he was being... Overwhelmed. Not as overwhelmed as Orkney Malone, the Mirialan man bound to the chair, obviously. Orkney was presently making all sorts of miserable sounds as one Enforcer held his head back and the other poured water onto the sack that had been placed over his head. That was a totally different type of overwhelmed he was dealing with. All Derrenger had was the faint, nearly phantasmal, notion that things were proceeding at a pace he had not originally anticipated. But Derrenger could not do very much about this. He was working right now, and his silly feelings would have to wait.

Waiting another few moments, Derrenger gave a curt nod to the Enforcers. They removed the sack from Orkney, who gasped for breath. His chair rattled as he tried to move his arms to grasp his aching throat, but the binds did not afford him that luxury. So Orkney went back to the distinct dry heave-esque sobbing most men who had just been waterboarded did. Derrenger had witnessed it several times and been subjected to it once. It wasn't pretty. If it had been pretty, Lord Fa would be down here doing this himself.

"One more time. Where's the index?" When Orkney did not answer immediately, still threatening to vomit, Derrenger snarled. "Put him back under."

Oddly enough, Orkney found his voice. "Wa- wait!"

That was more like it.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"That can be assessed as well. The H9 has a comprehensive sensor suite and a probe bay." Click. "Captain, you have the trajectory?"

"Yes, ma'am. Quite a simple one."

"Send out a SIARC and an EXPARC. Find whoever and whatever sent that. Mister Fa believes it may have been a projectile." Two tiny streaks accelerated past the window. Ajira folded her arms in satisfaction. "Mister Fa, the EXPARC is tailored for spotting life-sign concentrations, and the SIARC's primary purpose is locating and evaluating starships and other concentrations of technology. If that was a missile, the probes will find whatever launched it; if it was a starship, they may spot the landing field or mothership where it took off. I'd imagine we'll have some degree of information in fairly short order."

She flashed the Thirriken a brilliant smile. "The joys of probes."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

It was clear that Lord Fa was impressed with the capabilities of the probes.

"No wonder I have had people knocking down my door asking me to recommend their business to you." Few corporations these days knew the value of good intelligence, of probing and scanning, of knowing exactly what was happening even before it would happen. The fact that Theed was cutting out there own niche in that same market was not lost to the Thirriken.

But he would gladly make use of it now and in the days to come.

"I suppose all we can do now is wait. Our next meeting has already been scheduled, if I recall correctly." The Thirriken continued, pressing on while low-key worrying about what the scans would show them.

"Trellen... in two weeks on Taungsday." He had quickly checked before saying the date. "How do you like the Humbarine Sector? I recall that your first visit was less than enthusiastic."

He hadn't taken that personally, of course. The Humbarine Sector wasn't exactly a beautiful place, not at first glance, anyway. Only after staying there for a while, after working alongside the people and trying to building something up here... did you notice the little details. How hardy the people were in the face of complications. How many brilliant minds there were, who simply needed a nudge in the right direction. How their tech was efficient, when you took away the rust.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"If I'm being perfectly honest, the sector has yet to distinguish itself to me on a personal level. It feels much the same as anywhere else. On a professional level, though, I'm starting to appreciate the unique opportunities here. There are massive underserved niches, relatively strong institutions...the people want peace, growth, and so forth, more than they want retribution for what's happened to them. That's quite interesting. Normally outrage wins out, and it still might. For the moment, though, this sector is what you could call fertile soil.

"Let's make it three weeks for Trellen. There's a good deal I have to take care of within that time frame. It's budget time again. That, and I'd like to give my people a little more time to analyze the situation on Trellen. Half a trillion people live there, and that's not an ecosystem to poke without really knowing what you're about. It'll also give me time to...well, suffice it to say, change is in the wind.

"Best wishes, Mister Fa, and I'll see you in three weeks. Take care."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Trellen​

[member="Ajira Cardei"]​

​

They had agreed to three weeks, but a few days before Taungsday Lord Fa had to postpone the meeting. There was trouble afoot on Trellen, the Trellen Trade Route and Marasa, all centered around the Marasa Nebula. Centuries ago, the Marasa Nebula had been the only way to go directly from Trellen to Humbarine to the Outer Rim - ships who wished to pass from Trellen to Humbarine had to take a detour around it, through Coruscant or other territories to reach the Humbarine and beyond to the Corporate Sector. At least, until the years of the Galactic Empire and their conquest of the Marasa Nebula.

Enslaving the denizens of Marasa (a species of sentients who used extensive cybernetics and were considered technologically quite advanced for their time) the Empire blazed through the Marasa Nebula, utilizing anchorpoints and navigational computers derived from Marasian technology.

