Now That You Mention It...

[Ugoto Chivaro]

KYRIKAL III
FA HOLDINGS OFFICE BUILDING

Things never stopped moving within the Helix Syndicate. There was always some task, great or small, that had to be accomplished. This time, Fa Holdings was demanding an update on the status of the Helix Syndicate Enforcers that had been sent to safeguard their stranglehold on mining operations in this system. All of the real lieutenants in the Syndicate were busy doing something important. Eugene was running an intelligence operation on New Bakstree, Deglarch was inspecting security at a mining facility on Isiring. Then there was Rahgot, who was training gladiators for the fighting pits. Grigori wished he had a date, but in reality he was just stabbing to death a kingpin on Denon who kept getting in the way of progress. Ogedei, meanwhile, was...

Well, nobody talks about what Ogedei does. It's bad mojo.

That left just one droid for the job: the Superintendent. The Enforcers who ran the Kyrikal intimidation-slash-security ring were a gruff bunch who did not enjoy speaking to people. In order to avoid offending Fa or his subordinates, someone with more diplomatic know-how would need to be sent. Then again, most of the lieutenants aside from Eugene lacked any kind of innate friendliness, or just ability to speak to people without being weird. So maybe Superintendent had been the first choice after all. He did come programmed with a subroutine in diplomacy and ettiquite, after all. If the Pythagoras-Class Programming Suite couldn't do that, what could it do?

The KX-Series Security Droid clanked merrily through the Fa Holdings office, approaching the front desk.

"Hello." Said the Superintendent. "I have been sent to speak to your supervisor. Are they present?"

Given the short span of time between the request for information and Superintendent's arrival, he calculated only minuscule odds that the supervisor would be unaccounted for. If that were the case, he would just wait around. Right here. Standing. Right at the desk. Staring at the receptionist. Well, not staring at the receptionist. Just with the receptionist.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]​

---​

​

Kyrikal III was the de facto capital of the Kyrikal system.

This wasn't surprising.

After all, it was the only true industrialized world of the system. The shipyards orbiting the world weren't the cream of the crop, but they were passable, if lagging a few years behind Galactic Core Standard. Most of the corporations that operated within the system had at least a single administrative office on K-III and it was no different for Lord Fa and his Holdings. From the moment that his associates and him had conspired to take control of the racketeering of one of the Mining Guilds, he had started to look for worthwhile property on K-III. Had been expensive, even with his contacts, but the results were worthwhile. People took note, especially because the office was settled in one of the best sectors of the world.

Money attracted money, no?

Regardless. It was Vnut of Garnib who requested a meeting with the Helix Syndicate representatives of the Kyrikal operation. As the Security Chief for Lord Fa's operations it was his main objective now to go through all the operations and ensure that security was top-notch.

The receptionist looked up to the sad melancholic droid. It was something about the eyes, that made her heart melt and far more agreeable than usually -- usually Sabine was a cold-stone a-grade schutta, but you didn't hear that from me. A call was made and the familiar cadence of Vnut's soothing voice rumbled through the comm.

"Send him in, please." Sabine smiled at the droid and gave him an encouraging nod.

"Go right ahead, sweetie. Take the elevator up to the seventh floor. You can't miss it!"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Manda-Rishi Outfit"]

Glowing photoreceptors became half-shuttered. The Superintendent was narrowing his eyes.

"Don't patronize me, Susan." He said, rotating away from the desk and clanking towards the elevator.

Him? Sweet? Superintendent had never been more insulted. He was a top of the line security droid, outfitted with the latest and greatest in experimental programming. His was the droid brain that would pierce the heavens. He was not sweet. He was death incarnate! Or a well-rounded administrative supervisor incarnate. Or a literary professor, incarnate. It depended on which modules he had installed and those respective subroutines. After examining the control panel, Superintendent depressed the button that indicated the seventh floor and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. Being a droid, he did not register the icy-cold glare Sabine had fixed the back of his head with while he waited.

Eventually the doors opened, Superintendent waiting patiently for the few employees to file around him. Then he had to bow his head to fit under the door frame, noting the creak of the elevator as he boarded. Superintendent was a large droid, a heavy droid. It was not his enhancements that weighed him down, this was just how he was made. Someone attempted to follow him in, but the Superintendent barred him entry with a gentle shove away from the door.

"Sorry."

The doors shut with a certain kind of finality and the elevator began its ascent. The Superintendent had only been within the confines of this building for less than three minutes, and already two people were angry at him.

