Open Invasion Large and in Charge

[Darth Stolas]

It was evening on Belsavis and within the heat-spring oasis where the richest land owners lived all was quiet and peaceful. Morgan had arrived aboard a Kathol courier escorted by two pairs of Starblade fighters, all landed in the manor landing area. He wore the armour of Darth Stolas with his lightsaber clearly displayed on his utility belt, two ordinary spares in easy access belt pouches.

Stolas was ostensibly here to negotiate the purchase of vine silks and coffees for the Sith as well as general trade and support. The local nobility wasn't keen on ending up like Eiattu and the Republic had traditionally looked down on the businesses and policies of the Senex-Juvex sector, so they figured the Sith were their best bet to keep all their money and power intact. Especially with how Malastare had been so keenly handled.

Which was why they were being walked into the manor with Stolas carrying a metal briefcase, filled with thin rectangular aurodium currency in neat stacks. Both vine-grown agricultural products were highly sought after by the galactic well-to-do and also highly expensive, and the case was meant to serve as proof of buying power. The meeting itself was meant to be a secret arrangement such that they could come to terms quietly.

Stolas and Ben were led by a small group of security on a tour of the lavish manor before the meeting proper, their own men following behind and waiting for a signal. Doubtless the locals were far from excited to work with Force Sensitives of any kind with the recent political turmoil and public opinion but they had little choice. The fact of the matter was the Sith had resources and power and a willingness to leverage them aggressively when they felt like it. Stolas had thus cornered them into diplomacy to avoid that outcome, greed and fear in equal measure dragging Atorrin to the table.

Their true goal was to ensure Atorrin would surrender the planet when the Sith fleet arrived, whether through diplomatic talks or outright capture. Ben would be the only guard allowed within the meeting room with Stolas, outnumbered by both security and local nobility, but the young Lord doubted that would be an issue if it came to violence.

@Eccles

 

[Ben Haradan]

Ben Haradan looked nothing like the stiff Imperial lieutenant that most people remembered them to be in the time of the Empire. His flight suit was clean, sure, but it also wasn't new and the patches that showed him as a member of Darth Asminys' forces were clearly sewn on last minute. His troops, all Ossein pirates, looked very similar as they followed their Noy and the Sith from a distance. "Rich kriffers," the Ossein shook his head as he looked around the manor and the obvious wealth in which Atorrin surrounded himself while ordinary folk were beaten into the slavery until their untimely death by violence or pure exhaustion. If it was up to him, Ben would just shoot the 'rich kriffer' right smack in the face and be done with it.

Instead the Sith wanted to do this peacefully, which seemed rather uncharacteristic to Ben seeing as his boss was the Warlord Asminys and that Sith didn't seem to do anything 'peacefully', not even his breakfast. Still, it was undeniable that Ben was only there as back-up, a bodyguard to a Sith who could probably wipe out the entire manor without breaking a sweat. Perhaps he was intended to show military might, but.. well, yeah they had hijacked several ships from his cluster and perhaps them knowing that it was the crew of the 'Haradan' that trained the fleet of this new Sith Order would strike some fear into Atorrin's heart.


@Mr. Teatime

 

[Senator Zohn Maverick]

It seemed like no matter what, life just kept throwing curveballs at Zohn Maverick. Though in his twilight years, the former icon/politician would lose his attempt to combat the crime and corruption in Ninth Quadrant. Trounced by the forces loyal to Atorrin Garonnin, Zohn had fought an uphill battle against those who seemed to thrive on slave trade and other heinous crimes committed by the ruling class. Due to his polarizing views, he was a favorite of the lower classes and therefore, after his defeat he was kept as a political prisoner.

An actor, once more. He had realized that if he saved face, he could maybe enhance the lives of the people that supported him. So he made appearances, gave speeches, but all the while, his guards really had orders to kill him if he ever strayed from the script. Today, would be no different. He was tasked with assisting the meeting with some @Darth Stolas who arrived on a Kathol courier.

