The Brains and the Brawn

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton parked his luxury cruiser next to the house of newly appointed Senator Brunswick, took a bottle of 817 Tarisian Ale out of his cockpit, and walked to the Senators doorstep. The Senator had invited him for a private dinner, perhaps to congratulate him personally on his latest Sector Bowl Championship. Jaxton didn't know the Senator extremely well, but he liked what the man stood for, and he liked that he had born and grown up on Corellia like himself. Infact, Jaxton had publicly supported his campaign. Something about the Senator Heideron just rubbed him the wrong way, and Jaxton wanted a change. So perhaps he was not inviting him to congratulate him, but thank him for his help in the campaign. Or perhaps he wanted him to speak in his favor again. Jaxton didn't really care to be honest, he was more concerned with returning to Coruscant and continuing his Jedi Training. While he loved Corellia, the Corellia Rouges, and everything about his planet it all seemed secondary to understanding the Force. Jaxton rang the doorbell after contemplating the purpose of the dinner for a second, and was welcomed by a protocol droid, most likely the butler of the house.

"Master Brunswick welcomes you to his estate and requests you follow me to the dining hall." The droid said to him in the mechanical pitch that could only be made by a droid. Jaxton followed him through an elegant hallway filled with art from various painters and sculpters, some of which even seemed to predate the 400 year darkness. It was an impressive spectacle. Not as impressive as the spectacle he had seen before in the Jedi Temple, but highly impressive, especially for a house owned by one family. Finally he reached the dining hall. It wasn't small, nor big, but homey, ornate, powerful. The statues of previous Brunswicks and the highest titles they ever earned in their respective fields, the fireplace constantly roaring, yet constantly contained. It was a scene meant to impress.

"Master Brunswick will be here shortly. The food will be done in approximately 13.6738 minutes, but the master will likely be here before then. I will get a bucket of ice for the wine if wish." The protocol droid buzzed at him, and Jaxton nodded, accepting the ice. He returned with the bucket, and Jaxton placed the Tarisian Ale in the ice and placed in the middle of the table. Jaxton stretched out his feelings, and began to sense where the Senator was. He was coming towards the room. Jaxton could feel him getting closer until he arrived in front of him.

"I decided to bring some Tarisian Ale, I didn't know what you like, but I figured it's a nice staple." Jaxton said and motioned to the bucket in the center of the table. "What will we be eating tonight?"

 

[Darren Brunswick]

Senator Heideron. Simply saying the former Corellian Senator's name left a great bitter taste in his mouth. This was the first time in quite a few years Darren Brunswick had ever been focused in his work. The last time he had worked so hard was back about half a decade ago, when he revived the plummeting Brunswick family business, the Corellian Engineering Coporation. Now, ofcourse, CEC was once again a multi-trillion credit worth company. As marvelous as though it was, bringing prosperity to his family business was, it had only served as his stepping stone in Darren's way to his dream career. Now, he seemed to have already accomplished his dream. Only the rather young age of 31, and already the Senator of Corellia. Well, his job wasn't as easy as he had imagined it. He already needed help and advise from all of those he could find. Almost everyday, he found himself blaming Senator Heideron for making him inheriting all of the secret political issues, but he wondered if Senator Heideron had also inherited problems of his own when he first got into office.

Brunswick had been completely absorbed in his work when a glance at the clock on his study / work room wall reminded him that it was already time for dinner, and that the guest would be arriving at any moment now. The ringing of his estate's doorbell confirmed him his estimation. He heard his house butler greet the guest, and stood up from his chair. His guest today was none other than Jaxton Ravos, the famous star player from the Corellian Rogues. Brunswick, when he became senator, learned things about that particular player that he would've never had guessed. Darren knew that he needed the fellow Corellian's help, and he found himself getting the depressing feeling that Jaxton would be the only one who would able to help him with his particular issue. To be blunt, today's dinner guest was his last hope.

