The Ambitions of a Wookiee

[Errreembuhr]

[SIZE=11pt]Hyperspace was a familiar thing to Errreembuhr. The seat in a freighter was a familiar thing to him as well. Though he had the means to purchase better transport, he would prefer to build one. After all, building the tools to ensure your survival was a cornerstone of his Wookiee culture, and despite the machines that kept him alive and standing upright, Errreembuhr had not yet forgotten what he once was. What he still was, regardless of what some others might think when they saw him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Though, in some cases, he didn’t blame them. He knew he looked more machine than Wookiee. Sometimes he felt more machine than Wookiee. Perhaps that’s what he really was. Perhaps that’s why he felt that he would find more acceptance within the Metal Lords. He would find out soon enough. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“We will be arriving in Denon orbit within the hour, Sir,” the droid copilot stated. It was a very old design, dating back centuries, but still in working condition to operate a ship. Eight others were on board in a stowed formation, his personal guard, powering up. Not that he felt there would be a need for them here.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Good,” he replied through the mask that allowed him to breathe despite the lack of a life support system on the ship. “Let us hope Lord HK-36 is in an accepting mood today.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]He stood from the seat, walking through the admittedly small ship to take a final check of their systems before arrival. Technology had always been a fascination of his, from the creations of his people to the advanced projects that traversed the stars. He’d always wanted to create his own, even when he was a crewman all those years ago. And as much as it hurt him to lose his crew the way he did, inheriting their savings and pooling it with his own had put him on the track to that goal. What he didn’t have, however, was the production capabilities to do so. He had plans drawn up for droids, for ships, for weapons. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Now exiting hyperspace in Denon orbit.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was his hope that, here today, he could begin to achieve that goal.[/SIZE]


[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Errreembuhr"],



Another day, another invitation was sent out from the palace of Lord Protector in the Orbit of Denon. The Droid Space was a Galactic power that rose to claim their territory almost overnight, suddenly appearing in the Denon and Corellian sector and managing to establish partnership and cooperation with various planetary governments rather quickly. Their path was not one of conquest however, for the machines preferred way of diplomacy and commerce over anything else, particularly the art of bribing, which turned out to be highly effective on organics and bought them their way into Galactic political theater. Over time they became very good at making deals and buying out loyalties of various merchants, politicians, and less reputable characters, it seemed that HK was planning on continuing that tradition as the machine insisted on keeping frequently updated storefront on HoloNet showcasing all of the industries under patronage of Metal Lords and even putting time aside to personally deal with some of their clients and manage the storefront himself.

However, it was not frequently that they were contacted by a Wookiee, especially one that was willing to join and seek the patronage of Metal Lords in order to expand his own company. It was not strange for corporations and small business to do that, taking advantage of the droids' policy to support underdogs and smaller powers, but it was often humans that came to visit the orbital palace of Iron Lord Protector above Denon, a Wookiee was a rare sight. Not an unwelcomed one however as HK readily agreed to meet with Err and invited him to his own private holding.


Once Err's transport arrived in the orbit of Denon, he would notice that it would be a sight vastly different if he ever saw it before in any recordings or in person. Well the planet itself would have been unchanged, still glimmering with the many industrial lights, still covered by the red and black veins of streets and buildings that covered the entire city-planet. The new addition, however, was the ring of ships encircling the planet as if laying siege to it, and the many stations being build in its orbit with hustle and bustle of smaller vessels and drones.

Err's ship would have been directed to dock with one of these stations and come aboard, a strange construction that almost seemed to be cobbled together from skeletons and corpses of other stellar structures, repurposed many times over and added on top of each other, like jigsaw of starship wrecks and durasteel plating woven together to form the new presence over the planet. Other systems would have probably faced similar projects as Denon was not alone in still adjusting to the new power within that sector, planets like Nubia, Loromar, and Hakassi too had similar rings of spacecraft around, they too had new spacestations and bases build around them. The droids asked for relatively little of their subjects, they did not enslaved them, they did not force them to fight for them, some did not even overthrew their previous governments. What they did ask however was one of the main reasons why they decided to lay claim on territory. An armada of new, larger ships, and a lot of them.


