Immediate Friendly Forces:
- Vornskr Mirshir-Jurkad Rammmikade Al'verde Ragar Nihut'tyr
- Vuhyr'yalilyr Rammikade Ver'alor Ran Netra
Shuklaar let out a chuckle at
Aeshi Tillian
's response. Based on the names she was listing off, it seemed like she'd been doing this for a very, very long time. It made sense that this attracted a certain sort, and given that what Caedyn Arenais was trying to start here had the potential to become a great success, he wasn't entirely surprised. That said, potential and what usually happened in actuality were two entirely different things. He knew that better than most. He was about to follow that up with a question of his own about her opinion about the chances of success when none other than the man who brought them all here arrived.
The room quietened down, naturally, at that point. The speech started off fairly standard, with him thanking them all for coming, and an assurance that they'd all been individually vouched for. That did put Shuklaar at ease to an extent, but being a Mandalorian, he'd naturally come prepared. Ret'lini. Though if someone had brought the dar'jetii and their fleet, and the New Imperial shabuire down on them, his escape plan was not particularly likely to be not as smooth as he'd planned.
Caedyn's next words put a stop to that train of thought as he went over his service record. Barring this 'Eclipse Rebellion', Shuklaar was aware of just about everything else. That said, he wasn't unfamiliar with the Eclipse Rebellion. The Confederacy's threat dossier had mentioned them with regards to the Eternal Empire a few times. Only then, he went on to mention the Silver Jedi and the Galactic Alliance. In the privacy of his own helmet, the mic of which was muted for the moment, Shuklaar rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. The mere statement was enough to distract him with apprehension such that he almost missed the final portion of the call to action.
The others piped up almost immediately after this.
Loreena Arenais-Valhoun
promised the support of MandalMotors and the Eclipse Rebellion. The latter was of no surprise to him. They were vode after all, and even among the aruetii, it was not habitual for vode to betray vode. The irony of that line of thinking given what had happened in contemporary Mandalorian history was not lost on him, however. What did surprise him was that she apparently owned MandalMotors. So that was who that old dini'la chaakar had left the company to. The more you know, he supposed.
Then there was the older aruetii. The one whom he'd more than enough about. Anyone who claimed they had about half a million wookies was on the same level as the di'kut who'd brought in a million shabla X-wings flown by Ewoks or some other dini'la osik like that. Tanaab was one haran of a mess. If he didn't know better, he'd have assumed it was some shabuir's drug addled fever dream. There was the comparatively mundane offer of three frigates, and then apparently a spy network to rival the galaxy's best. Somehow he very much doubted the veracity of that one.
"Should quit now. That shabuire's bringing half a million shabla Wookies. Trained and armed too," intoned Ragar, completely deadpan. Shuklaar had to expend considerable effort not to burst out laughing and managed to force it into a hearty chuckle instead. He was sure that he, Ragar and Ran weren't the only ones who found this farcical in the least. Where in haran did these shabuire come from? What next, a talking psychic cat? Then again, apparently there had been one of those at Tanaab. Maybe it really was a good time for him to retire.
It was the blond haired Jetii who he'd seen casting them concerned glances that brought up the most important point, except for the fact that he seemed to think that the majority of people here were all jetii. He'd chalk that up to nerves. None of this mattered if the Rebellion became like any number of the other groups that ostensibly championed the cause of freedom and liberty, who pretended to care about the "common man", but in reality all they did was use their cause as an excuse. Some used it as an excuse to wage violence, others an excuse to carry out their vendetta, others still did both. He'd seen it all, and if that was what was festetring under the surface, the next time the meeting wouldn't be so conciliatory.
He shoved the thoughts of what'd do out of his mind, it was dangerous thinking in more than one way, what with the cybernetic package threatening to turn thoughts like that into nerve impulse. It wasn't a design flaw, rather it was entirely what the package was supposed to do, it was on the user to better filter their thoughts.
