When Crime Does Not Pay - Origin of Black Sun

[Malicar]

Interstellar Shipping Headquarters - Dremulae

Planet of Dremulae - 6 Months Ago

Continued from Ascending Isolation​

Malicar stared after the freighter as it lifted off from Interstellar Shipping Corporate Headquarters and headed back to Sposia. That model of freighter was just like the rest of his shipping fleet—built for speed. It would only take her a few days to get home. The crimelord felt like a part of his soul had just taken off with the ship. The normally cold-hearted Chiss had to admit—Karisa had an effect on him. But in the end, she had to decide if she was willing to give up everything…literally, everything, to be with him. That decision was not his to make...

As the freighter disappeared into the clouds above, the crimelord checked the comlink on his wrist—he had barely done any business with the Eclipse Consortium for the last five days. With a few deft taps of his fingers, the messages that he needed to read regarding the Eclipse Consortium began to download to his datapad that was waiting of him at the entrance. As he walked by it, he snatched the device up and began reading the high priority messages first as he headed to the turbolift that led to his office on the penthouse floor.

The news was not good. For years, the Eclipse Consortium had amiable relations with Black Sun and its Underlord, Karsus Vraine. It was rumored that this falleen was a distant relative of the once infamous Prince Xizor. But Black Sun was starting to squeeze the Eclipse Consortium on all its drug trade. The price of Spice it needed from Black Sun was now almost double what it had been in the past. While Malicar knew that the Hutt Cartels were squeezing Black Sun, the Chiss was never contacted by Underlord Vraine—no warning was given. So now there was a report that five of his Chiss soldiers were gunned down by Black Sun. The reports showed that representatives argued over the price that had doubled. Because they were not warned about this, they believed that the Black Sun representatives were trying to cheat them. It understandably got heated and the Eclipse Consortium, who was severely outgunned in Black Sun turf, were slaughtered…Malicar blamed Karsus Vraine. His soldiers should have never been put in that situation—that happened four days ago and there had been no apology or attempt to contact Malicar by Underlord Vraine. If this was how business was going to be conducted, Malicar knew this was going to come to a head.

All of the criminal underworld organizations were taking a hit. Between the Sith Empire, the Order of the Silver Jedi and all the other large empires that had spread across the galaxy, the criminal underworlds, especially the Hutt Cartels, were getting hit economically…hard. If these conditions remained, it would bleed Eclipse Consortium dry in a few years. While they had plenty of business in the Unknown Regions, his Core World and Hutt Space investments would strangle the rest of his organization, cannibalizing resources from Kinoss to keep the other enterprises afloat.

The crimelord entered his office and looked out over the ocean. With his arms crossed, he simply stared at the Sea of Translucency, pondering his next move. He had no idea how much time had passed just staring out into the ocean as the sun slowly began to fade behind the horizon. For minutes, his attention shifted to the light freighters, freighters and courier ships that zoomed in and out of Dremulae. He knew those ships were headed to destinations all over the galaxy, delivering goods for those that needed them. All of many different clients across the galaxy really had nothing in common—some were large empires, others were mega-corporations, and some were just individuals…but they all had a common thread—they all needed the service that Interstellar Shipping provided.

His mind shifted. How was the Eclipse Consortium any different? It provided needed services across the galaxy, but Eclipse Consortium was only just now entering the galactic markets in the grand scheme of things. It didn’t have the influence or buying power to deal with the Hutts or deal with Black Sun. While Black Sun was a shadow of its former self from centuries ago, the name itself still brought terror and fear to those who heard the name. But Malicar knew that Underlord Karsus Vraine would never be able to take Black Sun to greatness again, because Malicar believed him incompetent and without the finesse needed to be successful. Malicar thought to himself that if he were the Underlord of Black Sun, he could truly bring that organization to a greatness the galaxy had never seen.

