Turning a Ditch into a Fortune [Utapau]

[Cassus Akovin]

Utapau​

​

Well, this certainly was an interesting time for Triam Akovin.

What was she looking at?

Appropriately, it was a kriffing hole in the ground... a massive one, perhaps, but nonetheless no more glorious than a ditch if not for its relative immensity and depth. It was as deep as Akovin thought her pockets should be, or rather, wanted them to be. Whether or not she thought she should have that much money, was a different story altogether. Want was different though, from what she told him, it was tangible and real, quantifiable whenever the word "should" failed to produce results.

Crol didn't give a kark though.

Like he said, it was a kriffing hole in the ground. There was no way it was going to amount into anything... right?
"So uh... the Laminanium is somewhere down there... right?" He asked hesitantly, before spitting at it from above. They were currently landed just on the lip of the massive chasm with the ramp to her old freighter hanging over it. The winds were heavy, very extreme, and inhospitable, but they weren't staying out for long. Just giving it a size up before the rest of her resources arrived to begin.

"No you dope. It'll be manufactured down there. The only thing being mined here is common crap, but the uncommon stuff is gunna be kept here too. I can't risk losing material if either of my ships ever went down like it almost did on Elom." She said rather crossly with him, completely suited up in her new armor undaunted by the winds... meanwhile he sat there open and exposed with his clunky vest of durasteel hanging on him with simple armorweave. "And 'sides, I'll be able to protect a lot more material if I ever get around to landing my long standing deal with [member="Popo"]. An additional 100k sounds nice right about now, and I think six years is more than enough time to finally fulfill that greedy bastards desire. Though I feel like with my most recent Auction, I should be asking for a pay raise. Nosey kark actually bid my life on my most recent auction.. bastard slug. He's got a life span about a hundred times longer than mine! Learn some patience..." Man that woman can ramble.

"You ever gunna make me some armor?" He said with not a small amount of crass.

"Huh?" She said listlessly.

"Right." Grumbling, the old Zeltron went back into the ship.

Rummaging through her stuff as he often did, the Zeltron picked up a datapad and saw that she had messaged that fellow from Vanir Technology giving him the location and estimated construction cost of this new real estate on Utapau. They'd be meeting fairly soon to finalize and being construction of Triam's "Dream HQ".

Personally, he'd rather go hunting, but Triam had him cooped up 'relaxing' in her Executive Suite... but he managed to get Cabin Fever even in that environment. He was a warrior, it was as simple as that. He needed combat to deal with life and she was caging him up to deal with his inner demons instead.

It was disgusting how she treated him, meanwhile what with this "Covenant" business, she somehow was becoming even more arrogant than last time and looking down on him even more simply because he was troubled with the force, and she was supposed to be some bulwark of the lightside or some nonsense.

"Meanwhile you're profiting off of someone you openly hate more than me..." He muttered to himself angrily.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Triam Akovin"]

Alric appeared right when he was expected, or rather, his ship did. It wasn't what most would have expected of the man, he was rich enough to purchase any vessel of any size, yet the ship he chose to travel in was an ancient Lambda Class Shuttle. The vessel cut through the air, painted a deep black with the symbol of Vanir Technologies embroidered in red on both folding wings.

The ship landed within the clearing only a few dozen meters away from where Miss Akovin had set down her own vessel, weary of the sinkhole that they stood beside.

Alric was familiar with Utapau, Titan had held a facility here and the world had very nearly been a communication outpost for the Dark-Net. Of course in the end they had decided against it, choosing a nearby unknown world instead. Though Utapau made for a fine world, it was ultimately determined that soon the Techno Union would conquer it, and with Vanir Technologies attempting to be as independent as possible it was easier to choose locations that were not under any governments control.

The boarding ramp to the ship dropped open, Alric walking down it with no ceremony or grand entrance. A flash of white and orange could be caught within the ship, an escort guard of Saeva Incorporated soldiers there for Alric's protection.

