Our Teeth and Ambitions are Bared: Be Prepaaaaaaaaaared! (Tion)

[Velok the Younger]

RUDRIG

An auspicious world, Rudrig. It had not always been so. This was the place where Dissero and Velok had stolen the Sith Empire's archives, but it was also the place where the Tion Hegemony's secret leaders had - very quietly - taken down a former Jedi Grandmaster and his much stronger wife, toppling the hidden ex-Jedi cabal at the head of Silk. Now, leaders of every independent Tionese world were gathering to the same chalet where, unbeknownst to them, Je'gan Olra'en and Tahira Solo had died not long ago.

The renovations effort had spared no expense. The isolated chalet was downright sumptuous. Rave had provided the meat for dinner - the finest cuts of young terentatek. Tasted like nuna, but far more expensive, so obviously it tasted wonderful.

Dinner was wrapping up. The meeting was about to begin.

[member="Darth Janus"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] @Ordo

 

[Corey's OOC]

The only thing about the dinner that Marek didn’t enjoy was that Bright Star hadn’t provided it. He was more than happy with the meat prepared and had spoken so a few times. He figured this was not the place for the most forward part of his organization. This was more scheming than anything else, not a place for music and dance.

Though, drink was important. Yes it was.

He had taken the Flow from the Wanderer making sure he had his lines and transit trips all buried. Even Alana, his faithful assistant was claiming that she was with him discussing Techno Union business while he was away. A wonderful alibi. With dinner wrapping up, he had taken a few moments to himself for a smoke break before entering the room again. Was there any spirits here?

Just to calm the nerves.

 

[Ordo]

[member="Rave Merrill"] [member="Darth Janus"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Danger Arceneau"]

The scar faced man sat with a meaty hand wrapped around the handle of a crystal mug. The choice in meat was very creative and it hadn't been lost on him. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a hearty drink before setting the mug down and leaning back. He wore armor, of course, his dress set he had worn for special occasions.

His gauntlets off and sat to one side he laced his thick fingers together on the table. This was a pleasant meal but the time for play was done and it was time for business.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Rave Merrill"], [member="Darth Janus"], [member="Danger Arceneau"], [member="Marek Starchaser"], [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Ordo"]


The meal had been well cooked and tender, the flesh of a terentatek was undoubtedly truly exquisite. The same could be said about the wine that was flowing like blood during an Illyric orgy. At least the meal registered for Moira as something that would be considered wonderful and tasty in polite company.


Being a human replica droid, she was obviously incapable of feeling such things, though she was capable of blending in by eating and drinking, as she had done. However, the dinner portion was coming to a close and now it was time for business as she surveyed the corporate heads, makers and shakers of galactic events that had assembled here. If Moira had been the type inclined to such sentiments she would have felt nostalgic, for quite recently the the secret masters of the Tion Hegemony had taken down Je'gan Olra'en and Tahira Solo in this place.


An assassination mission she had been part of, though her participation had been comparatively low-key, providing sniper back-up. However, swimming in memories was not a droid-like thing to do. Obviously she was officially here under her cover identity, that of Nalia Alderana, who was co-head of totally respectable droidmaker Archangel and totally human, though obviously there were a number of people who knew who she really was. So she waited for the meeting to begin, perfectly poised, not a hair out of his place and appropriately dressed in an authoritative suit.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Darth Janus"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Ordo"] [member="Moira Skaldi"]

A document was being circulated throughout the leaders of the Tionese worlds (Tion, Rudrig, Lianna, Brigna and the rest) and the Tionese corporations.

The Rudrig Proclamation:

Be it known that the people of the Tion Hegemony have no intention of involvement with foreign wars and foreign interests.

Be it known that the people of the Tion Hegemony stand independent of foreign agendas and foreign ideologies.

Be it known that the people of the Tion Hegemony stand independent of foreign powers for their defense.

Be it known that the corporations of the Tion Hegemony, being employers and caretakers of the people, pledge their utmost military and financial support to the defense and independence of the people of the Tion Hegemony.

Be it known that the people of the Tion Hegemony will turn to the corporations of the Tion Hegemony as their sole protectors against foreign agendas and internal threats, as enshrined in Tionese tradition and heritage.

