S'periments, Yo

[Hannibal Oryen]

CESTUS SYSTEM, ORD CESTUS
CESTUS CYBERNETICS LANDING PAD

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

The miniaturized spaceport used by Cestus Cybernetics was located pretty much in the middle of nowhere. From here, it was a short drive away to the factory proper. The majority of the factory would then be located beneath the surface. It helped protect from orbital bombardment and whatnot. Hannibal had urged an incredible degree of paranoia into the building of a lot of Cestus' stuff. It also made Cestus' factories a lot harder to infiltrate. First they would have to find a way onto a Cestian vessel, somehow avoid being detected by security droids, sneak out of the vessel, creep past more security, stow away on a hovertruck, arrive at the factory, and then avoid even more security measures.

What? Who liked having their patents being stolen? Not this guy.

At any rate, a description of how Cestus Cybernetics kept their assets safe wasn't on the agenda here. What was on the agenda was a request the company had received that was novel and intriguing enough that it simply couldn't be passed up. A man with a relatively famous surname, Albrecht Tagge, was having trouble operating a very large ship. He wanted some droid brains installed to lessen the crew requirements. Not just any crappy droid brain, mind you. He wanted the realest deal on the market: the J1 Droid Brain. The current pride and joy of Cestus, even if it was going to be replaced in the fast approaching future.

Hannibal was going to oversee the installation of the droid brains by a few Cestian engineers and their droid accomplices himself. He was also going to chat with this Tagge dude and make sure he wasn't actually a quack or anyone else of ill-repute. The Fondorian, and the rest of the team, waited patiently on the landing pad for Tagge's ship to land.

 

[Darth Armyss]

After some time, a YTA-1300 light freighter flew overhead and circled back around towards the landing pad, touching down with a perfect three-point landing. The vessel fit the description given by the client in question: a stock YTA-1300 with gold accents on some parts of the hull, with the House of Tagge's emblem painted on the rear of the hull, not that the symbol held any meaning anymore, as the Tagges' fortune had been lost with their company. That being said, for one so young, Albrecht had done a decent job of regaining some of his lost fortune, certainly enough to pay for three droid brains to handle the various functions on the Corellian freighter.

Right on schedule... the human thought to himself as he checked his chronometer while he left the cockpit and made his way over to the entrance ramp. Once it lowered down completely, he stepped out onto the landing pad. He certainly had the appearance of a man with a lot of disposable income, even if he wasn't quite as rich as his surname suggested. Of course, if his contact at Cestus Cybernetics, a Fondorian by the name of [member="Hannibal Oryen"], had done any research on this particular client, he would have found that Albrecht was still rather afluent, but that all of his money had been made by himself, instead of inherited from the House of Tagge's fortune, which had been lost with the disastrous bombings that brought about the end of Tagge Co a few years ago.

After a few seconds, he caught sight of the Fondorian and approached with a confident stride.

"Mister Oryen, I presume?" Albrecht asked in a distinctive Core World accent, typical of the upper classes of Brentaal IV.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

"Yep." Hannibal said flatly.

He had made only the most rudimentary inquiries into his client's background. He didn't like to pry. The name Tagge was lost to the eons, and so the Fondorian scarcely recognized it. What he did recognize was a good credit score when he saw one. This guy certainly dressed for the part as well. Hannibal hadn't bothered to wear something other than his typical mercenary gear. Hannibal stretched out his cybernetic hand for a shake. Despite the glove, the limb was as cold to the touch as ever.

This guy definitely sounded like someone from the Core. Not the typical pleb, though. An aristocrat or something. Hannibal had done enough traveling and enough yakking to be able to tell the difference. Then again, this guy could have spoke with a binary droid vocabulator for all he cared. Money was money, and the data Cestus could get from this kind of venture was too opportune to pass up.

"Ya ship good t' go? I can 'ave 'em get started soon as ya say."

 

[Darth Armyss]

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

"The name's Albrecht Tagge, and the Honor's ready" Albrecht confirmed, returning the handshake firmly. More than just a sign of courtesy, the human recalled a lesson his father once imparted upon him, that one could tell a lot about another person by such subtle things as a handshake, even to the point of how well a business transaction might proceed, and from what he could tell, everything should proceed without incident. However, there were concerns he had regarding the J1's performance, as while he knew they were more than capable of operating most of a ship's systems, there was one system in particular he wanted to make sure they could handle in an emergency, one that was never covered in the advertisements.

"Though I'm a bit curious - how effective is the J1 at controlling point-defense systems?" he asked, looking behind himself and gesturing to the dual laser cannons on the top and bottom of the craft, which while controllable from the cockpit would need to be automated to engage any target that isn't within a certain firing arc towards the bow. True, the cannons weren't exactly ideal for engaging attacking starfighters - he intended to replace them with more effective quad lasers once he could find the time - but having the J1s operate as automated gunners would make them a vital asset, and if that meant having to fork over a premium to have an additional module specifically for that purpose installed, then so be it.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member="Albrecht Tagge"]

"That, daddy-o, is what we's lookin' t' find out." Hannibal retracted his hand a gave a nod to the team, who moved for the vessel.