The former Titan wandered towards the other ship, his back stiff and his expression stern.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

"Looks like he's here..." Crol muttered to Triam over the winds as he climbed back out of the ship to brave the weather, to which she gruffly responded with, "I know." With a 'harrumph', the old Zeltron just assumed his position next to 'Miss Akovin' as her supposed 'Right Hand Man' in business. She was the brains of course and he was... the extra set of brawn? Triam was plenty brawn herself, given her technological disposition and general reputation as being stubborn as hell to be killed... Relentless, she often reminded him in their frequent sparring matches.

There was a pause for awhile, with the howling wind and Triam just looking at that enormous over-gloried ditch in the side of a random planet in wild space. He probably wouldn't understand or give a crap what was so fascinating by until the drop ships with the construction equipment just about landed on his face. Luckily though, he wouldn't have to care very much because his face was quite fortunately not a landing pad.

Though sometimes he wondered if Triam thought as much.

".... ya gunna go meet him, or?" The red man goaded her to elicit movement. With subtle noises of her armor reacting to her muscles turning her body back to look at Crol through her vizor, it appeared she just sort of glared at him, before finally her heel pivoted enough for her other foot to swing into a step towards that former Titan. Then she looked away without so much as a grunt and left him behind as she jumped down to the dusty surface.

Rolling his eyes, the aged old veteran simply followed with his slugthrowers and crappy 'blast vest'. If it ever came to violence, he'd have to rely on tossing his bullets and aiming his projectiles, since the winds would probably sweep away any of his attempts to influence the many Saeva Incorporated Troops with his pheromones... besides, like Triam, their helmets and suits were probably sealed from any sort of gaseous exposure. Their commander, Alric Kuhn however, might be influenced with such if Triam deemed it necessary with her specific signal.

She seemed ever more disinterested in him today however, than usual, so he pretty much became the casual observer of something much larger than himself.

"You must be Mr. Kuhn, I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, however I'd like to inform you early that our relationship is purely business." She didn't even offer her hand to be shaken, though she would shake his hand if he outstretched his. She didn't like him, that much was obvious, but it didn't give her any excuse to be so blatantly rude to a business partner... even if in her own words, he was a "complete karking scumbag I want dead yesterday... again!".

"Before you is the location I've selected for the project I messaged you about, bought it for a couple million I had in personal funds, real cheap considering it was abandoned and unused. You're aware of what I need, correct? If not, I've got another datapad right here for you to send to the rest of our team over in Vanir Tech HQ or whatever..." From her endless belt she pulled out a datapad into her hand from one of the pouches, just in case he deigned to use it, apparently.

He'd really like to figure out how that stupid belt actually worked one day... but in reality he, like a lot of things, didn't give a crap about it. It was just interesting to watch what she pulled out, and how much.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Triam Akovin"]

Alric could only perk an eyebrow.

He hadn't been sure what else besides business they were doing today. He was a little old to be dating and one should never eat where they pooped, either way he simply nodded when the woman spoke and acted as if he wasn't the tiniest bit confused. Instead he smiled, let his eyes wander towards the sinkhole, then to Miss Akovin's associate. For a moment he wondered who he was, then he refocused on the woman that was speaking to him.

Business was why he was here after all.

"Yes, I'm aware Miss Akovin." Alric said with a smile. "I went over everything I needed to on my trip here. I'm sure that Vanir can more than provide what you need, and I'd be happy to do it."

Triam Akovin was a shareholder within Vanir Technologies, that in some sectors would make this akin to insider trading. The more business Vanir got the more its stock would rise and the more money Triam Akovin would be making. Of course here on Utapau no one cared, and Vanir operated only on independent worlds so it hardly mattered anyway, but the thought was one that made Alric chuckle a little bit.

"Why don't you share a bit of your personal vision with me?" He tried to be friendly at least, no reason not to be.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

(OOC: Sorry about the late response, been busy.)

Oh kark, Suddenly, Croll was paying attention to the conversation. Did he just ask her to explain her vision?

With an audible grown, the Zeltron stood there in miserable acknowledgment of the colossal karkstorm that was about to assault his ears. Whelp, time to sit back and relax, it was going to be a while before anything got done.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I can do that." Yeah, we got that sweetheart, now tell the pretty man its a giant karking HOLE IN THE GROUND. She turned to her left in order to look at her Sinkhole as she spoke, probably so she can gesture at it, as if Alric could see what she saw in it.