Moving through the spacestation Err would have been directed towards one of the many conference rooms, passing many other droids on his way there, which currently HK claimed as his main office and base of operations within the system. The room would be fairly large, with a grand conference table in the middle with a holoprojector housed in its center, and a smaller duranium desk sitting in front of a large view screen or transparisteel, overlooking the glowing amber planet they were currently orbiting, with the other grand station now in the planet's orbit, the Space Bazaar, visible just disappearing behind the planet over in the distance.

The droids Err passed would usually seem rather intelligent and independent, going about their day and the duties within the station, chattering with each other in quick bursts of data, although some did seem a bit off. Slightly loopy, dancing on the brink of insanity, only somewhat lucid, but then again such was usually the price when it came to droids who have not had a mind wipe in years if not centuries, quirks and data just kind of build up for them. There were few units who seemed much less intelligent, looking over their surroundings with dull cold stare, usually following other droids as their servants, or standing as silent guards within the station. They were drones, machines like droids, but with only rudimentary intelligence, more like animals than truly sentient beings. They were the answer droids had towards making large mechanical armies, yet not having the guilt over enslaving their own kind into combat legions.

And so Err would come face to face with his host, the droid stood up from behind his desk, looking at him in silence, letting him have the first words as he judged him from behind the impassive stare of two crimson photoreceptors like flaming embers, yet cold at the same time. His face was a smooth faceplate with no nose, slots for lips and mouth, two fang-like spikes protruding down from it, and the holes for those electronic eyes. It was smooth and pale like bone, yet metallic, if Err could tell such things apart he would know it was Phrik. The rest of the droid's body seemed to have been covered in some sort of flesh-like black substance with thicker chitinous plates attached over certain regions, all of which was wrapped tightly in heavy black cloak. A Vong-shaped armor, rarely if ever seen on a droid.

 

[Errreembuhr]

Though Errreembuhr had never visited Denon before now, stories of the Metal Lords' constructions in their territory had reached all over the galaxy. Even over Corellia their presence could be felt by their orbiting ships. This, however, was something quite different. He had never seen so many stations over a single planet outside of an active warzone, and he'd done his best to avoid those over the years unless he was getting paid double for the deliveries or pick-ups.

The station's inhabitants were fully automated, it seemed, which made perfect sense to him. He had seen his fair share of droids that had gone years without a memory wipe, and it wasn't too odd for him seeing so many around. The ones who met him at the docking station kept close as they led him through the station, finally coming to a stop at a large open room. When the view of the planet below came into sight, his eyes immediately fell upon it, but he quickly averted his attention to HK, who he shared the room with.

"Lord HK-36," he said, standing straight and hoping that he'd gotten the title correct. Through the breathing mask his voice would likely sound somewhat distorted, but thanks to his translation program came through in perfect Galactic Basic. "It is good to finally meet you. I appreciate you taking the time to host an audience with me."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Errreembuhr"],


Hearing the Wookiee's greeting, HK would lean forward, bending at the waist to bow to Err, returning the sentiment by greeting him within the inner chambers of the machine's personal sanctum,

"Welcome to my Orbital Palace, Erreembuhr,"

When the droid pronounced the Wookiee's name it was probably a recording of Shyriwook that played out rather than the Galactic Basic pronunciation of it. Raising his long skeletal hand the machine would motion to one of the two chairs assembled in front of his darker duranium desk, both of them were fashioned of some sort of pale light bone-like wood strands, twined together like wicker and padded with cushions for comfort.

"Please have a seat."

The droid offered motioning to them as he lowered himself back down to sit in his own duranium chair,

"Of course, one of the benefits of being a droid is that I can fill out all of my planetary and corporate forms and paperwork within my mind while doing other more important duties, it frees up a lot of my time to be more hands on than other CEO's."