Rave confessed herself quite pleased with it.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

From her seat, Danger would take a drag of her cigarra. Quietly she would read over the proposed document. A slow methodical grin would start to curve upon those crimson lips.

An expression of pride would go bathing Danger's face.

Yes, she was well pleased.

 

[Caulder Dune]

"A very smart move, this." Tyrin remarked to the military advisers of the various Tionese planets seated around him, inspecting his copy of the Rudrig Proclomation.

Maybe Tyrin had seen the assigned seating chart before the evening had gotten started. Maybe he had decided to move people around, so that the military head honchos were situated within speaking range of him. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to sell them something. Of course, this was all purely theoretical. Tyrin would never do something so devious. It was totally out of his character. Never would he go to such lengths just for an attempt to sell some of the richest planets in the galaxy battle droids.

Definitely not.

"Particularly this last line here, regarding the defense of our territory. Tell me, has anyone ever spoken to you gentlemen of the merits of a fully automated army?"

Nope. Keep scrolling.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

Moira looked over the proposed document in detail and methodically, though to an outsider it might appear as if she made her decision within the blink of an eye. "I find these terms agreeable. Archangel would be willing to do its part for the defence of the Tion Hegemony by providing support through its HRDs and war droid designs," she said calmly. The wheels were moving, power and profit were taking their course.

 

[Velok the Younger]

Akure Executive Interstellar, much like Hegemonic Automaton, had spent dinnertime marketing aggressively. Not leather, not haute couture, not lightsabre- or Force-resistant anything.

Akure Executive Interstellar was marketing safety.

The Dromund Kaas operation -- months under the Mandalorian aegis, excavating and containing everything of possible hazard. Nullification resin by the ton, vaults, evaluations, procedures, translations, beast control, exploration, local connections. The Dark Force Temple had required serious work. The end result had been, in Rave's opinion, nothing short of spectacular.

The Bosph operation -- a tour de force of containment by the qo'saarai tuk'ata, two of whom attended Rave in white tie and tails (yes, tails). An ancient evil contained in the ruins of a collapsed Sith temple.

The Zygerria operation -- a jewel-studded warhammer, possessed by an evil spirit, and possessing hapless, worthless Silver Jedi. Successful containment, lives spared, violence prevented, a completely inert hammer returned to the local authorities.

There were other cases, but those three were the most impressive or recent. The Tion worlds had trouble, here or there, with leftovers of the Sith regime -- the ruins of the vault on this world still held echoes of what had been stored here, for example. The Force was dangerous to the common man, as Matsu Ike of the Silver Jedi had so often demonstrated.

Containment was AEI's business.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

It was clearly marketing time!


Archangel had HRDs, HRDs and even more HRDs. Well, obviously they could not spit out a legion within the blink of an eye, but the human replica droids - or perhaps humanoid replica droids was a more accurate term - were known to represent pure quality work. They had far superior strength and durability than organics, were able to learn and acted as near-perfect infiltrators with their ability to blend in. They could be elite soldiers, infiltrators, bodyguards.


As would be outlined in talks with certain local aristos of the Tion worlds, if provided with a genetic template Archangel could even manufacture near-perfect replicas of a person. For a hefty price of course, but it was possible. Not just of a human but of most humanoid species. Why, even Wookiee HRDs were possible, as the Trade Empress [member="Danger Arceneau"] had requested one once. So say creating the perfect clone and decoy for a rich noble was quite feasible.


Archangel HRDs would also possess sophisticated combat protocols and the ability to stand up to force-users, for Archangel had access to state-of-the-art anti-force user equipment. The Force, as is known, was dangerous to the common man and the average Tionese could see the Silver Jedi theocracy from his house. So Archangel could provide safety. Obviously of a different variant than the galactic giant AEI, whose reputation was well-earned, but safety nonetheless.


And even if you were not looking for martial uses, Archangel could provide you with an attentive secretary or a head-turning companion...who could give anyone who wished you harm a beating if needed. The Archangel director had been accompanied by HRD units, both the baseline ones and the new prototypes that used a lighter polymer, which were more vulnerable in combat but could not be detected by weight and metal detectors. Beyond that the company provided more standard assault droids, modernised droidekas with bolters, droid tanks, droid artillery and so on and so forth. Light droid controlled warships and starfighters, though not Archangel's primary product, could be provided since they had acquired a shipyard on Loronar.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Taking a look at the new document, the Rudrig Proclamation, Marek nodded. Taking a sip of his whiskey, Whyren’s of course. It was good to have contracts. The people here knew Marek as the same in the Abrion Systems, but he was more than that, and he was able to agree with all of these points. Heil Tion.

