Faction Movements in the Sky

[Caulder Dune]

BESPIN - NALOTEK BELT
BASANTA - CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE

The scorch marked doors slide open, revealing an office so thoroughly defaced that it would be hard to tell it was still an office. Smashed furniture, insensitive graffiti, more scorch marks from errant blaster fire.​

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Anarchist residue. Calder Dune sniffs with disdain as he enters, still leaning on his precious cane for support, still shadowed by his sinister protocol droid. The droid posts itself by the door, and Caulder ambles to a spot behind the former chief administrator's bulky desk, still welded to the floor.​

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Behind the desk (which itself bears a wicked crack down the middle from an ill-fated attempt to smash it in half) patches of carpet have been torn up, revealing an unsightly floor.​

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On a cursory inspection of the office following Basanta's acquisition, it had been found that some of the rioters had relieved themselves in various spots of the room. The offending areas had been removed and disposed of by Silver Shield contractors rather than cleaned.​

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This whole city was going to need remodeling anyway. What was one more room? After a few minutes, the office doors slide open again, giving way for Luca Caldogne to enter.​

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"There you are," Caulder drones, shifting from one foot to the other, "I'd offer you a seat, but the good ones are in short supply."​

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Meaning also that none were presently there. Standing meetings move faster anyway. In a distant corner of the room, a small, boxy machine has been plugged into an outlet. It rumbles quietly, purifying the air and emitting a faint, pleasant, citrusy smell.​

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"I hope you're enjoying our newest little slice of the galaxy. I myself am remarkably pleased."​

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Caulder Dune angles his head, peering past Luca into the hallway beyond. "Did Tritum follow you here?"​

Luca Caldogne | Isar​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Caulder Dune | Isar

"I have been told Bespin is a slice of heaven to those open to its splendors." Luca responded quietly as he entered the room and took a long slow gaze across it. Little of his expression suggested he was particularly impressed. The way his nose flared as he detected the reek of waste tingled by the newly arriving balm of citrus left even less to the imagination.

"It is a good thing I value their opinion, because my instinct right now is to turn on my heels and leave, Calder." Breathe through the mouth, Luca, breathe through the mouth and everything will be okay.

He did so.

It was only marginally better, but marginal work was exactly the sort of business they conducted. "I believe I heard his cane ticking in the distance, yes, I am sure he will join us in a moment." Luca still wasn't entirely sure why canes were necessary. Did neither one of them hear of the magical technology called 'prosthetics'?

Perhaps they were organical fundamentalists who believed adding chrome to their bodies was an affront to the gods.

Or maybe they spend all his money on other affairs.

"But I presume we are not here to speak about the air quality of Bespin. Please do continue, Calder."

 

[Isar]

A moment later, Marcus walked in whistling, twirling his cane in one hand, the other in his pocket.

He strolled to a stop next to the other two businessman and let his cane smack into the ground with a thock.

“Well, isn’t that something.”

Raising his eyebrows, he tugged off a glove and knelt, placing a hand against the cracked desk. He recoiled instantly.

“You know how to pick ‘em, Caulder.”

 

[Caulder Dune]

Isar | Luca Caldogne

It was curious that Tritum should be so energized, twirling his cane. If Caulder had it in him to care about what his colleagues got up to, perhaps he would have commented on it. "Not every artist has the luxury of choosing the materials they get to work with," he rasps, "Sometimes you have to make due - take the opportunities presented and put aside the urge to complain."​

​

If they wanted an infinite budget and to buy everything in mint condition, they should have folded themselves into the Banking Clan. Maybe that sort of clout would be worth kissing Harper's ring to them.​

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"If we're to continue acquiring our own little fiefdoms across the galaxy, we will need to be more active in promoting the safe transit of goods from between them. And that will require some sort of naval presence."​

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Caulder presses a button on the desk, prompting a hologram to flicker pitifully to life. It wavers several time before a sharp kick to the desk, delivered by Caulder, gets it to stabilize. "I myself am partial to the catalogue offered by Globex. But I'm sure you both have other opinions."​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Isar Caulder Dune

Luca blinked at the whistling and turned around slightly to see what was making the ruckus.

"Ah... speak of the devil and ye shall summon him." Greeted glibly as the banker took note of the cheerful disposition of his colleague. "Are you quite alright, Marcus, you are walking around as if you won the Chancellor's election." A thoughtful look there. "Except... I suspect that job must be so miserable you might very well curse us for putting you in the seat, if that occurs."

Caulder's assessment of them being artists received a curious glance from Luca, but he declined to comment on it.

"Not quite." He agreed that the blood of commerce had to flow through the lanes. The only way to do that was to protect it. The Confederacy was gone and with it about a fifth of the Galaxy's lanes were without any sort of law enforcement.

The pirates must be having the time of their lives.

"I am somewhat aware with the offerings by Globex. They seem competent enough, but-" A little chuckle there. "I am not a shipwright, of course. Other than Globex we can always get in touch with the other large shipwrights of the Galaxy. Kuat, Iron Crown, they will be able to supply us with more specialized offerings if we have need of them."

"And it is always good to cultivate relationships with the large corporations of this Galaxy that are not affiliated with any overarching organization, no?"

 

[Isar]

"Globex sounds like a decent candidate," Marcus agreed, leaning on his cane with both hands as he stood in the midst of the room's wreckage. "... or well, we could use Roble." He grimaced and shrugged.

