Tombstone

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

Dilonexa 26 or XXVI as the Centrality Planetary Archives liked to refer to it.

It was an ice ball, but a mildly pleasant one, at least in comparison to Dilonexa 27 through 40. In the latter case simply stepping foot outside was enough to freeze that foot into ice and just the act of breathing created ice crystals by the second. No, Dilonexa 26 was picked for a specific reason, which was that it was inhospitable and quite annoying to navigate without specialized equipment, but not too expensive to actually construct on.

This meant that anyone trying to kark with the main training facilities of the Vigor Corps would find it very difficult to do so.

Lots of preparation and money would have to go into an operations such as that one, and then they didn't even factor in the mechanical defense mechanisms constructed with the help of the Centrality Defense Forces.

None of this was of any concern to Maleagant, of course. His shuttle was safely brought into the inner workings of the facilities. The hangar bay was utilitarian, but that was to be expected. Most of the construction costs went into the training grounds themselves. It only took a minute or two, before Lord Fa himself glided into the bay with two Vigor Troopers following him in.

"Maleagant." The Thirriken would finally say, as he approached. The beak inclined in respect. "Honor to you."

 

[Darth Osano]

The Vigor Troopers looked impressive. Hopefully they were not terribly overqualified to be fighting Helix Syndicate Enforcer recruits. Otherwise this was going to be a perilously short training exercise and no one would learn very much. Maleagant inclined his own head at the approach of [member="Tai Fa"], reverent as ever. You had to be nice to the nobility, even if they were your partner in business and you could speak somewhat more plainly in front of them. This said, Maleagant took the time to introduce his Nikto associate.

"Lord Fa. Likewise." He extended one hand to indicate Deglarch. The Morgukai exile bowered with similar reverence. "This is Deglarch. He has been supervising the training of these recent recruits."

Unlike Rahgot or Vnut, Deglarch was not a giant. He did not need to be. His scarred and battle-worn Morgukai armor, jet black, was enough testament to his experiences. His face was similarly scarred. Even standing there and bowing as he was, he wreaked of lethality. One did not simply leave the Morgukai to work for criminals. His peers had been quite upset with his departure, tracking him down several times. It was perhaps after he wiped out seventy-five percent of his "graduating class" over the course of three years that they finally decided it was in their best interests to let him go. The casualties he inflicted against his former colleagues was only the tail end of a long list of his kills, which included ample Jedi, Sith, Dark Jedi, a few dozen cult leaders...

Well, the moral of this story was that Deglarch knew how to whip the men and women of the Syndicate into fighting shape. And he knew it more intimately than Rahgot would have. Rahgot had required very little training, after all. Mandallian Giants were a naturally fit species and owed much of their combat prowess to their almost peerless strength and resilience. Deglarch had earned his the hard way: one stroke of the saber pike at a time.

Anyway, Maleagant was speaking again. "How will we be proceeding?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

For a brief moment the little Thirriken looked up at the Morgukai.

They were quite impressive individuals, especially the ones that were specifically trained for killing force users. Much experience in how to handle those threats which was only getting more important, now that the Jedi Order was reigning supreme. No, they would have to figure out how to downscale that threat at one point or another. Neither of them were publicly Sith, but that could change before either one of them knew it.

It served to be prepared in such a case.

"Pleased to meet you." Lord Fa replied politely. No Haiku here either- in truth, it would simply be weird to switch back and forth in the middle of an existing conversation at this point. It wouldn't be all too subtle either and Tai prided himself in being quite the subtle individual, when he wished it so.

"Your recruits will be landing in an adjacent hangar bay, where they will be fitted with specialized equipment." One wing beckoned for them to follow him. "I assume Mister Deglarch will wish to be with his men, prior to the actual event?"

It was quite a large installation all things considered.

Construction had started shortly after the Erilnar situation. That was the crux point, after which Lord Fa managed to position his people in several influential positions with the help of his two main agents within the Centrality government.