“I can speak for the Haor Chall, from within the Santhe Corp, as they’re sitting now, but they wouldn’t have issue working with the companies here, Archangel and Hegemonic Automatons for creating war droid platforms.” Starfighters mainly, however he did nod to both Nalia and Tyrin.

Right now, he was making sure that Bright Star Entertainment was getting out there. Marketing their lines and resorts, and to the proper beings, marketing information. That was one thing that Marek knew to be eternal, information. As some dying man once said, you can’t stop the signal. And Bright Star was training operatives during their time to watch, listen and slice. Get what information was needed and put it in the right hands.

All for a price. There was work to be done.


[member="Darth Janus"] [member="Rave Merrill"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Ordo"] [member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Ordo]

[member="Rave Merrill"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Moira Skaldi"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Darth Janus"]

Ordo read over the proposal. It didn't take long to see it was fairly straightforward. He held it for a while checking the wording abd listening to the others. He looked up at the Umbaran, something about the voice tugged at an old memory.

He gave a nod to Starchaser as he sat the proposal down and took up his drink. He hadn't dared to behave anywhere near this mobile in front of the man before. He rubbed a hand over his militarily cut brown hair before he took a piece of ruik root from his belt pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

"Automated armies cost time materials and credits. It's best you pad any army with living volenteers. Meat is a renewable resource. People always breed more."

He offered a nod to Danger and the blond before looking back to Rave.

"Tech has produced a new Supercomputer that can help any organization we need for the future. From managing thousands of stations and transactions, to entertainment, to droid armies." he said pointing his chin at the pad quickly, "I support the proposal as written. But. How do we propose to respond to threats, military engagement or more clandestine measures. I am ok with either."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Arceneau Trade Company wasn't one to trifle with. For the Tionese, ATC was one of the companies they had strong ties to, almost as long as Santhe themselves. Trade is what had connected the Tion Hegemony to the rest of the galaxy since the four hundred year darkness, and Danger Arceneau had brought them not only economic prosperity, but a wealth in products and opportunity long thought since lost since the Gulag Plague.

Networking was key, and Danger had that in spades. It was the Arceneau name that made sure that convoys were left alone and on schedule. Having Danger as well as ATC backing this motion was certainly a heavy consideration for the Tionese leaders.

Even now, motions were being made to completely incorporate the Tion Hegemony into a vast trading nexus with ATC -- expanding more of the existing trading routes, warehouses, and space stations currently under ATC and SSB hold.

The influx of philanthropy projects by ATC would not go unnoticed, allowing an ease of Danger to be able to start and develop their own shipyards here within Tion.

A small endevour, but one that will see promise in the future.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Dinner tables did not agree with Darth Orcus, or at least not with his size. The rather obtuse assets of the Herglic Sith Lord had trouble fitting into not one, but two chairs, which creaked ominously with his every move. Whilst on this precarious perch, Orcus attempted to feed himself the enticing cuts of terentatek.

He failed, one of his blubbery flippers accidentally knocking over [member="Darth Janus"]' wineglass.

"Apologies," rumbled the cetacean, heavily embarrassed, as nearby servants scrambled to mop up the mess.

He knocked over the water pitcher next while reaching for the Rudrig document.

"Hauum," frustrated air vented from the spouts atop his head. "Not the first casualty of this dinner, I fear, nor the last."

The well-intentioned villain smiled, splitting open wide lips to reveal two rows of gigantic, conical teeth of an off-white hue.

"Darkwater condones this agreement."

He passed the document on, flashing another apologetic smile at Janus.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Hion the Herglic"] | [member="Ordo"]

Being as Janus was not a drinking man, the empty wineglass fell to the table without much incident. Tyrin glanced at Hion without much expression, before setting the wineglass back upright. He did his best to ignore the bumbling whale's further massacre of other precariously positioned tableware by addressing the point of the Mandalorian present. As a rule of thumb, Tyrin despised Mandalorians. However, this one clearly had more intelligent dispositions than the rest of their miserable lot. Otherwise he wouldn't be here.