This was not his record time.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Unbeknownst to [member="Superintendent"] he was well on his way to make a third person angry at him.

A male Twi'lek who worked in accounting by the name of Bradley. Imperial accent and haughty tune, he was having quite some difficulty reconciling his world-view and personal opinion on himself with the fact that a metal elbow was currently poking into his eye. And did not seem to be willing to budge at all. Of course, the other occupants of the lift were quite pleased with this arrangement.

Mostly because they really hated Brad.

"Exc-excuse me." He managed to mumble out, his voice quite muffled from the experience. "Excuse me."

The accountant, finally managed to push the metal elbow an inch away from his face.

"Have you ever heard of personal space, sirrah?!" Haughty Kaasian accent, Bradley was a scion of one of the chamberlain slaves of some obscure Sith Lord. He was quite proud of that, even if he obfuscated the Sith part and simply told everyone it was a wealthy noble. Which did little to nothing to inspire any confidence in him whatsoever, but that wasn't all that important.

"Inconceivable."

Some of the others managed to suppress their snickers.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

The Superintendent turned his head, examining the other beings that had mysteriously materialized inside of the elevator. It was almost as if someone had read his previous post incorrectly and was too lazy to change it. If there were anything truly inconceivable about this situation, it was that. After a cursory scan of the occupants and a few calculations, Superintendent came to the logical conclusion. "This elevator is over-capacity." He said, matter of factly, inserting a computer probe into one of the elevator's maintenance ports. The lift screeched to a halt where it was and descended a level, the doors opening on floor five.

Without moving from his spot, the Superintendent reached out with his free hand and grabbed the Twi'lek by the shirt. "Normalizing lift weight." Announced the Superintendent, a preemptive answer to a question asking him what he was doing. Without further notice, Superintendent heaved forward and flung the uppity scion into the hallway. A little ways off was a Quarren idling by the water cooler. The Twi'lek smacked into this Quarren, who in turn fell into the cooler. Machine and sapient clattered to the ground, the jug of the cooler coming loose and dispensing water everywhere.

Whoops. Nothing the cleaning crews of the [member="Manda-Rishi Outfit"] couldn't handle. Probably.

Examining his handiwork, the Superintendent gave a satisfied nod. "Normalized."

The elevator doors shut again and continued its upwards journey... Now devoid of snickering.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Later in the day the janitor of the building, a permanently depressed Givin named Henkin, would look upon all that [member="Superintendent"] wrought and his permanent sad face would get even sadder.

But that was neither here nor there.

Presumably the droid got to the seventh floor without anymore incidents or accidents and would step out. After which he'd follow the corridor, until he reached an office door which had a sign next to it. The sign read Vnut's name and his official capacity as the Chief of Security.

It was this individual that the droid had an appointment with, if the reader was not yet aware.

Vnut, on the other hand, was quite busy reading the reports his personnel had been making about their efforts on the worlds of the Kyrikal system. All things considered it was going quite well, they were still in the progress of localizing new investment opportunities and feeling out how far they could push the federalistic government. Lord Fa had no wish to influence the system too much, because spreading yourself too thin in terms of political capital... could be unwise.

No, most of his efforts would stay within the Centrality.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Manda-Rishi Outfit"]

Several adjacent bureaucrats got up and shut their office doors or scowled visibly as Superintendent clank, clank, clanked down the hallway. They acted as if it was his fault he was such a noisy droid. He could not help it. His lack of stealth capabilities was a profound source of sadness for Superintendent, but he managed to get on with his life anyway. Just as everyone else who could not sneak around did, like Wookies. Or Mandallian Giants. Or Besalisks. Or Banthas. He supposed that they had the benefit of not being made out of durasteel, though, so they could just not clank whenever they so desired. A single electronic tear was evicted from Superintendent's right photoreceptor.

Okay, not really. It was a metaphorical tear for his metaphorical, simulated melancholy.

The Superintendent sighed internally to himself as he stopped outside of Vnut's office and knocked delicately on the door. The last time he knocked indelicately, he had punched through it. His arm had been stuck for ten minutes while he bent the steel, trying to get it off. That was the last time anyone ever put him on point during the squad exercises. The squad was forced to complete their search and seizure without him. Not his greatest moment.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]

Once again Vnut wondered if he was the right bear for the job.