 

[Darth Osano]

Maleagant went to follow after [member="Tai Fa"]. Deglarch accompanied them, but the Specialists remained with the ship. Not that Maleagant necessarily expected there would be an attempt to steal it or rummage around its cargo while it was docked here, but there was no use having the Specialists walk around with them. It would just crowd the halls. "Mister Deglarch would prefer to observe his troops, as it were." Maleagant exchanged a glance with the Nikto. It wasn't as if Deglarch's continued employment was hinging on the performance of his troops in this little war game, but it would certainly determine whether or not Maleagant made Deglarch's life easier or harder.

Clearly, Deglarch hoped his life would be made easier. Unfortunately, he had no knowledge of how Lord Fa had trained his soldiers or who he had appointed to oversee their training. Specific preparations had not been made for that reason. Probably for the best. The difference between a good fighting force and a bad one was versatility. The Syndicate strived for that much in its continued paramilitary operation. Total specialization would be the death of them.

"What sort of equipment are we expecting?" Maleagant asked, probably on behalf of Deglarch. The Nikto had been instructed not to speak unless spoken to directly.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"As expected."

Lord Fa acknowledged with a nod, before resuming his journey through the corridors of the installation. Right now they were heading in the general direction of Hangar Bay Cresh, which was the one where the Helix recruits would be filling out right about now and outfitted with their equipment. Once arrived the Morgukai would be able to rejoin his trainees and properly oversee them, perhaps inspiring them before the great battle with some fitting words or even a speech of some sort. Morale was quite important or so the Thirriken was often told by Vnut of Garnib.

"As for the equipment. None of us are interested in killing or otherwise harmfully incapacitating our recruits after spending so much effort on training them in the first place." At least, Fa assumed as much. Oh there were probably Sith out there who were idiots. Who thought that their employees were expendable and did not mind having them killed all the time.

Presumably they did the killing sometimes themselves.

But Lord Fa was a different kind of Sith and employer, he could only hope that Maleagant was the same in this regard.

It would be quite the waste otherwise and if there was one thing that Lord Fa could not abide by it was waste. It was also for this reason that his corporation was quite keen on investing in ecofriendly and enduring sources of energy and designs.

"The equipment in question simulates different kinds of weapon and armor systems. But instead that a contact hit burns through our recruits and leaves them dead, it simply outputs a signal that signifies they have been hit. The armor system keeps track of where they have been hit, how often and other relevant information." Lord Fa calmly explained while they continued their journey through the hallways. It was relatively a long journey, but such was the plight of big military installations.

"The weapon systems, on the other hand, keep track of accuracy, the amount of shots they are firing, informative output that will allow us to formulate a good image of what we are working with."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Well, Maleagant had hoped that would have been obvious. Evidently Lord Fa was keen to lop him in with the likes of the Zambranos when it came to how expendable he considered his employees. Despite its unorthodox practices, the Helix Syndicate was a business at the end of the day. The cost of keeping soldiers alive was far cheaper than training, arming, and equipping their replacements. That was basic economics, that and the desire to maximize profit while minimizing expenditure. Even if Maleagant had to crack a few skulls open from time to time, most people were worth more to him alive. Executing officers for every little mistake was so First Century ABY. Times were changing.

"Interesting." Maleagant commented. Deglarch strayed away to go interrogate his troops. "And they are to just keep fighting regardless of being hit?"

He was trying to ignore the fact that his men were out here playing laser tag. He supposed a little sport like this would be good for morale, though he couldn't see how it would improve training. Perhaps keeping track of their general proficiency so that areas that required improvement could be specifically targeted would be enough. Perhaps the layout of the arena this was to take place in would answer more questions.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Three times, then they are out." Lord Fa supplied helpfully, while they walked away from Cargo Bay Cresh and in the general direction of the control room. From there they would be able to monitor their progress in comfort. If the Thirriken was anything, it was a creature who enjoyed personal comfort.

