Scum of the Galaxy, Not So Much

[Audren Sykes]

When Audren had gotten the invitation to meet a potential client in a bar, he hadn't quite expected this. One might expect to meet the person in charge of a mercenary group in a bar, yes. Just not a bar that the well-off went to. He'd been more expecting a grungy place, somewhere deals were done in shadowy corners and you took as much risk walking into the place as drinking the swill on tap. When he'd first heard of the meeting location though, he hadn't been very trusting. He'd arrived early to scope out the place, noted the clientele, and decided to forego the armor. The visible kind, at least.

While the place didn't have a no-weapons policy, nobody there was openly armed. The bouncer wasn't even carrying a baton, so clearly they felt relatively sure that nobody would be causing trouble here. Then again, there was a riot-control gun behind the counter, security holocams set up to cover the entire place leaving only enough privacy for the refreshers, the windows showed a cliff-like drop for thirty levels, and both doors could be closed at the flick of a switch. Considering he was meeting with the leader of a mercenary gang, the Knight was not so comfortable. He carried a holdout blaster in his left boot and his lightsaber was hidden underneath the outer bit of clothing he wore. The formal robes would blend well enough, and they had durasteel fibers woven in. Not as good as armormesh and plate armor, but significantly better than simple cloth.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled meet time, the Sephi was in place. He had a drink, an expensive version of whiskey that would last him the night. Both because of the cost and the alcohol. This single glass was as expensive as several bottles elsewhere, and the proof was similarly much higher. To boot, he didn't like combining alcohol and business. Some people could hold their alcohol well enough, he simply never wanted to find out whether or not he could. Yet it was a bar, and everyone else here had an alcoholic beverage. Blending in had distinct advantages.

He'd chosen a position that allowed him to see everyone coming into the place as well as a good portion of the rest. What he couldn't see he could sense. The atmosphere was one where people came to make deals, not a place to get sloshed. Most of those present were either in quiet discussions or reading on the datapads. Audren was apparently one of the latter, using peripheral vision and only occasionally looking up. After all, he wasn't expecting the mercenary leader to walk in dressed like a stereotypical merc, not when he'd been the one to suggest this location.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Something seemed off about the bar though. It took him a few minutes, but he realized that it wasn't busy enough to need two bartenders. His curiosity was sidelined when the person he was supposed to meet with walked in. He wore formal clothing much like the rest of those present, but his was cut in similar fashion to military uniforms. Close enough to blend with either crowd but different enough to be distinct.

And the man was apparently a regular at the location as well. One of the bartenders had a drink ready for him by the time he got to the bar and no credits were exchanged. The bartender even addressed the man as 'captain'. Comfy. Audren thought about going to meet the man right then and there; he could have been halfway to the man's booth by the time he sat down. He decided to hold off though, let the man enjoy his drink. In the meantime, he watched the area a bit closer. If the man was known here and there were oddities such as an extra bartender, it could be there was something extra going on here.

 

[Audren Sykes]

The Sephi watched closer as events in the bar continued. They were good, he'd give them that, but it soon became clear that several of the people present were more than they appeared. The spare bartender for instance. Good at his job, no doubt there. But the second bartender gave him just a bit more respect than what was normally seen. Same with what were apparently the regulars. He kept eyeing Audren and the captain out of the corner of his eye. Only the Force was able to confirm his suspicions. One of the patrons sitting at a table was positioned to watch the Sephi, but he did that more noticeably than the datapad he held.

Once the captain had finished about half of his drink, Audren figured it was time to actually meet. Each knew the other was there, and they'd spoken on the comm before. With a order of this potential magnitude though, Audren wanted to know who he was dealing with. So ten minutes after they were supposed to meet, the Knight made his way to the captain's table. Through the Force he could feel the marked interest of the two watchers.

"Captain Pranei, good to meet you."

 

[Audren Sykes]

"Ah, Mr. Sykes, I'm glad you could make it. Tell me, what are you having?"

"Aren't I supposed to be buying for you? You're buying from me, after all."

That got an amused grin. A genuine one.

"Maybe so, but I have a house discount. So what will it be?"

"I've already got one, thanks. Need to make sure your man behind the bar earns a living."

Rather than be offended by that, the man barked out a laugh. Again, it was genuine.

"That's Lieutenant Vasco. He'll be disappointed, he prides himself on blending in. He owns the place."

Audren was surprised. He shouldn't have been, it explained the deference that the man received, and it wasn't exactly unheard of for a mercenary to own a bar. Fairly common actually, come to think of it.