Wasn't there someone else who could do this better? All the paperwork, the planning, the politics- triple threats if there was ever any. But Lord Fa had asked this of him when he promoted him. Told him in his mysterious oriental haiku way, that there was no one else he trusted with this kind of responsibility. Vnut pined for the old days, when all he worried about was crushing knees and breaking Fa's enemies in half.

It was a strange deja-vu moment, because he felt like he had thought this before already.

But it was possible that this was simply the side-effect of being propped in this office for so long already. It was lucky that, before an existential crisis occurred, a metal knock sounded against his door.

"Please enter." The Balinaka calmly said, before pushing away the papers and looking intently at the door. Lord Fa was better at this- even at a nothing amount of pounds and being maybe 1/6th of his size, he could be seen as both intimidating and welcoming at once. Maybe it was something about his beak, he did spend a lot of time making sure it was gleaming.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

[member="Manda-Rishi Outfit"]

The knob turned, the door opened, and the Superintendent clanked inside. Of course he recognized Vnut from that escapade on Ceres. He had only ever met one Balinaka. Even if Superintendent had met multiple Balinaka... Balinakas... Well, the little name plaque on Vnut's desk was a dead giveaway. Whether or not Vnut wanted to be here, it appeared whoever had placed him there wanted his desk and office to be properly labeled. The alternative, the Superintendent suspected, was anarchy. The droid lingered in the doorway for a moment, photoreceptors whirring as they focused and refocused on Vnut. There was a 44% probability that Vnut would recognize him.

There were only so many modified KX-Series Security Droids that were given free reign of the galaxy. Less with the First Order emblem emblazoned on their shoulder. After what had happened on Ceres, the casualties inflicted on the Stalk Combine together, they were practically blood brothers. Them and the small lady with the large stick.

In any case, their prior engagements were not the subject of this meeting. The door creaked shut behind Superintendent as he marched forward, stopping right in front of the desk. He would have sat down, but given his gangly limbs, enormous size, and crippling weight, the Superintendent elected to spare the chair an early demise. "Hello. Are you ready to receive Helix Syndicate Report #90201-Q?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

A KX-Series Security Droid entered the room which made Vnut pause for a second.

It only took a moment for him to process the little bit of information, before he nodded to him. Clearly this was [member="Superintendent"], the droid that had helped assist him put down the Stalik Combine's insurrection and secure various contracts for Fa Holdings. In truth the Balinaka had not been expecting to see him here or to see him at all after that little stint, but here they were.

He briefly wondered if this was some kind of veiled insult by Helix. As was already established prior to this... he wasn't all that well-versed in politics and the various little details that surrounded them.

If Vnut wanted to insult, he'd do it directly, maybe followed by a headbutt.

"Superindentent. Hello." In the end it didn't truly matter if it was an insult or not. Lord Fa could worry about that after the briefing, right now it was more important to get a state of business from the droid. It would probably be even better this way. The droid was far more analytical and clear about everything. There would be just the data and nothing but the data.

"Yes, I am ready. Please proceed."

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

"Splendid."

And so the Superintendent began a long and unwieldy string of dialogue. Such was the like that had never been witnessed by Vnut in his long-ish Balinaka life. Vnut would be pleased to know that the Helix Syndicate Enforcers were not only adequately performing the duties they had been hired to, but were regularly outperforming the competitors they had replaced. The relevant data showed that, thanks to counter-intelligence and intimidation, the sale of mining rights to firms much larger than the Helix Syndicate and Fa Holdings put together had been prevented at several times. Usually through force and intimidation, sometimes through conveniently induced industrial accidents or ship crashes for which there were no immediate discernible causes, then intrepid discussion with the owner's heirs.

This sort of improvement was to be expected, honestly. The previous racketeers had been small-time amateurs hired by other small-time amateurs. The Helix Syndicate were professionals hired by other professionals, and at a greatly reduced cost. Comparatively, anyway.

The economic lifespan of independent miners on Kyrikal III had also plummeted. Shipments of their ore regularly went missing (almost at a similar rate as surplus ore appeared in Fa Holdings' stakes, strangely enough), their equipment regularly malfunctioned, and their workers regularly quit due to "irreconcilable differences." Although those differences usually amounted to just how many threats and beatings they could withstand from anonymous, plainclothes Syndicate Enforcers. Usually after tremendous loss of money, the independent miner or small company would be similarly "persuaded" to sell their stake to Fa Holdings at far below market value. Then Fa Holdings could clean up the area, jack up the price, and sell it to some other schmuck of a miner who had no idea what was going on. The cycle, vicious as it was, continued.