You needed to be able to enjoy yourself every once in a while. Otherwise what was the point of all the money flowing in?

"Of course, this is simply to familiarize them with the lay-out of the map." The facilities themselves were quite nifty in that regard. There were several scenarios in place, some of which even transformed the look and feel of the spaces- there were low-grav and high-grav environments, jungle and desert sections, anything and everything that these fine gentlemen could encounter out there in the field.

"Once they have, phase two will commence which is... a touch more intensive."

They walked down the corridor and finally arrived before the doors of the monitoring room. He gestured for Maleagant to enter, after which the space peacock would follow.

"Would you like a drink or something to eat, perhaps?" Lord Fa asked, while walking over to the great screen that would show the various areas making up the facility. Some technicians were hovering over the controls, still making last-minute changes and modifications to the program.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"Good." Maleagant replied. And it was, because with that little caveat this had become less like some mundane form of children's laser tag and more like... Paintball.

Which was for adults, probably.

Deglarch remained in the arena, barking what was likely to be a really good motivational speech to the amassed recruits. Maleagant and Lord Fa did not stay long enough to catch even the beginning of it. A real shame, because the details of that speech might have changed their lives for the better. Deglarch was so gifted in his motivational speeches that to even attempt to transcribe the details of them here for the peering eyes of the galaxy at large would have been a waste of time- it would not have done the speech proper justice. If all the greatest orators of the galaxy had gathered to exchange tips and then pick the best of their number to recite the speech Deglarch had just delivered, it would have been but a pale mockery; like a stuttering seven year old in the midst of his first show-and-tell presentation.

The observation room seemed comfortable enough, aside from the annoying buzzing and chatter among the technicians. An assortment of view screens would offer them a full view of the proceedings and the "score" of each "team." Were Lord Fa and Maleagant to become like two sports enthusiasts? Mad men screaming and jeering for their respective teams as they duked it out for honor and glory? Prestige and recognition? This type of behavior was ill-suited for Tai Fa, but Maleagant was not so sure of himself. He would do his best to refrain.

Speaking of polite behavior, Maleagant shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

There was nothing wrong with the ancient art of laser tag.

This was not the thought of Lord Fa, who truly did not care about it one way or the other, but his writer merely needed to have this fact recognized before the audience. It was a game for men. One which separated the weak and blind from the truly gifted. Though, after giving it a brief thought, he agreed that paint ball was much better all in all.

Two minutes after they entered the technicians finished their buzzing and left the room.

Leaving the two Sith in comfortable silence for a moment. Tai beckoned for Maleagant to sit in front of the big screen, which was followed by him sitting down as well.

It was all common courtesy and diplomacy, of course.

"Very well." The Thirriken replied, before studying the mute forms of their Lieutenants making their speeches and thumping their proverbial chests in a ritual of morale raising. He wasn't quite sure about the specifics. "Would you like to make a gentlebeing's wager on the outcome?"

Lord Fa did not actually, as a rule, gamble. But he heard that in a sports match such as this one, it was often done between two associates.

How curious.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Maleagant eased himself into his seat, watching as the technicians fled. Being situated in front of the large screen like this reminded him of his father's obsession with grav-ball tournaments. No matter what was going on, he would always force the younger Maleagant to watch them with him. It was meant as a bonding activity, but Maleagant would have rather been doing anything else. Like being torn apart by a Rancor. His father had always been particularly animated when the City Slickers, his favored team headquartered in Lianna, was playing.

Then when it was over he would take a few minutes to regain his composure, smooth out his suit, flip off the screen, and sharply say, "We'll not be doing this any more once we formally join the nobility, you understand? There's no place at the top for that kind of thing, these kinds of sports. They're low-brow."