One of them broke off, handing Hannibal a datapad and a stylus before going to join the rest of his cohorts. They carried a few crates with them, mostly containing tools and the droid brains about to be joined to the hull. The J1 droid brain had worked phenomenally for droids so far, minus the whole sapience thing if they went too long without a memory wipe. Happened a lot quicker than with other models, but that was the price to pay. Things like seeing how the J1 measured up in operating point-defense systems and other starship utilities would be great.

"Our egg'eads ran some tests, they says it'll do great. We likes t' be sure though, dig?" Hannibal marked down a few things on the datapad, scratching out the bill for the installation. "That's why we're givin' 'em to ya for free. Whateva these brains do on ya ship, that'll give us the info we needs t' 'elp us optimize-ify 'em for the future. Y'know, when an' if we installs 'em on other ships."

Hannibal's vernacular was not what one would generally ascribe to a person who designed advanced droids for a living, but that was another story. "That said, an' 'cause this's s'perimental 'an whatnot, we'll cover any damages ya ship takes as a direct result'a droid brain malfunction. Alls ya gotta do is send us the bill an' the error report."

Hannibal finished his outlining of terms on the datapad, holding the stylus and the device out for Albrecht to take and sign his name on the bottom. He could read over the exact terms before signing if he liked, nothing contrary to what Hannibal had said lay in the print. Cestus Cybernetics was above those kinds of shady practices. Especially in situations where they had virtually nothing to gain and everything to lose.

"Dig?"

 

[Darth Armyss]

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

As opposed to the typical clientele, Albrecht was the kind of man who preferred to make double sure that he wasn't going to be slighted, and began to read the terms of service. Satisfied that they were exactly as stated verbally by the Fondorian, he signed his signature at the bottom of the tablet, consisting of his first initial, then his surname in cursive arabesh, as was customary in business dealings. One upgrade on his list down, five to go.

"Considering where I'll be going from here, it probably won't be long before we find out for sure if these droid brains are up to the task of starship defense" the human stated as he handed the datapad back to Hannibal, "Be sure to let me know about any further developments - once I can restore Tagge Co, we might be able to negotiate some sort of partnership at some point in the future."

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

"Oooh. Adventure." Hannibal replied, only a little bit amazed. "I c'n dig it."

He reviewed the datapad and Albrecht's signature as the man continued. Everything looked legit to him. Hannibal looked back up when he mentioned restarting Tagge Co. Hannibal had never heard of such a thing, but it sounded pretty fancy and like a reasonable business venture. Cestus Cybernetics was always looking for more partners. It helped lay the groundwork for the next best thing, which was beyond mere corporations and manufacturing. There, on the distant horizon of the future, lay conglomeration.

Hannibal tucked the datapad under one arm, retrieving a business card from his breast pocket and holding it out for Albrecht to take. "Cestus is always open t' more partnerships, bud. You give me a call when ya got ya ducks in'a row an' we'll work it out nice."

 

[Darth Armyss]

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

"I shall" Albrecht replied as he took the business card from Hannibal and gave it a quick look over before pocketing it himself. The Fondorian had the potential to be one of his most vital contacts in the coming months, he thought. If all went well, then it shouldn't take very long to obtain the capital he needed to restart his family's company - of course, the plan in question was, in many ways, highly illegal, but then again, that only mattered if he was caught. He was tempted to mention the plan to the Fondorian, but decided not to do so just yet.

"So I take it the brains have been installed already?" he asked for the sake of clarification, wishing to avoid having to turn back around upon finding that the installation wasn't completed.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

"Eh, should take a little bit longa." Hannibal said, peering over the man's shoulder to spy the ship.

Obviously, all the activity was going on inside, so they wouldn't be able to see anything. Not unless they had X-ray vision. This would take a few more minutes at the very least. Installing droid brains into ships so that they could coordinate systems would be a cumbersome process to most droid manufacturers. No less for Cestus Cybernetics. There was going to be a lot of wiring involved and a whole mess of troubleshooting. They could speed the whole thing up and haphazardly attach everything, but that wouldn't help anyone in the long run. What was happening here was a work of art, and works of art take time.

Even mechanical, droid-related works of art.

So, Hannibal supposed it was on him to make some small talk to kill time. "Why? Got an' appointment afta this?"

 

[Darth Armyss]

"No, I just want to make sure that I only leave after everything's complete - I'm the type that prefers to go things right the first time" he answered half-truthfully. Albrecht did have somewhere to be technically, which in this case was Subterrel, where he was going to plan a raid on the mining colonies of Bespin, but he was in no hurry. The raid wasn't due to take place for at least another standard week, which gave him plenty of time to get his ship ready for it.

"The only thing that I have on my mind at the moment would be the other upgrades I need for my ship - I was intending on replacing the dual laser cannons with quad lasers, for instance, but finding up-to-date weapons without attracting attention from the authorities has been a bit difficult" he mentioned, "The ones I have found date back to the days of the First Galactic Empire, over 800 standard years ago."