After the Gulag Plague there was an uneasy peace between Marasa and the rest of the Humbarine Sector.

But a new government rose up, utilizing general dissatisfaction of their people to assume control over the Marasian system and the immediate surroundings of the Nebula itself. One of the first decrees they made was to practice an isolationist policy, disabling the anchor-points and probes that kept the commercial trade flowing through the nebula.

It was now two months after the postponed meeting Cardei and Fa, there were plans afoot. By now Lord Fa had managed to reinvigorate much of the industrial, commercial and technological sectors of the Humbarine territories, but this threatened to do much to dismantle that progress.

Without the Trellen Trade Route Humbarine would practically be cut in half and much of the trade would be diverted through other worlds.

This was unacceptable, of course.

Lord Fa had finally been able to set up a meeting with Cardei, on board an observation station hanging over Trellen itself.

The meeting's function was to assess the situation and to present solutions to the problem at hand. Already he had reached out feelers towards Silk Holdings - one of the prime corporations in the Galaxy when it came to freight and the blazing of lanes, but that was still in the preliminary phases.

Once the Thirriken had a better idea of what they could do, a proposal could be drawn up for research.

The shuttle from Naboo would land in Hangar Bay 39-X, where Lord Fa was already waiting for Ajira herself. They had stayed in contact through an exchange of letters -- no business, simply philosophy and other discussions -- but this would be the first time they met again after their previous meeting.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Due to the risks associated with the situation, the Naboo presence arrived under guard. A carefully measured show of force could ward off and forestall hostile intentions. In proportion to the scale of Theed Hangar's new involvement in the region, a small fleet now orbited alongside the station. Most of the vessels were Handmaiden-class escorts, chrome daggers that could shred hostile fighter wings. The centerpiece was RNS Jamillia, a strategic reconnaissance cruiser. And looming behind all of it like a grumpy, suspicious grandparent was a large and unusual vessel. It was an old Star Destroyer, scarred and patched across the breadth of its hull. Its telesponder IFF read 'RNS Naberrie'. That was the ship which had launched Ajira's shuttle.

The shuttle in question landed as expected. Ajira emerged alone.

"A pleasure as always, Tai, even if I wish we had better circumstances to discuss."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Lord Fa nodded in agreement, before gesturing with his wing for them to walk.

"Likewise, but the situation is as it is and all we can do is try and adapt for it as best as we can." Even now the Thirriken's voice seemed calm, steady and entirely unworried about the escalating events surrounding the nebula. But they had been interacting for a while now and if there was anyone who could get to the heart of a thing, it would be Ajira and she would notice a certain tension hidden amidst those words.

Tai was disturbed about it all.

"In truth we had been expecting something like this to happen - we could not do much to prevent it, sadly, because if we had it would have seemed as if we were malignantly influencing in the matters of a sovereign state." Which did not mean they had not tried anyway, but those attempts had been careful, cautious, right when in reality they had needed bold actions.

Great risks to them, but perhaps they would not be in this situation if they had tried.

"I have tried to enter a dialogue with the new government of Marasa, but so far they have been unwilling to establish diplomatic relationships."

Not that this truly surprised Lord Fa. The new government had been elected in a flurry of anger, despair and the rise of a faction that promised they could solve it all... by blaming all their problems to those who were not born on Marasa. It was a classic strategy, but an effective one, if there was nothing to counter it - and by the looks of it their attempts to show there was prosperity coming... had not been enough.

"We are exploring new avenues now, the trade must flow, after all."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

“There are people who specialize in creating stable bypasses,” Ajira offered. “Or other kinds of hyperspace technology experts. I’ve reached out to agents of Silk Holdings and Clan Rekali for preliminary quotes. The Rekalis are very insular right now, and they don’t have interests in this area, but they’ve expressed limited interest in hammering out what they called a ‘patch job’. They used to own Theed Hangar, you know, and we still have some connections.

“Silk is far more willing to work in the Core Worlds. They’re better, more professional... and more expensive. I’m inclined to court them more directly for this. It would take a little while, and there are obvious security challenges, but they could easily put S-thread boosters in place to circumvent the trouble spots. The hyperlane would suffer a fractional loss of speed, but ultimately it would probably end up more reliable. They’re also interested in installing a spur of their galaxy-wide HALCYON mass transit.”

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"Money has become less of an issue at this stage - what we need to focus on is caution." By this time they had settled into his office on the station, where he made start tinkering with the teapot.

Some healthy herbal tea to clear the mind and make all of this less... stressful.

