Private Taming The Purple Lion

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

The Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm’s office ship, the Silent Profit, finally started to shed the flames from its ventral hull as it hurtled down through the upper atmosphere of Naboo. She continued to shed more speed as she transferred from orbital flight to atmospheric flight and continued to slowly angle her flight path towards the laboratory deep in the mountains. Their flight instructions earlier that they had received in orbit had assured them that the Vienstien Labs landing pad was large enough to accommodate their de-militarized Gozanti freighter. So thus, Arken Dobson had elected to take his main office ship for this meeting as a show of respect. This was a crucial meeting after all…

The Silent Profit made its way to the Vienstien Labs landing pad, shedding much more speed, and eventually touched down. After the ship cooled off for a few minutes, the main boarding ramp dropped down and Arken Dobson, a 73 year old man in amazing physical condition, strode down the ramp, hoping to meet a greeting party. He was responsible for the financial success of the Elysium Empire, financial advisor to the King, and the main reason for why the Elysium Empire even had the funds to do business with Vienstien Labs in the first place. Even at Vienstien Labs reduced rates for the Empire, the economic conditions of the Elysium Empire were a nightmare to manage, and Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm deserved the utmost respect in Arken’s opinion. He would accept nothing less than a Grand Greeting from Doctor Andreus Vienstien.

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Grand Shepherd Burtch

Dr. Veinstein watched as the large ship made its way down to the equally large landing pad. Well... their guests truly liked to make an entrance... Of course, what did he expect from someone working for the Elysium Empire? Dr. Veinstein watched the ship land, and he signaled his troopers forward towards where the ramp was dropping down, lining the pathway in perfect formations.

Dr. Veinstein walked forward to the ramp, where his guest, Arken Dobson, was making his way down the ramp. Andreus stopped at the bottom of the ramp. Dr. Veinstein looked at him. "Welcome, Mister Dobson, we have been expecting you. I must say, you make quite the entrance. Would you like the tour of our facility, or would you just like to commence with our meeting in one of our many meeting rooms?" Dr. Veinstein asked him, holding out a hand for Dobson to shake.

 

[Arken Dobson]

Arken was… mostly pleased with the reception. There was something of a parade to greet him here, and the Doctor was here, on time, and first to greet him. Some kind of tribute would have been appropriate however. The Dobson Logistical Consulting Firm was responsible for overseeing all transactions between the Elysium Empire and Veinstein Labs and Innovations. Without Arken’s involvement, the business relationship would have collapsed long ago. He decided he should address this. He waited to take the other man’s hand.

“Dr. Veinstein, I presume? I suppose I’m honored by your… humble greeting. I see you went through the effort of surrounding me with troops and meeting me with a handshake.” He ran his eyes up and down the young scientist appraisingly before suddenly snatching the hand in front of him with a rough grab. He shook it gently in contrast to how he took it, “the pleasure is mine, of course. Your services to the Elysium Empire are of great significance, and I suppose thanks are in order.” His eyes showed a mixture of genuine appreciation and an intimidating nature, “I would, of course, appreciate a tour of your facility… a full tour. You don’t have that many secrets from the Elysium Empire. If idealistic ambiguity was an issue we would have dropped our contracts with you long ago. We can talk as we walk.”

Dr. Veinstein

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

Arken Dobson

“Dr. Veinstein, I presume? I suppose I’m honored by your… humble greeting. I see you went through the effort of surrounding me with troops and meeting me with a handshake.”

Dr. Veinstein grinned. "Of course I went through the effort. Anything for our closest allies, after all." Andreus said. He did notice how Dobson seemed to analyze him. Andreus could respect that in a man, always analyzing, always thinking. Dobson clearly had the mind of a thinker. He would have made a great scientist.

Then, Dobson grabbed his hand, and shook it.

“the pleasure is mine, of course. Your services to the Elysium Empire are of great significance, and I suppose thanks are in order.”

"No need to thank me. The King is a good friend of mine, of course I would help him on his endeavors." Veinstein replied.

“I would, of course, appreciate a tour of your facility… a full tour. You don’t have that many secrets from the Elysium Empire. If idealistic ambiguity was an issue we would have dropped our contracts with you long ago. We can talk as we walk.”

Veinstein nodded. "As you wish. Please, follow me." Veinstein said, then, he turned around and began walking. "Well, welcome to Veinstein Laboratories and Innovations headquarters. This is where all important decisions are made, and as such is our most secure and vast complex." Veinstein started. "As you can see, we have landing pads that can accommodate a wide variety of starships. We even have one made to accomadate a ship the size of a star destroyer. We also have multiple hangars too accomadate star fighters." Veinstein explained.