When these activities became commonplace, Fa Holdings was bound to draw a lot of ire. Fortunately, the Syndicate seemed to be as skilled at stopping trouble as they were starting it. Three bombings had been defused, the perpetrators silently executed. An attempted hijacking, similarly thwarted- no surviving enemy combatants. Not any more, at least. Perhaps one or two had been kept alive for interrogation to trace down the nest of insurgents that had spawned them. Now both the hijackers and their contacts were dead, the whole event covered up. A hostage crisis had been defused and the perpetrators, also, quietly executed. Same insurgent cell. Same story. Press coverage was snuffed and word never got out.

Could any doubt remain as to whether Fa Holdings was getting their money's worth? That this contract was, indeed, worth keeping? Vnut would decide that, right after Superintendent recited the long seven digit number of the money Fa Holdings had saved on damage control with the Helix Syndicate on-site, all the time, twenty-four-seven. A small datacard ejected halfway from a port in the Superintendent's torso. He plucked it out and held it for Vnut to take. "Would you like to see the relevant data?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Vnut of Garnib listened and as the story progressed he became impressed with what he was hearing.

There were a great many of things that bothered him about the business Lord Fa and him were conducting. He wasn't a Sith, after all, things like these did not come easy or, indeed, natural to him. Yet, there was a great debt he owed to the Thirriken and it outweighed all the moral issues he might have had otherwise. Besides, at the end of the day he was a hypocrite. How many individuals had their lives expired at his hands, was it any different than what they were doing?

Sure, it was on a grander scale with higher profits and higher stakes, but the same basics principles counted.

No, Vnut would never be a Sith. He never much cared for philosophies or anything like that, but he'd support Fa's efforts as long as it was necessary.

It seemed that their operations in the Kyrikal system were very well supported by the Helix Syndicate. Yet. Yet. There was always that little 'But' at the end, was there not? This time around the Balinka wondered how much of a risk it was to rely on Maleagant's forces within the system.

All fine and dandy now, by his memories the Sith was a pragmatic sort. But when would that pragmatism turn into something else?

Would they be able to rebuff any possible hostilities? Not now. Not in a physical sense. Lord Fa's connections within the political sphere were far more expanded than Pollux's, but Fa Holdings' physical potential was lacking.

Something would have to be done about that.

"Yes, please." Vnut accepted the chip and inserted it into the desk's holo projector. "How have you been, Superintendent, since we last met?"

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Once inserted into the holoprojector, the images displayed would have only been interesting to a data analyst. There were graphs, charts, tables, and diagrams. There were also several text blocks that scrolled slowly, revealing both halves of the speech that Superintendent had just relayed verbatim. There was also photo and video documentation of the various crises that the Syndicate had uncovered, so Fa could be sure that they were not events staged specifically to keep Fa at the table. This was not, after all, one of the Helix Syndicate's primary operations. They only handled themselves this well because the Syndicate believed strongly in perfection and meticulousness in all things.

Something the Zareca Cartel could certainly stand to start believing in.

Superintendent cocked his head to the side at Vnut, clearly not understanding the relevance of the question. "All of my systems are operating at optimally." There was that familiar clicking, whirring sound again as the droid processed something and his photoreceptors re-adjusted on Vnut. "Was there anything else you needed to discuss?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]

The Balinaka carefully examined the various videos that were shared on the datastream.

They seemed genuine enough and in truth Vnut had little reason to disbelief Superindenent or even the efforts of the Helix Syndicate in their partnership with them. If only because Maleagant needed Lord Fa as much as Tai needed him, he probably wasn't willing to kark the Thirriken over so soon.

It would be a while, until the Sith had gotten the full measure of his boss and managed to discover what the line was.

How far would he be able to go, before Fa got irked and decided to push back? At least. That was how Vnut looked at the situation, but he did not claim to know the minds of the Sith or of Maleagant for that matter, who seemed... strange even for a Sith.

The droid confused him somewhat sometimes.

He was more independent than the others and seemed to have very real feelings about things, even if they were simulated. But in other times it seemed like Superindent was fully aware of his... droidism and was confused himself when other sentients treated him like one of their own... or close enough to it.

"We will need some further support from the Helix Syndicate." Vnut finally said, after pondering it over somewhat. "This is not linked to the Mining Guild, hence your specialists have not been pulled in for it before. There is some unrest among certain civic leaders about our operations within the system."

