Two Dragons

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

Antecedent, bastion of the most eccentric, successful and egoistical gangsters in the Galaxy. Home to the Red Ravens, now in embrace of the Black Tie Syndicate, the Dragon Palace Casino was the venue for another deal, joined with a mixture of drugs and alcohol. Alicia was sat in the VIP lounge of the casino, legs folded over the other, arms sprawled across the back of the sofa, surrounded by a dozen henchmen that now worked for her and the other Black Ties. Life was good.

She was waiting for James. They had some stuff to discuss. The topic of conversation would begin with some mining- Alicia needed access to carvanium, lommite, carbon, meleenium, neutronium, and zersium, which she knew her partner could get a hold of. These were the necessary components for creating durasteel, which Alicia needed to begin production of after private communiques with a certain Massassi. Not that she would tell James that. Some things were private.

 

[James Justice]

James managed to pull himself through the door. His body still showed the battered remains of the battle that it had taken to gain this planet-the bullet he had taken to the shoulder, the blaster round to the leg, the shrapnel under his rib cadge--and the burns. The many, many burns. When they found him, he had been slumped over half way to the rondevoux point. Alone. On foot. Blood loss alone had almost killed him, but after several transfusions, surgeries, and bacta sessions, he was mobile again. Against his doctor's wishes of course.

The spacer gingerly set his body down across from [member="Alicia Drey"]. She was an ally. In the past he remembered hitting on her. Flirting. Sexual advancements. It was almost like watching another man's life. He blinked his dark brown eyes and mustered a pained smile, "Its good to see you." He waved over a man, "Reactor Core. No ice, keep em coming."

"I'm not a wait--" the man objected.

"You think that's gonna matter when these pain meds start wearing off?" James growled, "Drink. Now."

He waited for his drink to arrive and for the easing intoxicating liquid to help numb the pain in his body before speaking, 'Now, what can I do for you?"

 

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

Justice seemed different. She didn't need to be Force-sensitive to sense the difference in the man. The eccentric, flirtatious person she had met on Socreas seemed to have disappeared, replaced by someone new. Alicia couldn't be sure whether or not the difference in James was a good or bad thing. The nature of her work required bad men.

"You look like shit," Alicia joked, releasing a grin. "Looks like you got into the nitty gritty of it. I hope you don't hold anything against me, for the part I played in the takeover. I'm a talker. I make deals. Fighting isn't my type of thing."

"I brought you here for Chandrila Group. Part of the package of me joining the Black Tie Syndicate were certain promises. Contracts, expansion and so on. So far, I've enjoyed my time as a Black Tie. I've made a lot of money. Got a hold of some items that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Even made a few friends for life." She winked at the last line. The indication was obvious.

"I want to expand the companies services. I want to get into distributing durasteel. Having access to rare metals like Mandalorian iron, Phrik or Cortosis is nice. But the accessible stuff, like lommite, carbon and so on? There's still money there. So, if you could help me start up this new service, I'd be most appreciative."

 

[James Justice]

James half shrugged with a smirk when she remarked about her part in the take over.

"The business I have to do ain't for ladies," he said, a glimmer remnant of his winsome nature sparkled from his now gravely voice. A life time of smoking and shouting battle orders was beginning to take its toll on his throat. "Of course I won't begrudge you that."

He nodded again understandingly at the mention of gaining from the Black Ties. He had signed on for the same reasons; money. Gains. Power. He had lined his pockets quite nicely from the various runs that he had conducted with the Miss Blonde. From the armor of the Mandalore to the saber of Bane to the beskar run, he had profited in the millions. It was ridiculous how much some would pay for a simple toy.

James reached into his pocket and fished out a holoprojector. He tossed it across the table and its imagery fickered to live, showing a droid.

"This is the APM-06," James explained, "My subsidiary MMI makes support role droids. I can give you 50 for free, any more that you purchase after that will be at a discounted rate--30%," he drained his Reactor Core to ease the pain in his body, "I am sure you will find them satisfactory. They will work in any condition and can mine almost anything. I think that would be a good start," he grabbed the new glass of alcohol as it was brought to him and guzzled half the contents, "What else do you think you need?"

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

"That's gracious, James. Thanks a lot." Alicia still didn't understand why Justice was so generous. In a Galaxy full of ruthless individuals, who would- and in some case, had- sold their friends, allies and enemies out for something that furthered their own agenda. Yet, the man that sat across from Alicia didn't seem to have an agenda. Sure, he was in it for the credits, he loved a fight and there was an element of power that came with what he did, but on the grand scheme of things, he came across as little. He didn't have the vision that she had.

"I need a supply of carvanium, lommite, carbon, meleenium, neutronium, and zersium. These resources are the components required for durasteel. I'll be honest. I have some private business and the person I am buying from wants a ready supply of durasteel, in return for a particular item. It's part of the deal. You know me. I wouldn't be doing this unless I needed what this guy has, so, I plan to expand Chandrila Group's service to these resources. Get it?"

 

[James Justice]

James gave a slight nod. He understood it, quite perfectly. He girt his teeth before downing another gulp of alcohol. Every breath pulled on the stitches on his side, every heartbeat he could feel the burn along his femoral artery. Part of him wished he had stayed on that gurney counting ceiling tiles. But there was nothing in that. It was old after the second go-round and he wasn't about to let that mad doc put him under again.