So, he squeezed his twenty-two inch arms into his blazer, wore a black t-shirt beneath it, jeans and high brow loafers. He topped it off with a nice belt with buckle that doubled as an... accompaniment in the event of fisticuffs. Smoothing out his slick handlebar mustache, he would head out to meet this Stolas and his retinue.

Approaching the pair of men, his gaze would shift to the lightsaber so lavishly on display as well as the armor that accompanied it. Sith. He had known this day would come for some time, he just hoped today wouldn't really be the last day for his people. Any surprise or visible reaction was masked and he just offered a grin. "Welcome to Belsavis, brothers. Name's Zohn Maverick, I'm one of the fortunate voices of the people here." There was an appreciative nod to @Ben Haradan, an acknowledgement of the mans equally majestic mustache, before he offered his hand to the Sith in greeting.

@Eccles @Mr. Teatime

 

[Darth Stolas]

While Morgan himself was from a wealthy family, secret though that origin was to the vast majority, he didn't take offense to Ben's quiet commentary. Slavery was an abhorrent thing on Firrerre and throughout the Pacanth Reach, and besides which it was just bad economics. The ostentatious and sometimes gaudy displays of wealth in Atorrin's manor were reflections wealth gained from such a practice and annoyed the young Lord. The Belsavis noble simply had no real class.

Near the end of the tour a wide and mustachioed human appeared. Golden eyes behind the impassive mask watched Zohn's every motion, a gloved hand coming up to firmly grasp the offered hand. Stolas' inhuman strength came through the polite and businesslike gesture easily, fingers beneath the black leather like bands of iron. It drew back after a moment and he gave a small nod, a basic and old fashioned greeting bow.

"You may call me Stolas," he said, voice deepened and slightly distorted through the helmet's modulator, though it retained inflection and tone rather well. "Perhaps you are fortunate."

They were all lead into the meeting room not long after and the Darth found himself a seat at one of the table, across from a pair of minor nobles. Most of Ben's men were to wait outside in the lobby, although Ben and one other were permitted inside. The nobles had one guard each, while Atorrin reportedly would have two to himself. Traditions from this sector, or so Morgan had heard.

@Eccles @Rhogar

 

[Ben Haradan]

Ben rolled his eyes and turned his head towards his crew standing too far to have heard it, "Fortunate voice of the people!" There wasn't even a hint of respect in the way he echoed the broad-shouldered man's statement. If you spoke for the people on a planet like this... well, let's just say that the Ossein man didn't like to see him living so well off of it. Regardless, only two men were to accompany Darth Stolas inside the meeting room and Ben picked the nastiest close-combat fighter he knew, nodding at him and when they entered he gestured towards the door "Watch the door."

As Darth Stolas took the seat designated for the 'diplomatic representative', Ben and his crewmate were delegated to a standing spot from where they carefully sized up the nobles and their retinue. The men themselves were push-overs, clearly, but their guards weren't in the least. Some of them had visible scars that suggested a lot of experience fighting with bladed weapons and their eyes were sharp, much sharper than those of the Haradan's Noy. "Quite the party," he scoffed, "I feel like I should've worn my fancy flightsuit instead." the Ossein pirate and salvager eyed the nobles for a reaction and was pleased that few showed some manner of disgust without having the apparent balls to reply. Now that's what we call a good bargaining position.


@Mr. Teatime @Rhogar

 

[Senator Zohn Maverick]

Had he not noticed the lightsaber, Maverick may have been surprised by the strength the slender man possessed, but space magicks did a lot of weird things and made their practitioners incredibly capable warriors. Maverick returned with the strongest handshake he could muster, was it as strong as Stolas'? No, but it would be impressive for a man his age. "Stolas it is, brother. Belsavis may be a prison world and have a high poverty count, but the people here are better than any else in the galaxy and some of the best views in the galaxy.. Maybe in a few more years more of the world will be prettier."