Brunswick purposefully walked down his family estate's halls, pausing for a second outside the living room. As he entered the room, he saw the tall Corellian standing near a table, in which a bucket full of what looked like Tarisian Ale sat. "I decided to bring some Tarisian Ale, I didn't know what you like, but I figured it's a nice staple." Jaxton said and motioned to the bucket in the center of the table. "What will we be eating tonight?" asked Jaxton. Darren gave Jaxton a welcoming smile and hand gesture, having been fond of the particular Corellian for his support during his election to the Galactic Senate. "Its quite strong, that stuff." commented the senator as he shook hands with the other Corellian. "I'll just be having our native Corellian Ale, if you don't mind. As for the food, you'll find out soon enough. Anyways... Congratulations on winning that Sector Bowl Championship! I was wholly supporting the Corellian Rogues, ofcourse. Simply fantastic play out there."

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

"Thank you Senator." Jaxton said respectfully. "I know the media gets caught up in all the stats and such, but it really was a team effort. Everyone left it all out in the arena. I couldn't ask more from them." Jaxton continued. Despite only being 26, he had become the leader of the team. They all trusted him to get it done from when the clock started to when the clock finished. It was nice to hear the Senator recognize him for his achievements though. He had learned since going to Coruscant he had an unfair advantage in the force, but he still enjoyed being the best. He noticed the gesture of having the Corellian Ale instead of his gift of Tarisian Ale. Brunswick was right of course, in that the Tarisian ale was quite a bit stronger then Corellian Ale, but the gesture was obviously mostly made to show a dedication to 'the home team'. Which was nice of course, but made Jaxton feel like he was about to be sold something. Then again, Jaxton had just put out the 'teamwork' speech about the Sector Bowl. Jaxton decided to stop thinking about and simply pour himself a glass of his own Ale. He would tell Jaxton what he wanted before they were done, and there was no point in pushing it. He didn't suspect Brunswick was going to ask anything outrageous of him anyways, probably a public appearance, maybe a commercial.

"If I remember correctly you were in attendance Senator. You should know the whole story." Jaxton said to the Brunswick with a tune of approval, as his previous opponent Heideron was not present. He remembered seeing Brunswick watching him from mere meters away. He had gotten some good seats, and everybody knew the next day that Brunswick supported Corellia's teams. He looked like he enjoyed the game, but regardless of his passion for the sport his presence was a wonderful play to oppose the previous Heideron, who had been quoted saying he didn't care one way or another how Corellia's Sports Teams performed.

"Your dinner is here Master Brunswick." One of the senator's butler droids came in before the Senator could give a calculated response. The Senator and Jaxton were given plates filled with a eyewatering steak, and assortment of various delicate vegetables, all spiced and sauced to a smell of perfection. Jaxton wondered if Brunswick had a personal chef of if he had a cooking droid do the work for him, after taking a bite of the steak he came to his conclusion. No droid could make a steak that perfect.

"This steak is amazing. My compliments to the chef." Jaxton said pleasantly, as he reached down his utensil to reach for another bite.

 

[Darren Brunswick]

"Thank you Senator." Jaxton said respectfully. "I know the media gets caught up in all the stats and such, but it really was a team effort. Everyone left it all out in the arena. I couldn't ask more from them. If I remember correctly you were in attendance Senator. You should know the whole story." Darren Brunswick nodded with a smile before commenting, "I suppose we both have something in common, Jaxton. You would not believe how much the media also tends to get caught up in politics. Ofcourse, the media will only ever find a miniscule fraction of what's really going on in politics.... Anyways, I'm not going to ruin our meal by talking about politics, cause it looks like we've got some great food here tonight!" For at that moment, his estate's butler droid came in and annoucning that dinner was ready, before serving them with delicious steak and delicate sorts of vegegetables. Although Senator Brunswick was oftern served these types of ravish meals when meeting other politicians, he had never really had the chance yet to enjoy these luxurious meals in comfort inside his own house.

"When I'm home, my dear wife usually makes dinner. Quite unfortunately, she is out of planet this week, so you won't get to meet her today. Hope you do sometime, you should've seen how enthusiastic she was when she saw the Corellian Rogues won." said Darren as he worked on his amazing piece of steak. For a minute or two, Brunswick remained as though quite concentrated on his steak while in his mind, he was doing some debating. He started twirling around a fork in his hand, underneath the table as though careful to make sure the other Corellian wouldn't see.