HK explained in a quip before leaning back in his seat,

"But please, I would love to hear more about your offer of cooperation and what sort of deal you would want to make. It is seldom that we are approached by Wookiees who wish to cooperate with us, the last time this happened we were able to use our shattergun technology in order to create a bowcaster capable of shooting clean through tanks."

 

[Errreembuhr]

The idea of a bowcaster with the ability to punch through both ends of a tank widened his eyes, as they were already powerful weapons in their own right. Errreembuhr wished to have such a weapon, but kept silent on the matter. There were far more important things to discuss here than bowcasters, though weapons were certainly on the topic.

With a quick adjustment of a dial on his chest rig, and a bow to match HK's, he took a seat as requested. The design of the seats were impressive, something that his remaining organic parts found certainly comfortable, and he welcomed the rest. His seats in the light freighter were designed for smaller-framed creatures, and his Wookiee torso found them rigid and unfulfilling.

"I thank you for the welcome, my Lord," he replied, the clarity of the translated voice much crisper after the adjustment. "The station you've built, and all the rest surrounding it, is quite impressive. I would hope someday to achieve something of the like, but we all must start somewhere, and that's why I've come to you today."

He reached for his chest, pressing a button to activate the on-board hologram projector. The emitter began to project a series of designs based on blueprints he had drafted over the years for weapons and droids, as well as projects for drone fighters and even ships, though those wouldn't be on his docket until much later as they tended to be more expensive and resource-intensive to build.

"These are designs I have planned for technology that I would like to produce. What I have is capital to put into the projects, but I lack in contacts, production capability, locations. That is what I'm hoping you can assist me with. In exchange for your added resources and support in starting my business you would receive a share of the profits, and full support of myself and the company going forward."

He paused, waiting for an answer.

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Errreembuhr"],

The droid fell silent, allowing the Wookiee to talk and describe the proposal he brought before the machine, only nodding as he looked over the blueprints projected by Err. Once the Wookiee paused, HK would look up to him from the designs,

"Your request is granted, we will construct a station within the Droid Space according to your specifications, it will serve as your headquarters and manufacturing plant within our territory, we can also talk about planting it in orbit of one of our planets where you can build further plants and facilities."

The droid agreed, proposing what was by then a standard offer machines extended to beings interested in working within their space,

"We will become your patrons, but you would be expected to maintain and command your own security forces and fleet big enough to properly defend your holdings and workers should it be needed."

HK informed him, of course often these security forces were called upon in times of battle as Metal Lord auxiliaries, using them to boost and reinforce their forces, much like within less advanced feudal societies.

"I hope those terms are satisfactory to you. If so I would love to hear more about your ambitions within the Droid Space and any specific planned designs you want to produce."

 

[Errreembuhr]

He nodded along, the mask likely obscuring his face, but his expression would be one of agreement.

"These terms are agreeable, yes. With the proper manufacturing capabilities and mineral resources I should have no problem maintaining a standing force of my own. As for a fleet, would it be possible to receive further aid in this regard? Ships are very... complex creations, and would require resources from more places than I might be able to get my hands on to create. Weapons, shield projectors, sensor systems and the like. Would the Metal Lords be able to provide assistance in acquiring these materials? With costs covered by myself, of course."

After displaying his designs, Errreembuhr shut the projector off.

"The rest I should have no problems with producing and maintaining."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Errreembuhr"],

HK would nod at Err's question,

"Of course, we have enough streamlined models of patrol cruisers and corvettes to get you going with a reasonable enough fleet, should any pirates or other threats gave you some trouble."

The droid informed the Wookiee, they also had plenty of starfighters, especially automated designs that did not require any pilots to control and deployed in large swarms,

"We have some Ship Lords who already produce systems for us necessary to build starships, we can divert some of the transports to you too so that you could stockpile them for your own production, or replicate their designs so you can produce your own."

The machine would clasp his hands then,

"If you do not have any further questions, however, that should be all for our meeting, you can contact me with your specifications about your manufacturing station and which planet you wish to settle on later on, and of course with the first designs you would want to produce within our territory."