"This is my opportunity to settle down after nearly a decade of diasporic sales and development across the galaxy. I've got millions in my pocket, but it isn't enough for me. I've got bigger plans to enact, bigger things to build and develop. Bigger things, don't typically fit very well in a starship, but in my own personal city? That's a different story altogether." Ugh.... Akovin for Mayor? That woman does not deserve to have her ego inflated that much.

"First and foremost, this is going to be my toy box, my playground, my funhouse gadget building club. A primordial center of research and development, not just for my own company, but any company with close relations to me: Vanir Technologies, iBorg, Reclaimer Arms & Industrial, Mandal Hypernautics, Salacia Consolidate, the Arcenaeu Trade Organization... you get the gist." Her eyes looked over to the other man.

"Secondly, I need this to be my storehouse. A massive repository for anything and everything I get my hands on that can be auctioned off for millions of credits. It'll be easier to defend a storehouse, than to keep my ship in the air when I'm off adventuring or fighting someone else's war. So if it isn't too much to ask, I might hire that other company you use for security with all of those... guys you have there." She sort of gestured around the guards Mr. Kuhn brought with him, and Croll rolled his eyes.

"However," Oh boy, here we go. She hit her stride. "The most ambitious, and largest segment of this project I have before me, that will most directly benefit you I believe, is generating a Factory system where Molytex and Quantum fiber are combined into a layered alloy into a most potent product: Laminanium. Are you familiar with it? Its a strange alien metal, that I still can't quite wrap my head around quite yet. It would seem that the metal is almost liquid at all stages, being able to melt at virtually any application of direct heat, allowing it to self-heal. Obviously this violets logic, but somehow those alien karkers figured out a loop around or two in its development or something. My guess is has to do with specific energy charges that simply coincide with heat, which to me would make more sense. I'll have to test it later."

"For love of the force get on with it." Triam shot a glare at him. Oops, that was out loud wasn't it? Croll merely shrugged at her nonchalantly with that customary scowl on his face.

"But yeah," Her face hesitantly returned to Mr. Kuhn. "That's what we're doing here."

[member="Alric Kuhn"]​

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Triam Akovin"]

"I see." Alric said quietly, his face blank.

For a moment he looked over towards the other man, then back at Miss Akovin. The woman surely knew what she wanted, which was an excellent sign if nothing else was. Most clients didn't really have any idea what they needed or what they even wanted. It was a strange thing, but something that Alric had come to realize as he had begun to do more business all around the galaxy. Of course, when a customer did know what they wanted it made things a lot easier.

This situation was somewhat tricky however, mostly because Vanir Technologies had never built anything inside of a sinkhole before. Hollowed out Star Destroyer? Easy. Mountain top? Simple. Middle of a desert? That's a Tuesday, but inside of a Sinkhole? Alric had never had his company do that before, and he was sure that there was a trick to it.

He would have to hire some locals.

Alric was sure that they would be cooperative. Utapau had suffered certain economic setbacks since the Netherworld Event, and they had yet to recover. Of course that would also mean that building this structure would also be heavily taxed, but that wouldn't be an issue either. He nodded to himself as the plans within his mind slowly came together.

"Well we can certainly manage that." Alric said, his tone neutral. "When do you wish to begin construction?"

 

[Cassus Akovin]

"If at all possible I would like to start within the week. The sooner this gets done the better." That probably had a double meaning, given the meta-irony present in that statement, but Croll didn't know the meta of course. He did know it still had a second meaning, given that she wanted to get this over with so she could stop interacting with this Kuhn guy. Her distaste was palpable, and if she were force sensitive, she would probably sense the same thing emanating from him... towards her.

That had a working relationship obviously, but it was purely business between them. They held no common ground, and basically hated each others guts for different reasons. He stilled looked after her though, for more than simple employment reasons. He felt obligated to somehow, and didn't really have a purpose without her... which irked him even more.

He sort of wallowed in himself now that the majority of the conversation was probably over. The sooner it was over, the sooner he could hop into the executive suite on Triam's ship in orbit. Not that he actually enjoyed it... he wished she would just deploy him somewhere. She didn't trust him enough. He supposed he couldn't blame her though, given his alignment. Whatever.

[member="Alric Kuhn"]