Brunswick knew that testing out his theory might be a wrong shot... The information he had recieved on Jaxton may be entirely incorrect, and if it really was not an accurate data, Darren might end up spearing Jaxton. He made up his mind. As rude as it would seem, Darren would throw his fork at Jaxton, and if his fellow Corellian really was a Force-user like the estimations and the rumors had stated, then Jaxton would be able to stop the fork in mid-air or something. "Oh, if you were wondering Jaxton, your compliments go to a chef that is currently on the other side of Corellia. We bought a whole stack of his specially prepared steak, cost me a fortune, but worth every single credit." he said casually, continuing to twirl the fork in his hands.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

"I'll have to find this chef myself one day." Jaxton said as he began to tear into his vegetables and thinking of possible restaurants the chef might have worked in. He was somewhat pleased that Darren's wife wasn't home, as he had no real counterpart or 'date' to bring with him. The only people he could think of to bring would have been Knight Roberts or some of the other Jedi from Tython, but Jaxton didn't want to expose his new life as Jedi just yet.

"I've heard you've been doing a lot of work since you've been elected to nullify some of the policies brought about by Heideron." Jaxton began to get into the meat of conversation with a casual tone. "Is there anything I could do to help you work a little faster?" Jaxton said and offered his aid, ready to be given some idea for a public dinner, commercial, or awareness campaign.

 

[Darren Brunswick]

"Yeah..." said Senator Brunswick casually as he continued to slowly twirl the fork in his hands. "These days, I'm learning something new almost every day." he said as he simply stared down at his steak. "Is there anything I could do to help you work a little faster?" Jaxton said, looking ready to be given some idea for a public dinner, commercial, or awareness campaign. Brunswick just shrugged, and gave a short burst of laughter that he managed successfully to disguise as a fit of coughing. 'If you only knew...' he thought rather bitterly. 'Pirates roaming almost everywhere in the planet, more than a dozen politicans black-mailing me every hour, and ofcourse, that never-known incident that apparently occured at Centerpoint Station. Yeah, hopefully you can help me with that.' he thought to himself, while Darren simply was nodding and pretended to be working on his veggies.

After another pause of silence only broken by Brunswick absent mindedly chewing on his food, the Corellian senator made up his mind. It was finally time to test out if Jaxton really was a Force-user, and if he could actually help him out. "Well, Jaxton... I hope you can forgive me for this rudeness, but..." he muttered as he took out the fork that he had been twirling around for the last several minutes. Suddenly, without a single warning or a heads-up, Senator Brunswick chucked his fork straight towards Jaxton Ravos.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton was taken aback by the Senator suddenly throwing a fork in his direction, and was unable to control his new instincts as a Jedi. The fork was thrown at him and then it simply levitated mere decimeters in front of him. Jaxton grabbed the fork as quick as he could to hide the action, but it was clearly seen by the Senator. Jaxton felt like he had been set-up. Jaxton hadn't planned on coming out about his force-sensitivity, but he wasn't about to be blackmailed. Jaxton thought about just walking out, but decided it was better to stay. Jaxton was without his saber, but he felt like the Senator and his droids wouldn't be that much trouble. He couldn't sense any reinforcements outside either, and if he brought in a bunch of war droids Jaxton was screwed anyways. The Senator knew what was going on, and Jaxton didn't. His best move was to stay and attempt to learn more information.
"I feel like there's something your not telling me something Senator. What did you bring me here for?"

 

[Darren Brunswick]

Senator Brunswick was simply disgusted with himself. He glanced at the statue of his late father Arthur Brunswick, and felt as if the statue of his father was glaring at him for chucking a fork at the estate's dinner guest. There was no use denying it. The way he had tested his theory was despicable, but he knew that he would be unable to bear it if he didn't do something about the situation at Centerpoint Station. Although he had some sort of a triumphant gleam in his eyes, Darren Brunswick also seemed to have aged a decade within the last few seconds. "Jaxton, I owe you an apology. And along with an apology, I owe you a very good explanation of why I'd chuck my fork at you." he said. Suddenly, Brunswick thrusted out a holographic paper, which had some coordinates dotted on it. To someone who didn't know what it was, it would seem as the coordinate merely pointed at a random location in the wide, vast space. Brunswick knew better. It was the coordinates to the Centerpoint Station that his fellow Corellians had spent millions on to build, and had it taken away from the too easily. "My dear friend, this is the coordinates to a top-secret Corellian station located amongst the stars that would've gotten us a good control over the Republic. Unfortunately, it now owned by thugs and pirates that stold the station from us. I can't tell you much right now, but I'll get you updated if you just follow me to my estate's ship hangar." said Brunswick, pointing towards his personal starship in the estate hangar. "You, ofcourse, have a choice to either follow me or just run away from this. But I ask you, fellow Corellian, just only this once, I ask for you to trust me... Please." said the Corellian Senator in a rather desperate tone.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton looked at the map, then the Senator, and tried to sense what the Senator was feeling. He detected anger, sorrow, and determination. He digged deeper, and found that all of those feeling were directed towards himself. Jaxton stood up, walked a step in the direction Brunswick was headed, and then stopped.