The wheels in Malicar’s head began to turn…it truly could be done. He knew everything about Black Sun’s operation through years of experience. He made sure to gain intelligence on every underworld organization that could pose a threat to his, including Black Sun and the Hutt Cartels…that was all. The list of true opposition to the Eclipse Consortium was not long at all.

But Malicar saw limitations in his plan. This would never work with the Eclipse Consortium alone…it would take other underworld organizations coming together for this purpose. There were a few organizations that Malicar thought of immediately, but his mind immediately went to Kyber Bank owned by Rako Eclipse, who Eclipse Consortium had some major accounts with. The next organization he thought of was the Gold Lotus Syndicate run by the enigmatic Black Dragon, but Malicar knew her as Myra. These two were a great place to start – Eclipse Consortium had done business with them both for many years. Although he had only met Rako and Myra a few times, he knew they would have this in common—all of the criminal organizations were getting squeezed…and some criminal organizations had already suffocated and withered away…

But before he would reach out to them, he began to research and reach out to members of the galactic community of criminals, discretely probing their willingness to stand up to the Hutt Cartels and take their respective enterprises to the next level...it was the overwhelming majority--they simply had had enough. After three days of communication, research and financial planning, Malicar decided to reach out to three individuals...two of them in one communique.

Spinning up an encrypted holotransmission, the crimelord began, “Greetings Black Dragon and Mr. Eclipse. I know that your organizations are being squeezed by the Hutt Cartels. With our economical position at a severe disadvantage, I have a proposal that will solve this crisis…but I cannot do it alone. I invite you to come speak with me in Corellia on the planet of Dremulae. Simply acknowledge this transmission if you can be in attendance in 7 days. Thank you…”

With that, the transmission ended…

[member="Karisa"] | [member="Gad Calgaran"] | [member="Rako Eclipse"] | [member="Myra"]​

 

[Myra]

Location: Tygeria
Current Entourage: Daemos, 3 BX-G Droids
Wearing: Mantle of the Black Dragon

​

Myra would sigh as the corpse of the an unlucky spy collapsed at her feet. She wasn't entirely sure who the spy was working for but he was stupid enough to be carrying his orders on him in a datapad which Daemos was already working on getting into. With a click of a lighter she would ignite the tip of a cigarra, watching the smoke rise and mix with the smoke from the four blaster shots in the unlucky human's back. Three men would step from the shadows, their appearance shimmering and distorting until finally disapearing, revealing her commando droids who had previously been blending into the crowd. This alleyway, which was populated a few seconds ago was now devoid of all life except her and Daemos. "Remove the body. Dump it in the Canal." she'd order, an order which would be quickly obeyed by the droids, one grabbing the man's arms and the other grabbing his legs before jogging off with him.

She would slide the cigarra between the toothy grin of the mask, take a long drag, and let the smoke linger out of the dragon mask's mouth like the ferocious beast it imitated. "Those things will kill you." she'd hear Daemos grunt as he hovered over the datapad. Myra couldn't help but smirk a little, she had heard this same statement at least two dozen times since Daemos first started working for her and it was starting to become his catch phrase. "The wonders of modern science will keep me alive." she would state again as she had done for every time he made that statement. "What do you have?" she'd ask as Daemos would straighten up, a small quirk that usually meant he was making progress. "Seems like a low level Hutt was trying to get you out of the business. You're making enemies." he'd state before idly tossing the datapad into the drain. "Gods I hate the rain." he'd say as the darkened skies above would rumble, and rain would begin to poor onto the city. He would reach under his trench coat, procuring a large umbrella, pop it open, and hold it above Myra as she would take another drag of the cigarra. "Don't rust on me now." she'd tease before her hip would vibrate. Reaching for her datapad, one small enough to fit in her hand, she'd begin to idly browse the messages sent to her via an encrypted network of old Imperial satellites and somehow still active spy droids that Gold Lotus had managed to salvage.

