Ask Diplomacy and Corruption

[Julia Hipori]

"Why exactly are we going to Canto Bight Ma'am?" the serious voice of her chief of security cut across the lobby of her yacht, as it dropped down into the upper atmosphere of Cantonica. Two Hawkbat speeders rose up to meet them, as part of the security detail provided by the ISC for this 'outing'. As Secretary, Julia was afforded certain freedoms that others tended to overlook - she had requested as much. A realist, Julia knew that galactic politics required you to get your hands dirty.

"A business meeting, with a concerned constituent. Nothing more." she replied, locking eyes with her Security chief, who clearly needed reminding as to his position.

With a soft thunk the ship touched down, extended its boarding ramp, and Julia departed. She was dressed in her usual armoured suit, a blaster at her hip, and security team in tow. As far as she understood, she was here to meet one of the most wanted men in the Galaxy - and as such, Canto Bight, one of the few 'neutral zones for such occurrences, was the ideal location for their discussions.

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

The way Kara had marketed herself at the Proletariat Lounge on Coruscant had been as more than just your average bounty hunter. She's the one you called to get a crew together. The one with all the contacts and means and skill to sway them into accepting the job that needed to be done. Sometimes, however, unusual requests came in that required her to do the legwork in person. This usually involved bribes. As part of her help in the crackdown on a Czerka executive, settling one part of a corporate battle between Czerka and Blackwell in the latter's favor, someone out there figured she'd have a leg up with Blackwell affiliates. Kara herself didn't quite see the how and why of it, but delivering a bribe to a resort-planet of the rich on an all-expenses-paid trip was hard to pass up.

As such, when Julia Hipori entered the rented VIP room of the most premier club around she saw lowly Kara Lok waiting for her. Her, a complimentary bottle of Preef Callo's favorite sewer-riped moonshine and a datacard with an as of yet undisclosed amount of credits. "You were right, yeah-" Kara spoke into an earpiece in her left ear, "-full security detail. Armed and Armored. Will do." she sounded confident to whoever was on the other line, but Kara wasn't a fool. Julia Hipori seemingly expected either Preef Callo himself or a senior enforcer of his syndicate. Either would be a significant win for the ISC security forces if they could bag them. Instead there was just lowly Kara Lok, licensed member of the Bounty Hunter's Guild.

Removing her earpiece, Kara nodded at the Governor of Lahsbane and rose from her seat. "Secretary Hipori, welcome" Julia had way too many senior titles to know which one to use, so best approach was to just mix them all in during the conversation, right? "My name is Kara. I'll be your-" she wasn't quite sure which role she played here exactly, but she guessed it didn't really matter. They both knew the reason for this visit. "tech support," she hinted towards the datapad. "Please have a seat and let me pour you some of my employer's favorite drink," if Julia had ever watched one of the many HoloNet westerns that featured the legendary gunslinger, then she'd know that sewer-riped moonshine was Preef Callo's signature drink, "sewer-riped moonshine from Nar Shaddaa.

@Nor'baal

 

[Julia Hipori]

Julia was somewhat surprised by who had come to meet her - mostly because she had no idea who they even were. Regardless, she smiled as the young woman entered the room, clocking that she was speaking to someone via an earpiece she removed as she walked in. "Thank you Kara," she responded "...and I don't drink whilst on duty." she added, ignoring the beverage offered. "Your," she paused, wondering what the best way to describe 'murderous boss' would be "...associates are somewhat clandestine. So, I'm going to come straight to the point."

"Is this meeting something my security guards," she waved her hand to the two men behind her "...should be hearing?"

This was not her first rodeo, and it would almost certainly not be her last. "And then, perhaps we can get to the meat of the matter - what is it your employer wants from the ISC?" she added, being very careful with her words.

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

Kara nodded as way of reply that it might be best if the Governor's security detail left the room altogether and then she proceeded to pour a drink for herself, not for the stiffed-up Blackwell executive as she declined... and oeff, Kara took the shot of moonshine like a champ but by the Force it was foul! Typical Rodian beverage, perhaps, but either Julia had known and didn't bother to warn her or she just dodged a serious bullet. "Hmm!" Kara grabbed her own throat while her insides burned right out and the acids in her stomach all but rose up, "It's good." A toothless farmer could've smiled more convincly than Kara was doing. Maybe the whole idea of bringing the bottle was more symbolic to the legendary gunslinger...

Mrs. Hipori went straight to the point, however, and Kara both liked and disliked that. She would've enjoyed a weekend of wining and dining, seeing how Julia's side lived. Guess that was out of the question.. Kara set the glass back on the table and motioned for the Governor of Lashbane to sit down. "What he wants with the ISC? Nothing," not as far as she knew, anyway, but Preef Callo didn't share his innermost secrets with the errand girl. "The message I have is for you, not Emryc Thorne."