His lips pulled tight in a slight grimace as he adjusted his seating. Easing the pressure off his leg brought a wave of relief as the throbbing subsided. He drew a card from the pocket of his leather jacket and quickly scribbled down a few numbers. He held it close to his chest, he was a giving man, but he still needed some things in return for his gifts--and his contacts.

"These are numbers to Raymus on Elom, Jar'Fel on Af'El, and Zash on Dor," James explained, "corrupt officials. Tell them I sent you and they'll each clean up a hole for you to start digging metal from, no questions asked. It wouldn't be sizable, a ton a month each without much of an eyebrow raised but," he paused, "I need something in return. I have mouths to feed as well, you know that."

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

"I'll pay you a hundred thousand credits for the information." Alicia was made of money these days, but a mere ton of each ore that she required wasn't much in the grand scheme of things. Just enough to appease the customer that Alicia was doing this for. Thinking over her offer, she said: "When Chandrila Group is ready, and further expands it's services- probably on the information I'm buying from you- I'll give you a cut of the profits that I make."

 

[James Justice]

Pocket change to each of them. The money less than the millions would hardly have a dint in either of their pockets, and he was sure neither of them would even get out of bed for even a thousand creds. He finished his drink and handed it to his personal begrudging waiter. The man sulked off once more, ferrying the goods he had been so accosted to bring. James took the drink and began to feel the warm relief across his body that the alcohol brought. A much-desired relief from the pain that had been nagging at him for hours now. The doctor would probably have a fit when he saw what James had done to himself, but the spacer didn't care.

"You got a deal," he said tossing the paper towards her end of the table. "When your ready to expand, wet the palms of those individuals appropriately and they will be more than glad to look the other way when you garner more."

The meaning was clear--murder, sabotage, piracy, anything of that illegal nature that James was so thickly embroiled in.

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

Alicia grinned again. Unfolding her legs and allowing her arms to drop from the back of her seat, she leaned down- exposing her cleavage to Justice on purpose- as she pulled out a briefcase from underneath her chair and up onto the table between them. Opening the case, she asked: "What domination of credit do you want? Hundred, thousand or ten thousand?"

When James said the domination, she went onto say: "You seem different, James. Do you want to talk about it?"

 

[James Justice]

"Ten thousands," he answered as he watched her.

The spacer stored the credits in his jacket. He pursed his lips in thought for a second. There had been so much blood, so much killing. Not just in taking Antecedent, but in all the wars. Imahalyan. Soceras. The Republic civil war. The Mandolorians. The tortures on Asterea. His eyes went dull as the memories washed across his slightly intoxicated mind. Sometimes the booze had mutted the screams and faces. Sometimes it made him see and hear the people he killed even more distinctly.

"I woke up one day, realized I was a monster," he said at last, his voice low and husky with emotion. "I realized I killed more people than I was saving. I told you I wanted to make Dal'Bor great. To lift that city from the ashes and the mud and make it into something to give people chance and a hope," he swallowed and paused for a moment, "I just realized that wasn't who I was to people. I am a scourge of terror, not a light of hope. Its not an easy thing to take in."

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Alicia Drey]

| [member="James Justice"] |

Alicia sat up after counting out 100k in the 10k domination of credits. She resumed her position, folding her left leg over the right- timing the switch to reveal what she was wearing beneath her skirt- as she raised either arm along the back of the seat to speak. "You didn't kill anyone who didn't deserve it. You were doing it for good reasons. You're a good man. What matters is that you're a man who can put their hands into the dirt, to dig up the good."

"You think Antecedent would be better without the Black Tie Syndicate? I don't think so. I don't think you do either. But people had to die to make that happen. That's just life."

 

[James Justice]

"Antecedent. Soceras. Imahalyan. Roche. Rattatak. Gravlex Med. Sernpidal. Echoy'la. Corusuant," he supplied, "All places I killed. It was all the same. I don't just kill, I wish I did, I butcher. I crush. I told myself that it would make a difference, but for every one I killed there were four more to take their place."

He gave a grimace, coming back to the moment. He shook the memories away, "I guess the galaxy just want to burn, there is no real point in fighting it anymore."

James' wrist comm chirped. He looked at it with a grimace. The pain in his shoulder made moving it up to his vision a pain.

"I suppose I have to go now," he said. "Dal'Bor transit needs to run some budget adjustments by me. It was a pleasure doing business with you."

He drained his glass and rose uneasily, no small task with the damage his body sustained. "If you need anything else, you know where to find me."

The spacer began his limping trek towards the door, what kept him moving was a a question that even he couldnt answer.

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Alicia Drey]

[member="James Justice"]

"Look after yourself, Justice. And if you ever need someone to talk too? You know how to find me." Alicia looked at the information in her hands. She read each name five times each, in a practiced technique to help her memorize each name. When she knew each other off by heart, covering the paper and thinking of each name in descending order, checking to see if she got it all right until it was, did she destroyed the paper with a nearby lightsaber.

As the paper went up into flames, Alicia watched the door where James departed, thinking of the man and feeling almost sorry for him.

FIN