Maleagant disagreed. But only in the sense that his father implied there was any place, top or bottom rung of society, for grav-ball. It was positively boring. That was enough recollection for now. Just because he ran a string of casinos all around Alignment Space did not mean Maleagant was keen on gambling. He preferred more predictable odds. Since he hadn't rigged the game in his favor, Maleagant would refrain from betting for now. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass." He replied.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

Lord Fa fluttered his wing in acceptance.

"Very well." In truth the Thirriken never truly understood the insatiable desire of some sentients to throw away their money in randomized games. It seemed quite the waste. That did not prevent him from heavily investing in the industry himself, of course. Already his people were looking into fine real-estate in some of the more notorious territories where they'd enjoy such a thing. The same went for nightclubs, bars and other assorted businesses.

It was simple business sense that drove Lord Fa to this.

He did not have to partake, to be able to have a piece of the pie. Diversification of his portfolio was always on his mind and it would be no different in this instance.

Around them the lights dimmed as the subject matter on the screen started to move towards the action. Their Lieutenants were done with their speechifying and the two sides were now getting ready. It would probably be chaos for the first few minutes, as both sides familiarized themselves with the weapons. Some of them were already jumping up and down, stretching, trying to figure out the mobility the armor would give them.

This was why Lord Fa did not enjoy going into battle himself.

Such... chaotic and unruly affairs.

"Your men seem very disciplined." Tai Fa commented kindly.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

"They should be." Maleagant replied, somewhat coolly. Already the dreaded hand of competitiveness gripped his sniveling soul.

Enforcers and Troopers were often recruited en masse. They had to be. But that didn't mean there was any room for less screening. Maleagant was not picking up men and women with nasty drug habits, with histories of sadism or domestic violence, with the inability to work cohesively as part of a squad. There was no room in this outfit for the dregs of society, perhaps another key difference that set the Helix Syndicate aside from other criminal organizations. Deplorables would have to seek employment elsewhere, like with the Zareca Cartel, or else be put to work in a debtor mine if they really wanted employment with the Syndicate that badly. Maleagant had pumped a lot of money into the Enforcers and all he wanted to see here today was that he had his money's worth. They were being trained by a Morgukai, after all. Not exclusively, but it should have counted for something.

That said, it was easier to distinguish who had been drafted for the Syndicate's Trooper corps and who was a more traditional Enforcer. The Enforcers were trying to adjust themselves to the bulky training harnesses, getting used to the weight. The Troopers were already used to heavier armor and equipment and were taking their starting positions behind cover, attaching to their respective squads. Maleagant could see their lips moving as they went through comms checks. Maleagant wondered how comprehensive the HUD on the harnesses would be, but decided not to ask.

"Have your men run this simulation before?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

The Vigor Corps' recruits came from many avenues in life.

Former military made up the steady core of the organization, ensuring that the foundations were strong and resilient. The rest of the recruitment drive was focused on ensuring that the bulk of the recruits were stable mentally and physically capable. Sure, some criminal and/or Sith organizations liked to use psychopaths and the dregs of society.

They were probably cheaper and could be sooner expected to follow silly orders.

But they were hardly what you wished from the backbone of your private military.

"Yes." Lord Fa responded without delay. "It was imperative that the facility was safe for operations." And that was truly the only reason why the Thirriken ordered the testing prior to this meeting. As Maleagant noted earlier - the bird was not a competitive sort, he did not see any reason why it would be important for either of them to actually win this match between forces. It did not matter much to Tai Fa.

As long as they both got the data necessary to improve their forces that would be enough for him.

"Ah, look, it is starting."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Maleagant said nothing after Tai Fa noted that the match was starting. Instead he fixed his baleful gaze on the view screen and rigidly observed the death match. Already the unit commanders for the Helix Syndicate had formed several cohesive units split equidistant from one another. A few of them surged forth in small, tactical groups, moving to seize tactical positions in the middle of the playing field while some of the men that remained in reserve laid down a suffocating barrage of covering fire. Maleagant shifted in his seat, leaning forward on one arm rest, jaw clenching in anticipation. Thankfully he had declined the opportunity for a bet, otherwise he might have started to perspire. There was nothing really on the line here, except for his imagined prestige. It was more than likely that the results of this little exercise would not actually leave the knowledge of those who participated or witnessed it, yet still Maleagant stared - positively unblinking - at the view screen, hunched forward like his life hung in the balance.