"The last thing we want is to provoke the Marasians into thinking we are breaching their sovereignty." A war... would be a negative influence on their efforts. At least in the short run, in the long run, if they were to come out victorious it could solve a lot of the issues they were currently presented with.

But that was a large if and something Tai would rather avoid.

"But, I would be grateful for your assistance with Silk. We have already made some moderate contact with them, but as you may imagine they have been cautious about their approach considering the political climate right now." If Cardei accepted the offer of tea she would be granted a cup as well, otherwise the Thirriken settled down in his chair and took a sip.

Perfect.

"What are the specifics of these HALCYON routes?" He politely inquired. Of course, Lord Fa had seen them around - difficult not to when operating a merchant fleet. But the technical details were less known to him.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"The sovereignty issue is the main reason I haven't initiated closer contact with the Rekalis. Nobody responds well to Mandalorians."

She accepted the cup to be polite; though she didn't mind the smell of most herbal teas, the taste did nothing for her. She slipped it for similar reasons.

"The HALCYON system is a network of hyperspace cannons and skyhook surface-to-orbit elevators. Cargo and mass transit modules can go from planetary surface to planetary surface without needing hyperdrives of their own. HALCYON lines run along every super-hyperlane, and throughout Alliance and First Order space, among other regions. There are even HALCYON relays linking to, and penetrating through, the Rishi Maze."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

Lord Fa hummed to himself, while wondering what that sort of infrastructure could do for Humbarine.

Much good as it would cut much of the shipping time, make it far more easy to bring in goods from planets to space and vice versa. Besides, because of its prominence across the Galaxy it meant that fitting yourself for the standard would also cut down on procedure. Standardization pushed forward efficiency and that was what they were going for in this project.

"I agree with your assessment of the Mandalorians - I have had a meeting with the new Mand'alor." His brows furrowed in concern at the memories of the young man in armor and bluster. "He seems very concerned with perception."

The Thirriken remarked politely and neutrally.

In truth it was a nice way of saying that Munin seemed more concerned about his ego, about how he looked, than what he did for his people. But sadly this was the man he needed to do business with, a very lucrative business arrangement had allowed Fa Holdings to aid in the restoration and evacuation of Mandalore.

"But yes, I think Silk's involvement will be immensely helpful. It will certainly boost our profile even more and if handled carefully... we might avoid open conflict with Marasa."

Head cocked.

"Have your engineers been able to draw up a concept that we can take to Silk, show them that we are very serious about our commitment?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"While Silk would be handling anything to do with the actual hyperspatial engineering, S-three booster placement and so forth, we were able to make a strong case for commitment, yes. Are you familiar with the Sando-class Hyperwave Accelerator Platforms? They've been facilitating trade in and around the Naboo system for a little while now. The platform offers point-to-point speed increases for ships up to Star Destroyer size -- class three freighters travel at class two between Sando platforms, for example. For most civilian traffic, the Sando platforms would more than balance out time losses from having to bypass the Marasa system and its territory."

Sip, sip.

"Tell me about your meeting with Vilaz Munin, Tai. I'm told he collaborates with the Sith these days, and that his collaboration began even before the disaster on Manda'yaim. Is that accurate?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

HUMBARINE
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE

"Alright." Derrenger took a knee in front of Orkney, the green man gulping in fear. "You're going to tell me where it is and if I think you're lying at any point, you're back under the faucet."

There was no faucet. This was just a little something Derrenger liked to call "slang." Despite his clear use of metaphorical terminology, Orkney appeared to understand perfectly well. He certainly nodded with the sort of violent enthusiasm of someone who did. Or someone who really just did not want to experience the terrifying sensation of drowning again. Really, it was so ambiguous. Orkney began to sputter out his response and gave up everything he knew regarding the Index. The Index, for those who are unaware, was a comprehensive database containing the juicy details of every major unscrupulous dealing the Directorate was part of. The Directorate had been doing some under-the-table dealings with the worst of the worst the underworld had to offer.

Everything from Hutt slavers to Bando Gora cultists was contained in that little piece of Directorate record-keeping. It wasn't as if the Directorate was partnering with such institutions, mostly just bribing them to keep them away. Their intentions didn't matter, only the intention of the people leaking the information. Once it came out that the Directorate was funneling money to those groups in direct support of their actions elsewhere, the public relations backlash would be so severe nothing but a memory wipe of the whole population would save them.

Once Orkney finished his explanation, his head slumped over. He proceeded to mutter, weak and broken. "A- alright? Do, do I get to g- go now?"

"Later," said Derrenger, standing back up again. "Once I have it, we'll cut you loose."