"Seems like an old friend has a proposition for us. Malicar? You may have joined up a little after I met with him." Daemos would just grunt, not really answering the question but she was used to this by now. Her gloved thumbs would dance across the datapad as she would type out a message to her shuttle pilot, informing him to start the ship and plot a course. Sure she didn't have to be there until a few days from now, but Dremulae was a resort world and she had really been looking to take a day off. With that she would take a final drag of the cigarra and toss it into the gutter with the spy's datapad, already getting drenched in the rain and probably damaging what ever was inside. She would send a brief confirmation that she will be in attendance to Malicar before beginning to walk off, Daemos following behind while holding the umbrella above her. "Let's go."

[member="Malicar"]

 

[Karisa]

​

Ch'avz, Sposia​

Chiss Space, Unknown Regions​

~​

​

Was it naive to think Ari could simply return to her homeworld, slip back into her life as First Daughter of House Sabosen, and just forget what had happened between herself and [member="Malicar"] on Dremulae? Perhaps the mind could trick itself especially if conditioned to do so from birth, but the heart...

Out of duty and love of family, Brask'ari'sabosen did try as days passed, but the Chiss shipping tycoon had made an impression upon the former Chief Medical Officer of the CEDF that couldn't be easily ironed out. She wanted so badly to reach out to the Vesnam, but knew better. If and when Ari ever did, it would be an indication that things on her end were unsustainable and desperate; that she was ready to accept what Malicar had offered that day as the two Chiss nobles shared a heartfelt goodbye in the Interstellar Shipping hanger bay at its corporate headquarters in the Deep Core.

That time hadn't come as of yet...

 

[Gad Calgaran]

Gad had been in a bit of a tight spot for a while. Leaving Giqa the Hutt was no easy task and required a lot of money on his part. While he wanted to escape the kind of work she forced him to do, the reality was he was going to need some new work if he was going to get by with his new freedom. An old face, Malicar, contacted him out of the blue with a job offer. A big one, according to him. Not much else in terms of information.

Gad surveyed the little apartment room he managed to rent. Living in squabble wasn't exactly his idea when he had started in crime. It was better than prisoner, he knew that, but it wasn't much better. At least with Giqa he lived somewhat comfortably. He just didn't see himself living for long.

He took a seat on the little two-seat sofa, his datapad in hand with Malicar's message. He knew Malicar from working with the Hutts. They occasionally had business arrangements and Giqa seemed to be interested in them, whether Giqa was directly involved in the arrangements or not. They both knew each other as associates really but enough to know they were trustworthy.

"Got it," He responded simply, waiting for the details on where to meet or what to do.

[member="Karisa"] | [member="Myra"] | [member="Malicar"] | [member="Rako Eclipse"]​

 

[Rako Eclipse]

With the extensive security measures put into place aboard The Ego, Rako got the transmission a day late. That would have to change.

But upon hearing what Malicar had to say, Rako let out a quick laugh. He was alone in his office, the droid which had transported the holo transmitter was long gone, having been scrapped altogether as per protocol. So no one heard him laugh.

For it was true that his business was being squeezed, but Malicar didn't know the whole truth, and if he did he kept it to himself. The Kyber Bank wasn't being squeezed, its clientele was. And this competition with the Hutts over who could squeeze out more wasn't working out in the favor of Rako, as in order to succeed in such, he would need more men to build himself an army or to build a factory to produce droids.


Replying to Malicar, Rako said: "Mr. Vesnam'alica'raith," (He had practiced saying the chiss's name for a good twenty minutes before accepting the fact that it was adequate and didn't need to be perfected fully) "I am very pleased that you have reached out to The Kyber Bank for this. I shall indeed be coming to represent both myself and The Kyber Bank, and will meet with you in person within seven days."

Then before he could send the transmission he completed the security protocols and parameters and only then did he send the transmission. The Kyber Bank placed its Vault at the highest of priorities and such necessitated complex security measures.

Afterwards, he sent a command to the "bridge" to release a shuttle for him and to move The Ego once more to another secure place with the galaxy. One couldn't be to careful these days.

[member="Malicar"] | [member="Myra"] | [member="Gad Calgaran"] | @Karisa​