The fact that Tai Fa was presently performing as the poster Peacock for perfectly peaceable people did nothing to soothe Maleagant's inner turmoil. What was he thinking? Why was he so calm? He clearly knew something Maleagant did not, some hidden mechanism of the war game to humiliate his soldiers. A large part of Maleagant was aware of the inherent unlikeliness of that, but the thought could not be shaken entirely. The Shi'ido did not hazard even to so much as glance at Fa for the entire duration of the skirmish. To look would have been to give the Thirriken the momentary distraction needed for him to trigger... Something. A trap.

"Hrrmph." Maleagant grunted, as several members of a Syndicate unit were knocked out in rapid succession.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

It soon became clear that [member="Maleagant"] was in no mood for small talk during the match.

Not that the bird actually attempted to chit-chat, but the deadly silence and strict adherence toward staring at the display in clear anticipation was enough hints for Tai Fa. Who prided himself in being a... well, perhaps a people's person was not the word, but most definitely a people's bird. Politely, the Thirriken followed along with the Shi'ido's gaze and simply looked on as the skirmish progressed into the later stages.

At one point the two sides were battling rather feverishly over control of a strategic spot. A hill, which would grant the controlling team a wide lane of fire across the opposite side.

Of course, the writer of the peacock could not determine what Maleagant's forces's emotional feelings were, but the Vigor Corps were quite disciplined and steady in the line of fire. Some of their brothers and sisters fell, but they were staunch and firm against the pressure.

It probably helped that they had already trained within these facilities many times.

This gave them the theoretical advantage of knowing the lay of the land. Shortcuts, making them more efficient in movement and harder to surprise by pincer movements.

"Huh." Lord Fa cooed softly as a few Vigor troopers made a valiant stand, but finally went down.

 

[Darth Osano]

Fifteen or so minutes later, the exercise had concluded. It did not matter which team had emerged victorious, because more important than a measuring contest between Fa Holdings and the Helix Syndicate was their mutual benefit from these training exercises. After the initial match, several more were carried out throughout the day. There were a few breaks scattered in between that the soldiers of both sides might refresh themselves, shower, and eat. This was a rather extensive, well-built facility, after all. It had all the amenities necessary for healthy, happy corporate shock troopers. Maleagant quickly lost count of how many matches had been held over the course of the evening, far too wrapped up in the raw data from the soldiers on his team and the nerve-wracking competition. Tai Fa probably knew, but [member="Tai Fa"] probably did not care.

When the day's activities finally concluded, there was only one important factor not left to mere probability: both parties of troopers had benefited from this.

Maleagant would remember this on the ride back out to Dubrillion, when the ills of competitiveness had finally left his body. Like an evil, possessive spirit departing a feeble mortal shell. Before he left, however, Lord Fa and he had resolved to put together a schedule so that these training sessions could continue in earnest. They would no longer hang around to personally observe them, obviously. That job would be allocated to one lieutenant or another for the most part. Tai Fa because he had better things to do and Maleagant because he also had better things to do, yet plus the preservation of his calm, cool, and collected state which had somehow deserted him earlier that evening.

Every other week, a quarter of each company's new recruits would convene here for the simulated skirmishes. This would give Fa Holdings ample time to use their own facilities privately as well as save the Syndicate money on fuel. Shuttling that many recruits out here did eventually get expensive. More importantly, the rotations on which quarter attended would ensure virtually every new recruit from both corporations would be familiar with functioning in a firefight before they got themselves caught up in a real one.

And so it must be, for so it is written, that the credits did henceforth roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3Wj_d-aOE​