Probably not.

He heard the sound of distant blasterfire and turned his head. There must be a few anarchists left.

"Oh and please never elect me chancellor," he chuckled, "I would have no free time left at all."

 

[Caulder Dune]

Isar | Luca Caldogne

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"I'm not so sure about Kuat," Caulder rasps, "The New Imperials are aching to burn that place to the ground."​

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His eyes slid over to Tritum. "Roble doesn't make ships. Only their components. And yet he'd still be a decent choice if he weren't such a nuisance to get anything out of. Not a customer experience I'd recommend."​

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It was a sad sort of businessman who demanded specific and irregular currencies for their product. Roble was one such sad businessman, and it had not pleased Caulder to deal with him. Even if the products were nice.​

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"Who else is there? Besides Iron Crown. I'm tired of old names."​

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Caulder Dune Isar

"Hm, true. Let's wait and see how this so-called Civil War of theirs fares. If Kuat still stands at the end of the day..." Oh, well, wasn't that an idea? "They might have need for a partner with a gaze on the long view and deep pockets." Perhaps that was his hubris speaking however. There was simply something appealing about being part of rebuilding some of the greatest shipyards the Core Worlds had ever known. Even more appealing to extract a tax for every alliance warship that rolls out of the assembly line afterwards, of course.

"Ah, but isn't it a sign of success, when a firm makes it so difficult to buy their goods and still manages to keep afloat?" He passed both of them to stand at the window. At least the view was quite nice from here.

Oh, was that a smoke plume?

"-I can always make a call and see just far into the red he really is." Offered freely as he turned to his colleagues. "What is so wrong with old names, Calder? Don't they showcase a tenacity for survival and competition?" There was clear-cut humor in his tone. On the surface it was simply about his old noble house and its old name.

It went deeper than that, of course. But not entirely relevant for this story. Alas.

"There is SoroSuub, of course. Not as modern as Globex perhaps. But I was browsing for a new yacht the other day and they had an interesting assortment of more... war-like ships as well. Something to keep in mind?"

 

[Caulder Dune]

Isar | Luca Caldogne

"Tenacity for survival?" Caulder balked, "They're only big names with stakes in shipyards. Iron Crown and SoroSuub haven't released anything worthwhile on their own for decades now."​

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Outdated designs from decades ago might have been reliable, but realistically, having a fleet of ancient 840 ABY junkers was somehow more degrading than not having a fleet at all.​

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He waved a hand dismissively, "I suppose we could use them if we furnished the designs ourselves. But if we're going to do that, it would be a better use of our time to forge a more intimate relation with a smaller, more active firm."​

 

[Isar]

“What about Rendili StarDrive? They do good work and are smaller than the others.”

Marcus shrugged. It was an option. A couple Nebulons and an Assault cruiser would be the perfect escorts in his opinion, but he was no expert at fleet composition.

Luca Caldogne Caulder Dune

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Caulder Dune | Isar

He listened to both Marcus and Caulder, before sighing.

This wasn't his wheelhouse. Even throughout the centuries, he avoided the technical details of shipwrights and such. It just... never really drew his attention. During these moments however? Luca once again thought it would have been useful to at least have a modicum of experience. Instead it felt like they were just going back and forth naming names they heard about from hearsay or from some HoloNet Blog.

"I don't think any of these names will satisfy our dear friend, Marcus." Glancing slyly at his colleague before shrugging lightly. "Let's be honest here, Caulder, the only thing that would let us be satisfied... is by controlling a shipwright out right."

It would check quite a few boxes.

"Marcus and me have already established good relationships with a faction of Fondorian shipwrights. They are... eccentric, but know their business. If we can forge bonds with one additional firm? I could seed a new firm that would service the Commerce Guild primarily."

 

[Caulder Dune]

Isar | Luca Caldogne

Caulder issued a ragged sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Controlling a new shipwright, building a shipwright up from the dirt - what an odious task, what a bewildering commitment of time, effort, and resources. But of course they were going to do it. This was where everything always bent.​

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There was no greater impediment than having exacting standards.​

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"Right, your little cohort of bald cultists," Caulder eventually said, lowering his hand, "I happen to know some Xi Charrians who would delighted to make their acquaintance. Depending on how well your Fondorians can stomach a little interfaith dialogue. There's your second firm."​

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Technically those Xi Charrians were members of the Silver Shield Group's Research and Development Division. But they would do as they were told, and that was all that really mattered.​

 

[Isar]

This made Marcus smile. Quite a large smile, because he had a large mouth, or so he had been told anyway.

"Well I think that's a great idea. You know," he began, stirring a bit of wreckage with the end of his cane as they started to file toward the exit, "I'm something of a cult enthusiast myself."

 

[Luca Caldogne]

Caulder Dune | Isar

Luca exchanged an amused look with Tritum at Caulder's display of frustration.

"Ah, cheer up. It enables you to do what you do best, Caulder. The art of organization." He followed Tritum to the exit. Usually he'd question if this was such a short meeting why they had to do it in real person, instead of simply making a holocall. Right now however he was just happy to be escaping the confines of the reeking room.

"Yes, you mentioned this before." To Marcus as he indicated he was a fan of cults. "Are you going to regale Caulder here with the tale of Darth Plagueis as well or does that come later?"

Still a bit miffed about being excited to hear about some new and exciting cults he had missed.

Only to be hoodwinked by another Sith fanatic.