The table had a built-in holo-projected and the second Kara plugged her Personav the life-sized head of Preef Callo appeared on the holo. "Julia Hipori, so nice to see you again-" for they had indeed met before, though this time it was a recorded message and that didn't really count as a proper interaction now did it? "-congratulations with your appointment to Secretary of Intergalactic Affairs. I will say that both Marissa Hesse and I were rooting for you." he paused here, for some reason, and left Kara to wonder how and under which circumstances did Julia Hipori and Preef Callo meet before? Did he just book an appointment at her office in the past or was it similar to today's set up.. perhaps more importantly: what happened to the previous intermediary? "Now you know that Blackwell and the Zaa Fenn have had a mutually beneficial relationship for some time. We took care of the competition for you and you, well-" he paused again, suggesting heavily that Blackwell's part of the deal was still unpaid, "-let's just say you'll have the chance to repay your board's debt to me." There was an eery ring to his words. Preef Callo, despite being a syndicate boss, was never known to be malicious or even cruel, but on Eriadu he did personally massacre every politician that stood against Sith rule so there was little doubt that if he threatened someone you knew it was never an empty threat. This, however, was brought so jovial so matter-of-factly, as crime was just a simple business deal like no other, that Kara began to doubt all of her own moral values. "Kara will be our intermediary," just like he had intermediaries with other Core-based politicians to guarantee that he never had to risk getting caught travelling in hostile space, "and she'll give you your long-overdue present. I hope you'll be able to spend it on a nice something for you and your husband." as if on cue, Kara slid the datacard across the table. On it was a nice round sum of one-hundred thousand credits. "Let this be the start of a very profitable relationship, Your grace the Governor of Lahsbane. Any questions can be directed towards Kara."


@Nor'baal

 

[Julia Hipori]

With a practised hand, Julia slid the credit chit across the table, accepting the 'donation', and listening to what Preef had to say. Before she could reply, the communication link cut off, and the little holo-Preef vanished with it.

She had a feeling his offer was one you normally didn't turn down.

Plus, she really liked credits, so - why the hell not?

It had been years since she had last met Preef, back in her Blackwell days the up-and-coming gunslinger had been quite the agent, taking care of business on her behalf, and ensuring the enemies of the Corporation, stayed in their lane. Now he was a big-shot himself, Julia had no doubt that their business could prosper off of one another involvement; and from what she knew from her previous relationship with Preef, they both shared a love of credits.

"Let this be the start of a very profitable relationship, Your grace the Governor of Lahsbane. Any questions can be directed towards Kara."

"This will be a very prosperous relationship Kara." she addressed the young woman before her "Here," she placed a commlink on the table, it had one number on it, hers "...use this, and only this to contact me." she stressed "Do not use your name, do not use mine. Understood?"

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

Julia Hipori proved to be much better at being an executive than that Hanako Lonn had been. She was unreadable and knew how to cover her bases by making sure her name never got mentioned a line. "Understood, ma'am." the Fixer nodded, took the commlink and then unplugged the personav and activated a pre-uploaded dataplague on it by opening a nav-file called 'KnowNone', a wordplay by the KnowOnes Slicer Collective on Coruscant for their signature plague that simply erased everything on a device. They worked for the Zaa Fenn Crime Family, for Preef Callo, so it had become protocol, of sorts, to make sure messages were deleted this way. Guess crime groups did know their way around information security, after all.

With the Preef holo completely erased, Kara visibly relaxed a bit. Her work was over now. The tricky part that could land her in prison, anyway. What was left is being an intermediary between a crafty Blackwell top executive, governor and ISC secretary, and the criminal powerhouse of the Five Syndicates.

"So," Kara smiled in an attempt to disarm the armed and armored executive, "VIP room was paid for and all drinks are complimentary." this meeting was going to look suspicious if it only took as long as one needed to exchange a credit chip. It was best to indulge in the drinks, high-end snacks and classiest company for at least an hour. Make it look like an executive's night out with her friends. "You know I'm the one that bagged that Czerka executive, Hanako Lonn, over in the corporate sector? I could be really be of use for Blackwell, for you." No reason she shouldn't earn some credits and reputation off of Blackwell now she had the chance, right?


@Nor'baal

 

[Julia Hipori]

Acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world for someone to delete all records of their communications from a holo-device, Julia thanked her contact, and reverted to acting as if Kara was 'casino staff' rather than a member of the most powerful crime syndicate in the galaxy, as she called her guards back in after Kara had finished speaking, of course.

Ensuring that they were none the wiser, she dropped back into character as a high-and-mighty politician and said dismissively "That's very kind Miss," Julia paused, as if she had forgotten the ladies name "anyway. Yes, the casino floor I think. No point coming all this way and not having a flutter after all." she gave off an affected laugh.

"You must introduce me to the young lady you mentioned." Julia added, referring back to Lonn without making it seem overly obvious as to the nature of the person she referenced "I believe I worked with them back in Blackwell. It would certainly be nice to see her again." she added, indicating that Kara had herself a deal.

The board would be most impressed.