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

Hannibal snorted when Albrecht mentioned securing upgrades that might catch the attention of authorities. The idea of competent intergalactic authorities was a novel concept to Hannibal. Largely because he now spent most of his time in Fringe or Mando space, wherein no one paid much mind to his activities or his dealings. Doubtless if the planet was remote enough, Hannibal could buy a turbolaser and ductape it to a nuke... And no one would so much as blink.

Well, probably.

"Nah, man. Ya ain't gotta worry 'bout the feds 'a nothing." Hannibal assured. "Definitely not 'ere in Mando space. They couldn't care less, y'know? Too busy lootin' stuff. Take a trip on ova to Yaga Minor, they'll hook ya up with whatevas ya need."

Hannibal couldn't help but wonder why an aspiring businessman needed such a heavily armed freighter, but that wasn't his business.

 

[Darth Armyss]

"It's not the law that I'm concerned about, I would just rather not draw any more attention to myself than I have to until I have the means to deal with any unwanted attention - you know what I'm saying?" Albrecht responded, his only reason for caution being that such things not only caught the attention of local authorities, but also of various military factions as well, and he would rather not have to deal with them until he was properly equipped to do so. There was also the fact that, sometimes, the authorities WERE competent, if a bit corrupt, particularly in the core worlds such as his native Brentaal IV...well...except for that one time, of course.

"Is there anyone specific I should be looking for on Yaga Minor?" he asked the Fondorian, "I've had my share of run-ins with duplicitous arms dealers, so I need to make sure that whoever I should find is reliable."

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

"Ah, tryin'a keep a low profile general-like. I get it." Hannibal nodded in understanding.

He could sympathize with that sentiment, really. Hannibal liked it better when no-one knew who he was. Things changed. Especially when implicated in the capture of expensive bounties like Spencer Jacobs, Ashin Varanin, a weird hypersexual plant creature, an equally hypersexual fox-mutant, and a big 'ol Mando who had just under a million credits worth of beef with a beautiful Sith broad.

"Yeah, can't imagine you'll be able t' lay low just about anywheres if you's flyin' a souped up freighter with extra guns. Someone or other'll notice. An' no, no-one specific-like. I ain't ever been there m'self."

Hannibal, strangely enough, bought all of his arms legally. It helped that he was a licensed bounty hunter in most civilized spaces.

 

[Darth Armyss]

"From what I've seen, most systems outside of the Core turn a blind eye to that sort of thing, and those that don't can be bribed" Albrecht explained, "and besides, Corellian vessels are renowned for being easy to modify, so there's probably quite a few YTA-1300s flying around with extra armaments, shields and the like - granted, most of those are probably smuggling vessels, but nevertheless, the only reason I'm lying low is because I don't have the means of defending myself adequately if that isn't possible."

As the conversation went on, he looked back towards his ship for a moment, then at his chronometer. True, he wasn't exactly expecting the installation to be done in fifteen minutes, but the sooner he could get off this planet, the better.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

This was only part of the reason Hannibal didn't bother with souped up super-ships. Too much of a hassle to get and a horrendous money sink. Hannibal didn't spend all that much time in space anyway. When he did, the Doomtreader suited him just fine. Definitely not something built for spacial combat, but that wasn't a primary hobby or concern of Hannibal. He did his fighting on the ground- where the cyborg parts could actually come in handy.

"Could always buy a couple 'a SC1s from Santhe." Hannibal recommended. Plugging products he helped design was a past time for him. "Best combat droid on th' market right about now."

 

[Darth Armyss]

"I'll have to look into that if I ever find myself needing bodyguards" Albrecht answered, deciding to humor the Fondorian even though he would probably not be interested in whatever products he was hawking unless they had to do with the upgrades to his ship that he had been looking for. He was all too aware of the various tactics that salesmen used to sell their products to clientele that don't need it, and from his own experience, the best sort of answer was usually 'I need time to think about it', or something along those lines, hence the answer he gave.

 

[Hannibal Oryen]

@[member='Albrecht Tagge']

"Just sayin', bud. You needs 'a droid, ain't nobody who can make 'em like Cestus."

Hannibal peered over Albrecht's shoulder and spied the crew disembarking with their equipment. The crew leader spotted Hannibal and gave a thumbs up, indicating that they were done with their business. This was all well and good, as it appeared that Hannibal and Albrecht's conversation had reached its natural end. Finally, the two could move on with their lives.

"'ight, looks like you's all set up." Hannibal said, indicating the ship and the departing installation crew. "'ave a good flight, yo."

 

[Darth Armyss]

"You too, and may the force be with you" Albrecht answered as he gave Hannibal a sort of salute, then turned and made his way towards his ship. Upon ascending the ramp and entering the cockpit, he ran a quick systems check to make sure that the droid brains were responding properly. He sent various commands to them, to which they responded by activating or deactivating various systems on command. The former noble was impressed, to say the least - the J1s were intelligent enough to almost completely automate his vessel, which was certainly going to be an advantage moving forward. With the systems check complete, he closed the landing ramp, fired up the sublight engines and took off, the Tagge Honor ascending into the upper atmosphere and out of sight.

Next stop: Subterrel, where somebody owed him some favors...one of them being a full squadron of TIE Defenders.