"I don't like this Senator, but I'll follow you. For now." Jaxton said, with a tone of disapproval, but also one of business, and then continued walking with the Senator to his private hanger.

 

[Darren Brunswick]

Darren Brunswick nodded, relieved that at least feeling hopeful knowing that at least Jaxton hadn't just ditched him right there and then. He nudged Jaxton towards his personal starship, which had its main door open and a staircase attached to it so that they could easily climb into it. "Alright... So Centerpoint Station is like I said, still in the hands of the priates slash bad guys, and I have to take it back, or else things won't be looking good for Corellia, the Galactic Republic, and my career as the Corellian Senator." Darren glanced at Jaxton, looking for his expression then continued as he led him into the starship. "Alright, so this is where you would come in. Obviousely, a politician with a stun blaster and a few flash grenades probably won't be enough to take back a big station full of pirates and what-not. Obviousely, you're a Force-user. So... would help me, Jaxton? This isn't just for myself. This is for the good of Corellia. And for the good of the Galactic Republic. Will you help me, please?" he asked, glancing hopefully at Jaxton as he typed in the coordinates of the station into his cockpit star chart.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton still didn't like what he was getting into, but he couldn't just leave it like this. He could tell the Senator needed to keep this situation quiet, and he needed the situation dealt with quickly.

"Alright, but I have some terms. First of all, I'll need full disclosure of what's happening and what went down. Schematics, history, purpose, all of that. Secondly, you'll need to hire a team. Omega Pyre, Syndicate, I don't care, but they need to be the best. It'll be expensive, but we'll need them. I'll personally approve each mercenary. You can come, but you'll listen to me in every tactical facet we may encounter. Thirdly, we move in three days, not now. I'll need time to prepare any armaments we might need."

 

[Darren Brunswick]

Darren Brunswick was about to give a triumph smile when Jaxton told him about his terms. 'Three whole days..?!' he thought to himself angrily. Then he realized that Jaxton couldn't be more right. Right now, neither of them had anything of much use with them, and they'd be going into a battle with only the ship's ray shield. "...I knew I could count on you!" exclaimed the senator with a grin and thumping Jaxton's back. "I'm not much good in hiring these mercenaries... I'll let you take care of bringing the mercenary team in. About five mercenaries would be good enough, I'd say? Anyways, I've got the money to hire them, ofcoures." he continued, suddenly fishing out a rather heavy looking black-suitcase from a shelf onboard the starship. As he handed the briefcase to Jaxton, the Corellian Rogue's star player would be able to hear the sound of the rattling of thousands and thousands of credit inside. Brunswick then handed Jaxton another suitcase, this one smaller but looking much more... official and classified. "Everything you'd ever want to know on Centerpoint Station. Heck, I even put in the construction design blueprint in there as well." explained the Corellian Senator, handing him the second briefcase. "Well see you in three days, right here at my estate then? Or should we find somewhere more suitable?" he asked. After hearing Jaxton's answer, Darren Brunswick would simply nod in agreement, bring back the plate with Jaxton's half eaten steak on it, put it on top of Jaxton's load of briefcases, then ushered Jaxton out of his house feeling accomplished.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

"I'll meet you here, I'll find my own ship to transport everybody in. Even though we'll have the Merc's all sign non-disclosure agreements, we don't want to be parading around in your personal ship." Jaxton said, as a droid came by with and planted Jaxton's remaining food on the briefcases he was given. Jaxton walked into his cruiser and prepared to head home. It was going to be a long three days finding mercs and going over plans, but it needed to be done.