The Fires of Industry

[Amelia von Sorenn]

Ishanna System​

Ishanna V ​

Commenor Systems Alliance Territory ​

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Balmorra - a world of endless industry - its skies choked with plumes of exhaust and smoke from the factories churning out various products from a myriad of countless industrial entities. While it had served its purpose for a time; it was not the moment in which progress had to be made. From the foundation of a small manufacturing plant - that which the company held was now no longer sufficient for their needs - thus a change had to be made. ​

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Amelia stood silently, her arms crossed over her chest as she hissed softly at the sunlight. While the covering was sufficient to keep the rays off of her form, the remaining reflection was still a problem causing her eyes to strain as they focused upon the project. She stood atop a nearby surveying position, her gaze falling upon the work site below. ​

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The large construction droids moved back and forth - their lumbering forms and jerky movement making slow progress of their task - though progress none the less. Much of the ground had been cleared, and a rudimentary skeletal structure had likewise been constructed. What need of the larger droids was coming to an end, though it was the labor droids turn to continue the work. ​

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Leaning forward, her hands pressed against the table as she looked over the plans. A soft smirk crossing her lips as she ran a hand along the plans slowly. She looked up again, quickly motioning towards some far off corner - her hand still pressed against the map - ensuring that the worker that stepped forward was look the same position as she. ​

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"Shore up the North-West corner... I want to ensure that this structure doesn't come tumbling down due to a faulty foundation." ​

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"Yes Ma'am." ​

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She stood up, her arms slipping behind her back as she clasped her hands together, a silent nod showing some approval - though there was still much to be done - for progress was always being made and nothing would stop the fires of industry... ​

 

[Brent Smith]

The Celestial Bishop emerged from hyperspace over Ishanna IV with very little fan-fare. Gates, Brent's black, polished astromech droid came into the ship's kitchenette announcing it with a series of beeps and whistles. Brent nodded as he swallowed the bite of the sandwich in his mouth, "Go ahead, request landing permission from planet side and bring us down there. I'll be ready in time."

The droid turned around and trundled back into the cockpit with a victorious whistle. Brent had just returned from his mission on Dredd. He had some off time, and he felt it was time for him to start expanding his connections. He felt that something was going wrong with his handler, Dameron, and Brent wasn't about to wait to find out what the real problem was. He needed a way out for if and when things got bad. There was a company, SSI, that was moving shop to a new area of space that had an opening in setting up their facilities for an independent security contractor to come in as a consultant. It was a short term job, but Brent was not about to pass it up. The research he had done over the SSI and the CSA both only proved they were possibly helpful contacts for the near future.

Finishing up his sandwich, Brent donned his ShadowZal trench coat and sunglasses. Inside his coat, he stored an Executioner. He wasn't planning on starting up trouble, but he wasn't about to take any chances in case someone came through that was planning on it. He picked up a black duffel bag with his tools of the trade for the day and made his way down the loading ramp onto the duracrete landing platform to start his new job.

[member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"]

 

[Xero Wran]

Xero's return to the Balmorra and Ishanna systems would not be to fanfare or in some kind of triumph. Like most of his class on Balmorra, the world was nothing but another blank asset on a piece of paper. The CSA law concerning real-estate and manufactory development were very loose and cheap which was something any shrewd business person would see as prime investment, especially if one was a start up. Ishanna IV was one of the first places that Wran had found a ready stream of workers to contract with GLC-Wrans public front that allowed a steady stream of cheap laborers and political clout amongst the working class. Sure there was droids, but when you had billions of unemployed just seething to find steady pay, a roof over their heads and a free company meal, it was worth it, Wran relished it.

The concerns of the GLC was not the purpose of his return however. Since his national contract with the CIS finally went public, Wrans other assets under the Unov Manufacturing Collective were no longer tenable. Stronger investments, updated plants and manufactuories the made and used labor drones to ship building and intergalactic shipping had become his bread and butter. The CIS had better business conditions for growth than even old Balmorra and Ishanna IV. On top of that, Wran was unsure if the CSA would look kindly on the now senior CIS trade baron with active shops in their space. All of this together with the high operating costs of the outdated Durasteel plants on Ishanna compelled Wran to finally come to the decision to sell of all of his assets in CSA space. The investment in the CSA had paid off, it had allowed enough clout for him to make in roads in the technologically advanced and much cheaper CIS, so now it was time to liquidate, and maybe make a decent profit too.

Wran had advertised his mass liquidation sale on Ishanna and Balmorra before his arrival and had already many contacts offering him various assessments of the value of his assets and what they were willing to pay. Instead of having them come to him, Wran decided that he would open his office on Ishanna to any new upstart developers who wanted a piece of his manufactories and real-estate on world. It would be a day of many meetings, many headaches, much haggling and lots of potential credits.