He would help guide them to the meeting room, where he'd sit at one of the middle seats at the table. The room was just full of lavish opulence, and even Maverick couldn't hide his own disdain at the room. Compared to the rest of the men in the room, he would look decidedly much less wealthy than them. His escort would go to stand beside one of the other men, leaving Maverick as the singular man in the room without a guard.

"I'm glad ya didn't, brother." Maverick would say to Ben. "Can't have me looking like the only one slumming it." he'd say with a hearty laugh before he took a sip from the glass of water set out before him. In addition to the decidedly less monied appearance, his hands were also heavily calloused and scars were visible on his face, neck, and hands.

Atorrin made no effort to hide his own disdain for Maverick as the Representative spoke.

@Eccles @Mr. Teatime

 

[Ben Haradan]

Ben was getting impatient, for the Darth appeared to be in a staring match with Atorrin Garonnin and neither spoke to start proceedings. "Alright, ya kriffers-" the Ossein captain approached the nearest of Belsavis' political representives and slapped his hand on the man's right shoulder, triggering one of the present guards but one foul look from Ben's crewmate made him hesitate and miss his window. However tough these slavers thought they were, clearly the mere look of a pirate made them soil their breeches. Or maybe it was the present Darth's staring intensity, Ben didn't know and quite frankly right now he didn't care.

"Frankly I disagreed with this meeting, this approach-" he smiled insincerely at the young lord, "-In fact, I pleaded with the Warlord, Darth Asminys, to just blast you all and install a government of former slaves." His grinned turned into a murderous look which he used to frighten the aristocrats who had clearly never been threatened in their lives. The mere presence of a Darth and the Dark Side radiation spreading out over the table and the room made Ben's words carry even more meaning. "But Noo, we were to have the little slavemaster tell his fleet to stand down and for some reason the Sith here," he motioned for Darth Stolas as he continued walking passed the Belsavis representatives until he almost reached the young lord himself, "He figured he could also just give you a lot of credits and allow you to lord over your slaves in peace." He shrugged, now reaching the lord and finding there was one guard he was brave enough to block his way by standing in front of him with a stoic look on his face. Ben suddenly laughed and turned towards the table, now standing almost directly opposite Darth Stolas. "Hahaha! Good business, right? You fly our flag and we eventually get those credits back because we pay less tariffs moving through this sector of space." He started walking back around the table to Darth Stolas, tapping each of the representatives on their left shoulder while taunting their guards with a look of utter arrogance.

When he returned to stand behind the Darth he turned abruptly to face the young lord. "I'd rather you refuse," Ben didn't grin this time, but while he looked dead-serious it was his crewmate that excitedly bared his teeth. "That way I get to throw you all out of my airlock when this is over."

@Mr. Teatime @Rhogar

 

[Darth Stolas]

The black visor watched the old pirate walk around, unreadable as the man went through the effort of overtly and unapologetically intimidating the collection of petty nobles and businessmen. Ben seemed to get his point across well, even if a detail or two was out of place. These runners of the slave economy of Belsavis were not accustomed to being directly confronted in any fashion and were clearly uncomfortable. Even if they wanted to protest or perhaps shut up the pirate by force, Ben was backed up by his own vicious looking men and Stolas himself had something of a reputation all his own.

So they sat there and were threatened, and there was nothing they could do about it. Ben returned to his position behind the young Lord and the visor turned to settle firmly on Atorrin in the moments of silence that followed.

"Mostly correct," he intoned through the mask, drawing the attention of the nobles who until then had seemed quite focused on the pirates. "Slavery is poor business and will be phased out. You will run this planet properly beneath the Sith banner." Stolas raised a hand as Atorrin opened his mouth to protest, the gesture eliciting a fearful reaction from him and the noble guards.

"If you are unwilling I would be happy to discuss this with your successor." Meaningfully the visor passed over the other various nobles and the senator, making the meaning clear. Stolas only needed someone in a position to run the planet to negotiate with.

Atorrin could be easily replaced and doubtless Ben and his men would be more than pleased to begin the process.

@Eccles @Rhogar