He pondered about it for a while.

"We are in the progress of moving things along to sway public discourse in our favor and once that comes to a head, we will need more... sustained support."

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Unrest among civic leaders? How delightful. Superintendent was very familiar with the Helix Syndicate's operating practices and knew what that would entail. Dealing with simple rabblerousers or independent nobodies was really the boring stuff. All you had to do was find them walking alone at night and beat them up. Or if they had really offended someone, the Enforcers would just break into their home and beat them up there. In front of their family! Or whatever house guests they had! Since the Superintendent was not programmed for sadism, he found those sorts of activities boring. Nobody learned anything. Except maybe how to wash blood out of clothes and carpet... And also just how far an arm could twist without breaking.

Science.

Superintendent was, however, programmed for curiosity. When people were too powerful to physically assault or kill outright, the Syndicate started spying on them. They started monitoring holo-calls, holo-mail messages, shadowing them, documenting their day to day activities. They found out about all they could. It was a real learning experience. It was simply amazing how many politicians with apparently healthy family lives were actually raging, abusive, indebted spice addicts that spent more time with prostitutes of the same sex than they did at their office! Maybe Superintendent was generalizing on that one. But at least one of those things tended to be the case with most of them. Once the Syndicate had all the dirt, it was just a question of blackmail.

It was kind of like one of those X-Gambits Superintendent had read about once.

If the civic leader caved under pressure, then he would do whatever they told him to do and they won. If the civic leader refused, then his career was destroyed and the Syndicate would get the better of his successor. And if it wasn't that successor they got to, it was the next one... Or the next one... Or the next one. Maleagant had a certain bit of persistence about him like that. The result was the same- they won no matter what. Sometimes, anyway. Nobody was perfect. Publicly, though, they totally were. One hundred percent.

"I estimate the best solution to the problem of public discourse is strategic monitoring of VIPs and the communications transmissions they make. Followed by blackmail." The droid explained. "I calculate an 88% chance that the Helix Syndicate will require another fee and increased monthly payment for such services."

Towing out the kind of equipment the Syndicate needed for this kind of activity, listening posts, spy satellites, HSNET Relays, personnel, etc., was expensive, after all. But for a quality service the [member="Manda-Rishi Outfit"] had relied on so far, well worth it.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]

He knew all about the Helix's penchant for information gathering and assorted practices.

But Lord Fa had been quite clear about the Kyrikal System and what he did not want to have. OK'ing a spying apparatus not controlled by them directly, but paid for them directly was definitely out of the cards for this portion of the region. Kyrikal and the Centrality, those were the two systems -- close to each other -- which had to be relatively unmonitored for the Thirriken, at least for now.

"I agree." Because Vnut did agree. Blackmailing them would be the easiest and cleanest solution to their issues. Yet, Lord Fa had made up his mind and at that point there was no real feasible way to get him to see things differently.

Which was a shame, because the Balinaka really wished they could do things the Superindent's way.

"My Lord does not however. Instead he has opted to work together with Alderaan and the Organas to bring humanitarian aid and much needed reconstruction efforts to this world." The ursine did not seem particularly convinced that this would have the effect that they wished for, but once again he was simply the Chief of Security. He could bring advice, yet, at the end of the day it was simply that. Advice. "Once public discourse shifts, we wish to carefully and quietly neutralize the main voices of dissent."

"Once the movement loses their voice and the good publicity filters through to them, they will be a viper without head."

Presumably.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

There was another few moments of silence as the Superintendent ran some more calculations. Eventually he cocked his head to the side, regarding Vnut as if he had said something particularly strange. "You mean kill them?" His head straightened out, correcting his gaze. "I calculate a 78% probability that strategic, lethal removal of prominent figures with dissenting opinions would raise heightened suspicions towards your organization. 68% if the removal is staged as an accident."

Superintendent could have been many things. He could have been some lackey to a nobody smuggler, a mindless security drone for some hotshot drug dealer. A footsoldier in some maniacal dictator's ramshackle droid army. Instead, he had been purchased by the Helix Syndicate and outfitted with a variety of experimental parts and programming parameters. These had the expected side effect of making him a little bit quirkier than other droids could be. All the same, it appeared Maleagant actively intended for him to be as intelligent as possible, think critically as possible, to be able to act independently and creatively. It was an ultimate test of his programming's limitations, but it was also possible Maleagant was preparing him for something else.