"You're surprised? We all have to earn a living, and there have been times when we haven't had a job for up to two years."

"You misunderstand. I'm surprised he's the owner, not that he has another job. I know how hard it can be to make ends meet. I'm sure there have been times where you have jobs that don't call for the full crew too. What else do your people do?"

Pranei had started raising his eyebrow as the Sephi spoke, almost like he thought he was being patronized. He didn't lose that sense when asked what else his people did.

"Why? You studying us?"

 

[Audren Sykes]

The Knight wasn't all too taken aback by the question, nor the edged tone that accompanied it. People got suspicious when you pried into their lives, especially when you didn't know them very well. That was especially the case when the person you were trying to get to know was responsible for others. So he didn't take offense to the tone or the connotations it carried.

"In a way, yes. You're looking to buy a fair portion of my stock, which could be used badly in the wrong hands. I want to know the people I'm selling to, in some small degree."

Pranei looked the Sephi square in the eyes for a moment, head tilted. Even without the Force, he would have been able to tell that the Captain was measuring his sincerity, measuring him. He bore the scrutiny without complaint. Eventually the verdict was reached. With a nod, the captain started talking again.

"One of the guys is a tailor, makes some of the best formal clothes around. Another one's a cook, gets asked to cook for the governor's parties every once in a while. Then we've got a mechanic, she runs a garage about three blocks down. A number of other jobs, some more successful than others."

"And yourself, Captain?"

"Tutor. Advanced mathematics including hyperspace jump calculations."

Audren's eyebrows raised at that one. Advanced mathematics were no joke, he himself had no grasp on anything beyond the most basic of concepts. Compared to him, the captain had to be a genius. Not difficult true, but still. And there was another reason for the surprise: the group, at least those the mercenary had named, had positioned themselves to be close to the planet's elite, the leadership. They carried influence of a sort. The captain, depending on who he tutored, was likely known as a mercenary as well - the rich and powerful did background checks on their employees. He was probably part-time bodyguard if he tutored the clientele Audren expected.

"Impressive. Well, you had mentioned on the comm that you wanted to test the products, since we would be meeting. Shall we?"

The man concealed well the mild surprise he felt. He finished his drink in one long drought and stood, Audren mimicking the behavior. Here's where the real fun started.

 

[Audren Sykes]

The mercenary left to rustle up a couple teams to test out the products, but not before giving Audren a location to meet at. For his part, the elfin Knight took a taxi to his ship and returned with two bags, one smaller and the other larger. The taxi driver - a Bothan, gave his fare a second look once he heard where they were headed. A more appraising look. And one towards the luggage compartment of his cab.

"I won't be arrested for what's back there, right?"

"Relax. Some fabric and some electronics, nothing remotely illegal."

The driver nodded, not looking convinced, but turned back around and started driving. Half an hour later he left Audren standing outside a building large enough to hold maybe four rooms. There he was met by Pranei and ushered into a ready room. A dozen beings were lounging around, each of whom wore gear common to soldiers. And they were dangerous...he could sense that instantly. It was clear they didn't see him the same way, he got a sense of dismissal through the Force. They paid rapt attention to the captain though.

The man explained that there would be two teams of six, and since they were testing two new products they'd run two simulations. Each team would get their briefings before each round. For now though, they wandered into an adjacent room, one he could see contained a number of guns.

"Okay. What do we got?"

"Toy guns, sir. Toy guns."

 

[Audren Sykes]

The first test would be with the Annonîn. Aurek team would defend, while Besh would attack. They were explicitly told standard procedures, nothing fancy, so Audren was under the impression that the creatively-named teams had done training like this before. Kept them sharp, being on either end. Only Besh would be equipped with the Annonîn, and Aurek would know nothing about it. In an aside, Pranei told the Sephi that it was typical practice to leave some soldiers outside. They acted as an early deterrent or as the second half to a pincer.

As Besh moved in on the target building, which had been hidden about a kilometer into the property, it became clear that whoever Aurek had left outside was playing the part of pincer rather than sniper. On the monitors, the two watched as the Besh team members opened up the control panel and added one of the Annonîn devices to the wire, then continued into the place. From what he could see of it, the interior of the building resembled a library. The four Aurek members inside did a very good job, all things considered. They dropped four of the six Besh team members in a location that was clearly not designed to be defended. But it was clear they'd depended on the two people they'd left outside. By the time they got the second door open - Besh team had apparently hidden their Annonîn devices in addition to just using them - the two remaining Besh were positioned to drop the Aurek. A reverse ambush, and that was endex.