So Tyrin resolved to at least try and not condescend to him.

"Surely you jest. Any army costs materials and credits, but one made up of automatons is significantly more effective. No need for training, feeding, or housing accommodations. A higher quality, on average, of soldier as well."

 

[Velok the Younger]

The meal was winding down into the traditional Tionese dinner table negotiation, it seemed. One part politics, one part business, one part food - a political economy conference, but with money. Signatures began to pile up, planetary and community leaders taking the time to pledge their traditional principles. Far overhead, visible from skylights and balconies, a massive fleet performed live fire exercises. Elite starfighters ran flybys in exacting formation.

For her part, Rave enjoyed the show while discussing the Tion Cluster's containment needs with her equivalent of Tyrin's defense-minister gaggle:

Emergency management officials. Environmental cleanups, hush-hush whatnot, crises, strange things, investigation. Tion, being Tion, believed in the private sector, and AEI's containment portfolio had everything from monsters to alien technology -- the containment of the malfunctioning Mindharp of Sharu served as a particularly trenchant example. When she told them how she'd turned the Mindharp into memory-erasure blaster rifles, eyebrows rose stratospherically. In Tion, even emergency management could appreciate a profit.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

​

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*because i couldn't help myself due to rave's post...*​

 

[Corey's OOC]

Giving a nod to [member="Ordo"] as he stepped in, Marek was a bit more than surprised at the Mando’s way of walking. So, there was more than met the eye to this one. And while he was in charge of one of the larger militaries in the South Systems, Marek was going to steer clear of the discussion between the Mando and [member="Darth Janus"]. That was all them.

Still, not having to feed or house or train…

Regardless, they did have Arceneau to run everyone around. That was smart, transit and logistics were handled.

“We might want to consider dispatching intelligence operatives out to the galaxy. See what we can gather of who is moving on our worlds. Who is going where and how to best handle them.” Information was power.

A wonderful fleet was great, but knowing where to point it? Even better.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

And so a new sun was rising. Hooray! A future guided and steered by corporate giants and magnates. The way things should be. To profit, power and efficiency! Break down all barriers and give the market freedom...as long as the right magnates are calling the shots!


Signatures were piling up, Tionese leaders were vying for the chance to gain contracts, and the esteemed community and planetary leaders could enjoy the chance to witness an epic fleet perform life exercises. Suffice to say the show had to be very impressive given the capital amassed here. Moira could not feel enjoyment but she recognised the power of such spectacles.


While she was at it, her chief assistant was not just advertising HRDs and various battle droid models, but planetary defence systems as well. Such as the Preserver Defence Turret, a fully automated, military grade laser quad emplacement. An all-around weapon to defend installations against starfighters, dropships, air strikes and even light tanks. The array of sensors and droid brain control ensured accuracy with a viable range of up to one kilometre. Automated control also freed up organics for other tasks and preserved life! Likewise there was the Sariss Planetary Cannon, an anti-capital ship, planetary turbolaser cannon. Use of Archangel droid programming kept the organic personnel needed for maintenance down to a minimum. Based on Loronar's old design, this weapon required significantly less power, while possessing a firepower to make it a powerful defence system against invading fleets, with the ability to fire at targets in and beyond orbit. Combine that with the Alaris battle tank and the Ballistarius mobile artillery, which was essentially a modernised and fully automated SPHAT, and you had some hefty firepower.


Oh, and yes, dear Count, Archangel did have...access to bolters. No need to go to that scandalous Firemane couple, what a pair of oversexed nymphos who had not even been born as nobles! Well, Moira was not either, but those ladies had gotten their titles from aliens. So, yes, there was plenty of talk, wine and cash flowed like blood in certain Bando Gora rituals.


Moira would tilt her head to the side as [member="Marek Starchaser"] spoke. "Archangel can assist in gathering intelligence on our potential rivals and competitors...and in striking before they can make a move. Our HRDs make excellent infiltrators and are adept at blending in." Besides, the Trade Empress [member="Danger Arceneau"] had Companions. Due to a deal with Archangel she would actually soon have HRD Companions. The mechanical tongue was better than the real thing!