Derrenger then departed from the warehouse, the Enforcers following dutifully after him.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"I will have my people look at it then. If anything it could downscale the losses we are experiencing, while we are working on more permanent solutions for this problem we are facing."

Space was space, they could minimize damage, but at the end of the day the straight route would always be faster under optimal conditions. These were not optimal conditions, of course. But hopefully they would be able to fix it soon, otherwise the Thirriken would need to start thinking about alternatives.

None of which were too pleasant.

"I cannot say for sure. My meeting with him was only a few weeks after what happened to Mandalore and I never spoke with him before that."

His brows furrowed in thought.

"The reality, though, is that he got Sith assistance for Mandalore rather swiftly. The Sith are unbalanced for the most part and dangerous to wield as a tool, this makes me think that he had been in talks with them for far longer than Mandalore. Otherwise they wouldn't have been... on board that quickly, if that makes sense?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"My analysts are inclined to agree. Consider the suspiciously convenient timing of the Sith and Mandalorian raids on Ossus. Operations don't overlap like that by accident, and when they do, there's conflict. My sources in the area tell me that the Sith and the Mandalorians both focused on the Jedi; they collaborated, despite the history, Junction and Keldabe and so forth."

She drained the teacup and set it aside, running through a subtle poison neutralization technique in the back of her mind. Just in case.

"That can't be coincidental. I think we're agreed that Mandalorian attention, except perhaps from the Rekalis, should be avoided. Theed Hangar's Alliance connections could be awkward if Sith become involved, even peripherally."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"For now involvement from Silk should be enough. Whichever way- their reputation is sterling and should calm some spirits, they have always been known for inclusiveness and pushing for diversification in their ranks. Their Mon Cal branch was once the envy of the Galaxy from what I heard - very exceptionally build."

Lord Fa frowned at that. A Mon Cal was now in control, last he heard, and the ships were... still coming out, but they seemed less revolutionary, high-end and innovative.

Showed that not all aliens had their heart in it, he supposed.

"We can always approach Rekali later, if necessary. Though with Clan Vereen supporting the Alderaan Coalition..." The Free Worlds Coalition, but everyone knew the main power broker behind this move. "I have been led to believe there are some deep relationships between those two clans."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"I'm no expert in Mandalorian politics, but that sounds plausible. I seem to recall that Draco Vereen and Ember Rekalis were allies, back in the day."

She eyed the empty teacup. It had been better than anticipated.

"Speaking of Alderaan, this Free Worlds Coalition is getting serious attention in various circles. For the most part, other than a couple of ship design collaborations, my office hasn't started building relationships in that direction. I don't know what they have to offer. What are your thoughts on them? Potential allies in our current situation, or a liability?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

"I am cautiously optimistic. The core has been under the control of the Jedi, the Sith for the better part of... well, always. The Alliance controls Coruscant, but if this coalition gets serious traction? It has a chance to encompass some of the biggest industrial worlds of this Galaxy; Kuat, Balmorra, then there is Neimoidia?"

A shrug followed.

"There is potential, but a lot of work would have to be done to make it work."

With the collapse of the Mandalorian Clans that was theoretically one less issue to worry about. Though Lord Fa could not help but wonder if it had not been better when they were all centralized underneath one Mand'alor, instead of scattered to the wind and their territories broken.

"I am considering guiding Humbarine towards the coalition." He said as an afterthought. "But the sector needs to recover more, before such a decision can be fully made."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"I find myself - excuse me." Ajira eyed the priority pulser on her comlink and clicked it on. "Status?"

She listened for perhaps thirty seconds.

"Understood, Commodore. Spool up hyperdrives and calculate as we discussed. I'll be up shortly." The comm clicked off. She stowed it in the pocket of her robes and refocused on her host. "Tai, it appears there's a significant military force inbound from Marasan territory. Our outlying probes caught it: we have perhaps half an hour until they reach this system. I'm returning to RNS Jamillia to coordinate our defense or departure. Would you like to join me? Or do you have your own arrangements?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

The Thirriken considered her offer for a moment.

It was touching in its own way. He understood what she was actually offering and he would not forget it, but at the end of the day Lord Fa had his own responsibilities. Oaths and pacts and contracts that he could not simply walk away from, simply because it would be convenient to do so.

Safer to do so anyway.

"No, thank you. I have my own people to look after." The Sith finally responded, inclining his beak in respect. "I appreciate the offer immensely."

He added after a moment of thought.

His wings briefly pulled the robe tighter around himself. Maybe for warmth or comfort or maybe to reassure himself of the things that would come sooner rather than later. Things would start moving fast now... what happened in the next few hours would determine the entire fate of his project here.

Of his life, even.

"I will see you on the other side, Ajira."