 

[Audren Sykes]

As the two teams filed back into the smaller building, the colored spots on what they wore melted away into nothing. He took a closer look and noticed that they were walking between two pillars...whoever had created that system was smart. It was specialized but useful; no need to clean off paint or have someone go around with a wand to unfreeze practice suits.

This time Aurek would get the toys, specifically the Thuraen camouflage nets. A building wouldn't be the best setting for this test, so the captain chose to run it at the border of two other terrain types, which meant there were technically three terrains if the blending area was included. Sandy desert, dense forest, and the blend between the two. That gave them plenty of ground to work with, probably more than was reasonable for six-man teams. Aurek was sent out first with their new toys while Besh was held back, not knowing what the new toys were. This test would be two parts, the first with Aurek having all four nets and the second with the nets evenly split.

It would be an interesting game of 'tag' to watch.

As the teams were taking their starting positions, something occurred to Audren.

"How did you hear of Ceredir Industries, Captain Panei?"

"Vasco's brother heads another mercenary group a few sectors over. Said something about getting these camo nets from your company."

"Infernal Storm? That's his brother? Odd that he's with you when they're so close."

"Don't get along too well. But they're family, they keep in touch."

 

[Audren Sykes]

Droids floating above the training exercise broadcast the scenes back to monitors in the first building, allowing Audren and Pranei to watch without the risk of becoming targets themselves. Aurek certainly took advantage of the four nets they'd been provided and decimated the Besh team. The second part of the exercise commenced soon after, with each team having two nets and trying to eliminate the other team.

As they watched, Pranei asked a question, plainly it was one that he had wanted to ask but held off on.

"So, I've answered your questions. My turn: what is it that you do outside of run Ceredir Industries, Mr. Sykes?"

The mercenary's attention was on the screen, but he was expectant. It was clear that he was listening for a certain answer, wanting to see if the information he'd found was good. Or maybe he knew it was good and wanted to see if Audren would admit it.

"It's public knowledge that Ceredir is headquartered on Voss. I work with the Coalition in conflict resolution."

A nice, very neutral way of putting it. Less skilled at diplomatic solutions than the alternative, but he'd done both and planned on continuing that path in addition to his work with Ceredir. After all, the company was the hobby, not the other way around.

"And yet you design and sell items that extend conflicts."

Well, that was different. One way of looking at it. The most pessimistic, to be sure.

"I provide instruments to save lives. The last two members of Besh would have been dropped if not for the Annonîn devices they used. If they were law enforcement and Aurek a criminal organization?"

"And yet you sell to those who ask."

"For large amounts, I or a trusted employee meet with them first to verify."

"You didn't meet with anyone from Infernal Storm."

"Their needs were different than Whiteguard's are."

 

[Audren Sykes]

"Oh, and what'd they get?"

"You know I can't tell you that, Captain."

"Thought I'd give it a shot. Vasco said they got some of those camo nets."

While it was true that all the Infernal Storm had bought was some Thuraen netting, Audren didn't answer, not with word or motion. The various groups might want to swap stories about what they got and ways they'd found to use it, but he wouldn't give up the knowledge of who'd purchased what unless both parties agreed to it. In writing, or whatever they wanted to call the digital version. For one thing, you didn't get repeat business that way, and business itself soon dried up. But one also didn't want to get mercenary groups mad. Things tended to start getting violent. Pranei gave the Sephi a glance at the lack of answer, then a bit of a grin.

"So, did we pass."

"You did. I can have deliveries scheduled once I get back to my ship."

"And if I've changed my mind on the order?"

Well that wouldn't be good. This order, while not on the same magnitude as the contract with the Sanctum, was fairly extensive. He hadn't actually spent any of the money they would be giving him, but he'd started making arrangements towards that end. If they really wanted to back out, he'd need to back out or find alternate funding.

"Under the assumption changing your mind means cancelling the order, then once your teams are done with their fun I pack up my equipment and leave. Nothing lost by either of us except time and opportunity."

The man didn't have the impression through the Force that he was mulling over the options. He'd already made his decision and was just letting Audren stew. The Knight didn't show any nervousness at the prospect, remaining as matter-of-fact and relaxed as he'd been before the question arose. The deal would happen or it wouldn't.

"Kidding. Terms as discussed, possibly more later. Want to join the fun?"

"I can watch from here. I'd be an easy target."

It was as simple as that. Transaction concluded, business relationship struck. Had this been a friendship instead, Audren might have gone out on the field with the others, but it wasn't so he didn't.