[member="Brent Smith"] [member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"]

 

[Asha Mataya]

It wasn't often that Asha arrived to a Sorenn-Syrush Industries project by herself. A much more commonplace sight would be her flanking Amelia, but that was not the case this day. She had been doing business on her own, most of it for the company but some things were more of a personal nature. It was a change of pace in that regard; for a long time after her somewhat sudden introduction to House Syrush she stuck around her adoptive mother, adjusting to the intricacies of her new life. Over time however, she had slowly started to be a bit more individual as she grew more comfortable with the lifestyle a vampirika lived. That didn't mean she was exactly chipper at that time.

"We have landed, ma'am."

It was clear Asha hadn't had any rest for some time. Her white hair that was tied up in a messy bun that looked like it was about to fall apart, the bags under her eyes, and the impressive yawn as she got up from the table, taking her time stretching in order to wake herself up a little, with a stack of papers and a single datapad resting on it were telltale signs there was a lot of work on her plate. They were notes, the majority of it scribbled by herself, and all of it had to be digitalized. It had kept her so occupied that most people hadn't even seen a glimpse of her in a long time, something seemingly completely contrary to her personality. On moments like these the woman desperately wished she had a cup of caf to keep her going, but it didn't have much of an effect on her anymore. Still, there was much to be done. Sitting still wasn't an option.

"We may be staying here for a while, so you have the time to refuel and restock the ship," Asha commented to the pilot as the boarding ramp slowly lowered. "Whatever you do, do not touch the papers." The table looked like a complete mess, but it bordered on controlled chaos that only she herself would understand. Had everything been made orderly by someone else, she was no doubt going to completely lose sight over what she had been doing. "Once this is all done, I'm taking a week off..." she muttered under her breath as she started walking.

When her gaze turned to outside however, Asha immediately slammed her eyes shut and turned away. After spending a good time processing notes in a darkened interior of a spaceship she wasn't much thinking about the issue of sunlight burning her eyes. Grabbing a hoodie she went to put it on, until realizing something more... sophisticated, was likely a better idea. A quick trip to her sleeping quarters later she came out wearing a light coat. It was much more professional-looking, but luckily still sported a hood to give her some kind of cover from the sun. With that she finally exited the craft, making her way towards where her mother was waiting.

---​

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As Asha arrived and turned to Amelia, she gave her a tired smile. "I hope I am on time. I have been flying from one place to another and-" Asha suddenly paused after speaking in quite the quick pace, realizing she was about to start rambling out of fatigue. "Sorry, I have been a bit busy. It is good to see you again, mother." Looking around, she noticed the cover they were standing under, causing her to carefully take off her hood. "I see progress is being made. Anything I can help with?"

[member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Xero Wran"]​

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

It wasn't often that Gatz found himself taking on a "legitimate" delivery, but the credits had been too good to pass up. So, with ten labor droids sitting tight in the cargo bay, the YTA-1300 dubbed "The Shooting Star" exited hyperspace. The Ishanna System was a mystery to him, and aside from knowing it was within Commoner Systems Alliance space, Gatz was rather uneducated about the star system. As it was, without the coordinates he received from his contact, Gatz wouldn't have even known which planet he was approaching. Now, normally, Gatz would have refused such a job, if he wasn't aware of the particulars of the delivery. But, normally, Gatz had to worry about Hutt fighters and Alliance officials being interested in his cargo.

So, he'd taken the credits and departed, no questions asked. After all, it wasn't like he needed to worry if the cargo was legal, right?

As Gatz maneuvered his freighter through Ishanna V's atmosphere, a green and white astromech rolled into the cockpit, bringing with it a chorus of whirls and beeps. From the sound of its "speech," Gatz could interpret that the small droid was rather angry.

"Four, I told you to stay away from the labor droids," Gatz addressed R4-A1's newest complaint, "if one kicked you, it's probably your fault."

R4's response was indignant, and before Gatz knew it, he found himself in a prolonged argument with the quirky droid, the cockpit filled with angry beeping and exasperated chiding. It wasn't until The Star Soar had landed at the build site (having circled overhead once or twice, as Gatz had trouble finding the place), that Gatz finally conceded the argument to the annoying R4 unit.

"Fine! The stupid thing shouldn't have kicked you! Let's just get paid, and get them off the ship!"

Not even heeding R4's whistled response, Gatz reached for his red jacket, that had been slung over the copilot seat, and tugged it on over his shirt. He made his way through the narrow corridors of his ship to the boarding ramp, pressed the button that would lower it, and checked the holster on his thigh to ensure that his Z-10 was strapped there. While he wasn't expecting any trouble with this delivery, it was better to be safe than sorry.

The ramp hissed as the airtight seals disengaged, and it slowly lowered to the ground below, letting the light filter in. Taking in a breath of fresh air, Gatz stepped down the ramp, looking for whoever it was that had requested the labor droids that were in his cargo bay.

[member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"] | [member="Brent Smith"] | [member="Xero Wran"] | [member="Asha Mataya-Syrush"]​