The Bee of the Bird of the Moth

[Caulder Dune]

CSILLA
EXPEDITIONARY LIBRARY

Gerion had never been to the Unknown Regions. He tended to stay away from what he considered the fringes of civilization. Chiss Space was a shining jewel of proper civilization in a region generally destitute of law. It was rather unfortunate the One Sith had shown up to stand on their necks. Gerion was ashamed to admit he had participated in that first subjugation of the planet, albeit under a different name. After the Netherworld Crisis, the world became independent again, but the One Sith always struck back. But then when they returned, they came toting an olive branch instead of a lightsaber.

Sith were many things, but consistency in their foreign policy often escaped them. As far as their approach to non-Republic, non-Jedi entities went, at least.

Despite the wanton barbarity of the Sith and the unreliable Vong pestilence they insisted on spreading, Chiss were still Chiss. They had an appreciation for hierarchy, order, and landed gentry. Being among the Tionese for so long, Gerion also grew to appreciate these things. So when he was summoned by [member="Chaf’anta’natrano"] to discuss the possibility of a new line of droids, how could he possibly refuse? He had been told Chiss did not appreciate automatons, but perhaps the brutal extermination of some of their noble houses had softened their standpoints.

For this meeting, Gerion had been called to what was known as the Expeditionary Library. His usual bodyguards, a duo of TA4s, waited on the surface. Meanwhile, Gerion descended via turbolift into the subterranean library.

 

[Chaf’anta’natrano]

The new Aristocra of House Chaf, the Fifth Ruling Family of the Chiss Ascendancy, was starting to grow accustomed to deep frowns and raised brows of her political peers. Upon accepting the position, Fantana had made it clear right away that House Chaf was getting a good scrubbing under her leadership, and changes were in store. Fat would be trimmed, inefficiencies would be pinpointed, and most of all outsiders would be consulted. In this day and age, the Chiss could not afford to be insular and although her xenophobia was quite ingrained, Fantana saw no reason why she shouldn't at least do some business with non-Chiss. Especially to procure imported products that weren't as readily available on Csilla, such as custom droids.

Wearing a form-fitting dress in the traditional colors of House Chaf, Fantana strode into the Expeditionary Library deep underneath the ice planes of Csilla to meet with a man who could help her make such droids. They would be metal soliders fitting for a new Aristocra building a private military. The Chiss would have raised yet another eyebrow at this decision. After all, that's what the CEDF was for, but the CEDF was in shambles at the moment, tied up in bureaucracy, and shackled by the Sith occupation. Fantana simply did not have the patience to wait a moment longer when there were rings she could be grabbing now.

Gerion Ardik stood near the library's central table waiting for her. Fantana walked right up and stood before the Umbaran, her gleaming red eyes locking on him like a targeting computer. In her research on the businessman, she read a Holotab article that said the Mister Ardik wasn't big on hand shaking. That worked out well, because she wasn't either. Instead of putting out a hand for him to shake, she interlaced her fingers behind her back and gave him a crisp greeting.

"Good afternoon, Mister Ardik. I am Chaf’anta’natrano, Aristocra of House Chaf. You may call me Fantana. I trust your travel to Chiss space was safe and uneventful?"

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Chaf’anta’natrano"]

Gerion straightened himself up as the Aristocra that had sent for him appeared from around the corner. She introduced herself, clarifying that he could call her Fantana. Good. Chaf’anta’natrano would have been difficult to memorize and pronounce correctly. There was also no handshaking involved, so instinctively Gerion moved his hands behind his back as well. This was a radically different part of the galaxy, after all. It would be rather strange if every culture encountered put emphasis on people grabbing eachother's hands and shaking them every time they met someone.

"A pleasure to meet you in person, Aristocra. And it was, thank you." Gerion replied, casting his eyes about the cavernous library before settling on the sharp-dress Chiss woman. "Straight to business, then?"

He knew very little of House Chaf. Though if this particular Chiss was half as ambitious as the rest of them, and the talk of House Chaf's movement to the front of Chiss affairs accurate... Then whatever arrangement produced would be as profitable as it was enjoyable. Or entertaining, at the very least.

 

[Chaf’anta’natrano]

The white haired Umbaran got straight to the point. Not bad for a Moactan Teel. The former Lieutenant already appreciated his efficiency.

"I would love to," agreed Fantana. "I'm not sure how familiar you are with House Chaf, Mister Ardik, but we are a House who's never quite played by the rules. With the other Ruling families in fluctuation, most are content to wait until things settle down, and end up languishing in antiquity. We on Sarvchi don't wait for the policy wonks on Csilla to come up with a solution to our problems."

By "problems," Fantana was alluding to several things. For example Sith occupation, jockeying of the Ruling Families, and the usual insularity that kept her race a few steps behind the rest of the galaxy.

"We take matters into our own hands." Her gleaming eyes narrowed in thought.

"The Chiss have a history of lukewarm enthusiasm when it comes to droid technology. You may remember Soontir Fel's droid fighter prototypes for the CEDF never made it past early development. I like to think of myself as a maverick in this sense. House Chaf would like Hegemonic to develop some war droids specifically for our own private forces."