Shuklaar liked the spacer woman who'd made the comment earlier even more when she spoke again. The Galactic Alliance's war against the Sith had proven them not to be the defenders of all that was just in the galaxy. Shab, many of the dar'jetii adi'ke weren't even adults by Mando standards. He'd already come to the conclusion of what his next course of action would be if that was their goal here. Her next point was equally so. Any of the companies mentioned here, even with Breshig tacked on to that list, simply couldn't hope to raise enough manpower or spend enough of their own capital to wage a war against any of the big major players. That much was obvious. Still, it bared saying so that they all ensured that they were on the same page.
Shuklaar was almost impressed until he heard the message that she played. Ah. The age old complaint. Shuklaar was intimately familiar with the shortcomings of his biggest client. The Confederacy was hardly a fluffy little Ewok. He'd seen, however, first hand what like in the Confederacy was like. It was a sight better than life in many parts of the galaxy. Then again, to him, it looked like a comfortable life. To an aruetii, it was probably not as comfortable as he'd assumed, perhaps. It just showed that no matter how much he familiarized himself with basic as a trade language, he'd never really understand their thought process. Not truly, anyway.
The next person to speak was the one who'd offered to bring half a million Wookies. "Does he think everyone's here because we'd like to start the next shabla Empire built on the backs of whichever poor shabuire we decide to put to the yoke? Rich coming from the guy with half a million Wookies to order around,"snorted Ran.
"Could be getting to that age," suggested Ragar. Shuk, not feeling nearly as young as he used to, but not old by aruetii standards at forty, turned and gave Ragar a piercing look. "Relax alor, you're not that old." It was that precise moment that the doors opened and in walked a man who looked every bit to Shuklaar's experienced eyes like some sort of special forces commando. Once more, Shuklaar sighed again. This di'kut was giving the standard braggart speech he'd seen many aruetii special forces give, and occasionally di'kute among their fellow Mando'ade did the same. Shuklaar was tempted to say something, but thankfully for his blood pressure, Caedyn chose this moment to assuage the doubts and concerns raised thus far.
Shuklaar took this moment to cut in. "To get introductions out of the way, I'm Shuklaar Kyrdol, Breshig War Forge Consolidated's CEO. To borrow an aruetii phrase, shocking, yes, now that I've put my cards on the table I think I'd better make myself as clear as you've all been," he said, glancing around the room, starting with Caedyn, to see if anyone recognized the name or company. Or rather, if anyone expected him to be here in person. "I'm a Mandalorian first, a warrior second, and a businessman third. Those three aren't quite as mutually exclusive as you'd think. Now while I'm glad you're not going to go around killing any ad'ika that looks remotely like they'll be on the other side, and placing explosives in every building that looks it could be mildly useful to a regime, I have a few concerns of my own that I need addressed."
"One. I have clients who pay very well. I'm sure it goes without saying that if you decide to conduct operations against that client, we'll have to no longer associate with one another," he said, then glancing over at Caedyn, he added, "I'm sure Master Vaashe won't be happy with that either, now would she?" There were several benefits to working under Visanj T'shkali, and having access to information like this that he wouldn't normally be apprised of was certainly one of them.
"Two. I run a company, not a charity. I know many others have promised ships, manpower and the full backing of their companies, but that's not what I'm offering. I'll support this Rebellion in every way I can, but I'd like to see some results first," he said. He nodded at Ran, who took a step forward, "This is Ver'alor Ran Netra. He's in charge of one of my special forces units. Ran and his squad are going to help train your personnel where the others might not be able to, and as a sign of my good will, I've brought you a shipment of weapons to start you along. If you need the combat assistance, I'll leave it to his discretion whether he get's involved or not. If I like what I see, there'll be more support. If not..." he deliberately trailed off to let the warning hang in the air.
"Three. I've seen this concept of 'democracy' you aruetii love so much at work before, and to 'savage' like me it looks like mob rule by another name. That said, I'm not here to judge your political preferences. This had sure as haran better not be a GA or Silver Jedi puppet," he looked around the room at those present. Based on who had gathered, it seemed unlikely, but one could never be too sure. Even if it was, he was likely not going to find out before it was too late. "If we're on the same page so far, then we'll get along just fine."