Like being a responsible representative of the Syndicate's best interests.

"I am obliged to inform that the Helix Syndicate does not operate a contract killing service. I calculate a 98% probability that acting leadership will decline such offers, barring abnormally exorbitant payment."

Everyone had a price. It just so happened that if Lord Fa wanted the Syndicate doing anything other than what they weren't doing elsewhere already, it was going to take more cash than usual. Probably tens of millions, like had been seen when the Syndicate pursued the bounty of Kham Nakghul. Anything less was a waste of their time and resources, better spent solidifying their grasp on the Pentastar Sectors. Millions were definitely not within Vnut's budget, so the Superintendent did not bother to mention it. Instead he elected to be... Helpful.

He said, "A Seyugi Dervish would be better suited to this job. Would you like their contact information?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]

The Balinaka stayed quiet for a moment.

If there was one thing that Tai Fa distrusted more than his fellow Sith associates it was the concept of outsourcing sensitive operations to outsiders. Even if they were respected in their particular circles, it just seemed like an awful lot of a risk. What to do, what to do, Fa Holdings was growing, but they probably could not afford the price Maleagant would desire for this task. There wasn't much to do at all, really.

"Please elaborate on the former proposal, perhaps I can convince Lord Fa of its wisdom." Vnut finally asked. He wasn't completely sure he would be able to prevail on Tai in this instance, but if one did not try, one would not win regardless.

It would be difficult, to be sure.

Having one Sith operate a spy ring in his turf would be complicated to sell, but if it was for the success of their operations here? Well, 68% was a bit too high for his liking.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

Elaboration? Vnut had called upon the right droid for the job. The Superintendent was not just the greatest, most well-rounded droid in the galaxy. He was the most qualified elaborator on the operations of the Helix Syndicate as well. Some would say his knowledge extended even farther than Maleagant's, but that was only because Maleagant did not have a photographic memory and could not recall memory as simply as Superintendent could have it brought out from his digital memory banks. Unfortunately, this elaboration was too easy. Superintendent preferred more challenging explanations... Another side-effect of his programming.

"The Helix Syndicate can establish a smaller intelligence ring here in the Kyriaki system similar to its operations in the Pentastar Alignment." Said the droid. "This system would, predictably, include a planetside listening post, an orbital listening post, a spy satellite, various intercept centers, and a secured holonet relay. Expensive, but pervasive and all-encompassing."

With all of the Syndicate's tricks of the trade stacked up in one system, no one living on Kyrikal III or anywhere else in the system would be able to so much as send a text message without Lord Fa hearing about it. The planet-side listening post would intercept most transmissions that did not leave the planet. The orbital structure would intercept any outgoing or incoming communications to and from the Kyriaki System. The satellite would effectively be Fa's eye in the sky. As long as it was out doors, nothing was hiding from the Thrikken.

Not any more.

Superintendent continued, "The Helix Syndicate's current Pentastar-based network enjoys a success rate of 84% with projected growth following the implementation of-" Abruptly, the Superintendent stopped talking. His eyes became distant for a moment, and then lit up once more. He apologized and then continued as if he had not stopped. "I apologize. That was classified. Naturally, all intelligence gathering operations would be done under the supervision of designated Fa Holdings personnel to ensure the collection of only the information relevant to their goals."

Neither Maleagant nor Superintendent would suspect Fa would appreciate them running their usual blackmail operation here. But as long as Fa was paying, that didn't matter.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Superintendent"]

Under Fa Holdings supervision?

That, naturally, changed things.

They'd have to include Rash, the Echani Mechu-Deru expert, into the construction efforts, of course. Just to ensure that Maleagant and his organization wasn't trying to pull a fast one on them, but other than that? This was a far more reasonable, if costly project, that would probably not find much resistance from Lord Fa himself.

"I am not entirely familiar with the designs of these stations and listening posts, sadly." The Balinaka said, before thinking a bit about what he needed to know.

"How big is the satellite and what are the odds of it being found and traced back to us?"

Us being Fa Holdings, in this instance. Reputation was key after all and establishing a spying ring in a civilized system, where you were trying to ply the political system into compliance was... ill-advised.

Unless... they could get the government involved, of course.

Now that was an interesting thought. There were always the corrupt and injust in positions of power. How much would they be willing to give, for access to an encompassing network of intelligence? Tightly controlled by Fa Holdings, but there was still that fountain of information for them to salivate over.