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Chaf’anta’natrano"]

Gerion did love those who tended to buck societal norms. He loved aristocracy and its associated acts, but if they had a flaw it was their tendency to stick to outdated methods of doing things despite more efficient methods being available. That and a self-destructive tendency to unduly spurn the lower class, middle class, and nouveau riche. Ah well. Nothing worth supporting in this galaxy was perfect. Gerion had never heard of Soontir Fel or his droid fighter prototypes, but he nodded along as Fantana spoke regardless. The details of that were not relevant to him.

"We do enjoy producing war droids. They seem to be the most popular these days." He began. "But designing, prototyping, calibrating our factories, producing, and then shipping off these droids to only one specific customer... Well, these are all very expensive processes. The Imperial Remnant, if you're familiar with that farce, approached me to request something similar, then had the gall to ask if they could purchase exclusive production rights to one of my staple models when I rebuffed them."

He nearly cringed at the memory. Some Imperials were just irredeemably stupid, and their rigid adherence to the rule of law only barely made up for it.

"But unlike the Imperial Remnant, your Ascendancy is not bereft of credit. I'm willing to go through these pains to bring you your own droids, but I will require two things from you in addition to the typical payments."

 

[Chaf’anta’natrano]

Fantana's eyes gleamed excitedly at the prospect that Hegemonic seemed amenable to making her droids. If she and Mister Ardik could work together on some of the production specification, a Chiss-friendly design, perhaps her ineffective House Syndic wouldn't be so resistant to using them.

Still, Mister Ardik wanted some things from her besides her credits, and that was to be expected. Perhaps because Csilla was in the galactic limelight after the rebel terrorist attacks, builders and entrepreneurs alike had come out of the woodwork to wheel and deal with her. Hyperspace lanes, trade routes, exports and imports, everyone seemed to want something from the Aristocra. She simply had not found any trades that benefited her. Not as much as these shiny new droids. Fantana tossed her long silky blue hair in a regal gesture.

"Go ahead, Mister Ardik. I'm all ears."

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Chaf’anta’natrano"]

Gerion's eyebrows raised the slightest amount as Fantana executed a hair-flip. How very attractive. Fortunately he wasn't the sort of person to forget himself during meetings like this.

"Firstly I'd like to set up a large facility here on Sarvchi. It will double as both the primary factory for your droids and a research and development facility for Hegemonic Automaton. The employees will be natives, naturally, as to benefit the local economy." Gerion always found that the less outgoing cultures were more receptive to him setting up shop in their territory if he told them the employees would be of their own kind.

"I've also heard that the Chiss are very skilled where the automation of large capital ships are concerned. Hegemonic Automaton will be pursuing similar interests in the coming future, and access to technology such as you posses would be more than helpful."

The Kynareth Series was still very much in development. It included a standard droid fighter, a bomber, and a gunship. The final stage also included a fully automated star destroyer. The first three would be a joint project with Haor Chall, but the star destroyer still lacked a major backer in the shipbuilding industry. Be that as it was, Gerion was still determined to collect whatever tidbits of technology he could in order to ensure that- whoever ended up building he hull of the ship -the final product would be the best one possible.

 

[Chaf’anta’natrano]

Her arms folded across her chest, Fantana pursed her lips in thought. Provided that Mister Ardik made good on his promise to hire Chiss workers, a facility on Sarvchi could only benefit the stalled local economy. That was a stipulation she could agree on without much hesitation.

Then, there was the matter of the highly-guarded technological secrets of the Chiss people, advances discovered over centuries of exploring the Unknown Regions and experimentation, building and re-building on their foundation while mixing in alien and Imperial improvements. For example, the hyperspace beacon system of the Chiss Nssis-class Clawcrafts could make lightspeed jumps without an on-board navigation computer, provided the jump was not too far. Plus, many Chiss ships were highly automated—a Chiss cruiser more than two hundred meters long generally had an operational crew of thirty or less, making it cost-effective for the CEDF.

As a former Lieutenant for House Chaf, Fantana had unfettered access to Chiss captial ship specifications. They could be in Gerion Ardik's Datapad in a few simple clicks. Furthermore, she could blame the information breach on House Chaf's Syndic who she was looking to oust, but had not had a convincing reason. Until now.

"I think that we can accommodate those requests, Mister Ardik."

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Chaf’anta’natrano"]

Gerion smiled, an expression that most would consider unnatural on his face. "Splendid."

There were obvious monetary benefits of dealing with the Chiss and ingraining himself within the Ascendancy. The potential technological breakthroughs made in Hegemonic Automaton's labs now that Chiss scientists and engineers would soon be in his employ were priceless. Few other companies could attest to having them within their ranks. Givin and Bith were always good to bring in, but the Chiss were far more exotic and, dare he say, alien to the galaxy at large. Much harder to procure and deal with, but the genocidal rampage of the One Sith somehow had made them much more open to galactic society.

It was a whole new economic sphere to exploit, swaths of new technology to acquire, and the flagship corporations of the galaxy were scrambling to get in on it. The ones headed by visionaries, at any rate.

"With that settled, did you have any questions? Perhaps specific qualities you would like applied to your droids."