"As you can also see, this facility is well-secure." Veinstein said, motioning at the line of troops. "We have a combination of organic and droid guards. Our organic guards are all well-trained, as we usually hire ex-military personnel into our ranks. We also have anti-air turbolasers, Ground-to-Air missiles, Ground-to-Ground missiles, automated heavy repeating blaster turrets, E-WEBs, dedicated starfighters and pilots, and dedicated tanks and their crews." Veinstein continued.

They approached a door leading into the facility. Veinstein pulled out a security chip, and stuck it into a slot in the door. "Even to just access this facility, you need a specific chain code. The chain code is a polynomial, rotating, 12-based chain. The chain code changes every week, and personnel get their chips updated and changed to ensure security."

Once the door opened, Veinstein stepped through the door. "Alright, I'll lead you to the production area next. Any questions so far?" Veinstein asked Dobson.

 

[Arken Dobson]

Arken sighed in irritation.

He had to admit that he appreciated most of Dr. Veinstein ’s enterprising sensibilities, but Arken wasn’t fond of the Doctor’s tendency to focus on things that only he cared about. Scientists did have their quirks. As a man in his seventies, Arken lacked patience, and considered an overview of the facility’s defenses to be a waste of his time. “An overview of your defensive measures are not necessary, Doctor. My time is valuable. I am aware that I said a ‘full tour’ was desired, but I think my true implication was clear.”

He did give the present defenses an appraising look, but it didn’t really phase him. Everyone and their pet canine had “top notch” security nowadays with all the rampant factions rising and falling daily. He returned his gaze to Dr. Veinstein , “I do have a particular interest in… loyal firepower. I need special bodyguards of the highest quality, I need a new office vessel for my firm, and I need to discuss your… competitors.” He tilted his head meaningfully as said the last word. “And I would like to personally witness the progress on the program to cure Var-Sulis ’s daughter.”

 

[Dr. Veinstein]

“I do have a particular interest in… loyal firepower. I need special bodyguards of the highest quality, I need a new office vessel for my firm, and I need to discuss your… competitors.” He tilted his head meaningfully as said the last word. “And I would like to personally witness the progress on the program to cure Var-Sulis Var-Sulis ’s daughter.”

Dr. Veinstein looked back at Dobson, and grinned. 'Ah, of course, why didn't you say so? Right this way." Andreus said. He turned down a hall to the right, and began walking.

"First, I shall show you your... special soldiers," Veinstein explained. "We have been working on this batch for 5 months now, in order to make them the highest quality possible." Veinstein said while leading Dobson.

After a couple minutes of walking, Veinstein stopped in front of a door. He keyed in a password, and the door slid open. He stepped through the door, and motioned for Dobson to follow. Inside the room, the design was most clearly a barrack/dorm room. Beds were built into the walls, and multiple containers and pull-out drawers were also built next to the beds. There were multiple racks on the wall, filled with armor and weaponry. Multiple people were inside the barracks, and were handling equipment or talking too each other.

"Squad Charlie 2-B, Front and Center!" Veinstein yelled. Some of the people in the large room scampered forward, forming a line in front of Veinstein and Dobson, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. At least 8 people stood in front of them, some male, some female.

"We have multiple squads, Mr. Dobson," Veinstein said, talking to Dobson. "But this is our most promising squad so far. Each of them has a history in Spec-Ops or Black Ops. Each has willingly signed up for the experimentation and training. Each and everyone of them has received genetic experimentation, making them far stronger, faster, and smarter than any normal soldier. They have also received psychological training, making them extremely loyal and obedient. They have been receiving intense training for these past 5 months, not only physical training, but also mental training as well." He explained.

"So, what do you think of them?" Veinstein asked Dobson.

 

[Arken Dobson]

Arken looked over the soldiers with passive scrutiny. They were impressive on a glance, and Dr. Veinstein had a good track record thus far in his relationship with the Elysium Empire.

“I certainly appreciate how they look. And your track record is most certainly commendable. But loyalty is a fragile thing, even with… psychological programming. I would like to see Documentation on your soldiers as well as a demonstration of their reliability. I trust their combat skill is as advertised, but loyalty… I will need to see something special before I… employ… them.”

He had very big plans indeed and guarantees were essential. He already had enemies, but he planned on crossing some serious lines soon. In order to achieve his goals he would have to have incredible firepower at his side that would willingly die for him. Once his plans began to mature, he was certain that Rex Valhoun and Loreena Arenais-Valhoun would be willing to throw caution to the wind just to remove him. He needed to be ready.