Need More Resources

[Darth Inheris]

​

House Merhrest's holdings were not the prettiest, but they were certainly productive. And it was their product she so clearly needed. Not only would the reconstruction efforts require the simple raw materials to put the whole thing together, but an ongoing relationship between Dalaigh and Merhrest would be ideal, after the disaster that was their attempt at uniting through her mother and father.

Yes, it would seem the Saorise and Percy would have their work cut out for them, and that made her dread coming here, onto their territory, seeking their help.

Greeted at the mines entrance by Lord Heller Merhrest, Saorise greeted him with a polite bow, before the pair were ushered into a tour of the facility and surrounds. The scale was impressive, though the colour scheme drab. Sooner they were out the better as far as she was concerned,

"Your hospitality is appreciated, Lord Heller, I must admit I hadn't stepped on to House Merhrest's territory before today, its all very impressive" Saorise lied through her teeth. Hopefully the man wouldn't notice. Perhaps Percy was having a better time of it.

@Alhon

Dice Thread!

 

[Percy Fleck]

Percy walked calmly on his lordship’s other side, casually brushing a little minedust off his shoulder. The place was a little grim to say the least and reminded the young Sith too much of the mines of his childhood. Though his parents had been bankers, the banking families of Aargau had grown rich on the mineral wealth of their ancestors. His own surname harked back a time when Aargau’s countryside had looked much like the Merhrest’s lands. The similarities were disconcerting, especially for Percy.

He never looked back.

They turned onto a narrow walkway overlooking a bustling work area. Smoke and sulphur rose above dozens of bodies hurrying about below, refining the Merhrest merchandise.

“Your people are incredibly industrious, Lord Heller” he remarked, the Force working behind his forked tongue as always. “The Republica is built on such drive and determination, on the spirit of organised industry”.

He looked from the hardworking mineworkers, rippling with muscle, to his wizened old lordship, trying his best to see them as one. “I dare say the Merhrest’s are the very embodiment of what we stand for, wouldn’t you say?”

@Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

"Oh we more than think so. A hard working House, that's always been our claim. Certainly not as glamorous as starship design, but they couldn't do what they do without us, and nor could the Empire!" His Lordship of House Merhrest replied. A surprisingly small and upbeat man, for all his age and wizened looks. Perhaps they were onto something here,

"And one with a bit of shared history with my own House" Saorise said, stretching out her arm and laying it on the shoulder of the man with a smile. Form a bit of a relationship, that was the goal before springing any sort of offer. Draw them in with honey, and then stick them down,

"One that I atleast would like to see renewed. There's much I think we could offer eachother. Certainly now, given all that has happened on Kuat" she continued more solemnly. His Lordship looked equally sullen, hanging his head for a moment alongside,

"But that's why I'm here, we need to speak. Reconstruction will require resources, and that's where you come in. We'd be looking at acquiring a lot of the materials from you" her voice stayed steady as she made the request to the man. Almost to her surprise, the mans face lifted quickly, his eyes lighting up,

"Oh, we can work something out I'm certain. Plenty of details to be done, but with part of the yards offline we need to be sending our stuff somewhere" he lit back. How straightforward this was all going. It almost put her on edge.

It couldn't be that easy, could it?

@Alhon

 

[Percy Fleck]

Saorise was making progress. Real progress. Lord Heller was like putty in their hands, warming to Percy’s flattery and his companion’s promises of trade and profits. Warm words always did have such an effect on the wealthy; a reality that had unpinned so many of Percy’s successes. They would have the deal wrapped up soon enough.

A sudden shout from below interrupted the conversation and Percy whipped around, spying a commotion in the covered yard below. A tall shipment of ore had broken free of its cargo straps and was learning dangerously towards the men at its base. If it fell, it would crush them like ants.

Percy reacted on instinct, reaching down with the Force to steady the toppling load. He miscalculated badly, the impact of his reach blasting the mound apart and sending fragments of refined ore spinning in every direction. Half a dozen workers were knocked to the ground, while others leapt for cover as chaos descended. The young Sith could do little but curse through gritted teeth, gripping the rail as he watched Heller’s staff call for medics.

What a frackin mess.

@Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

Force.

That wasn't good.

Turning sharply to the sound of the strain and the ensuing burst, Saorise looked around frantically as Lord Heller covered his mouth in shock. Whatever had happened, it certainly wasn't looking good, and it wouldn't look good if this looked to be their fault. The mine workers were no stranger to accidents though, and it seemed that as soon as anything went wrong, medics were soon called for and on their way. Saorise had a different thought come to mind: why did the thing fall in the first place? Surely a place like this had practices in place to prevent this sort of thing. Of course accidents happened, but Merhrest had been mining for more than a dozen generations, they were old hands at this. Something more was a afoot.

Saorise's suspicions were only confirmed when, at the rear of the shipment, a man dressed in workers clothes, began to run. Not to help, not toward the first responders, but away from the event, as if he didn't want to be associated with it. Malcontent at the mine, perhaps? She meant to stop him and find out before there was a chance he got away,

"Lord Heller, I think I see something, I'll be back" she tapped Percy on the shoulder and pointed at the fleeing man. No time to waste now.

Sprinting down the gangway and down toward the mining area she tracked the man, throwing herself through equipment and people as she kept her focus trained on the suspect. It wouldn't be long before they caught him. Snatching his legs from under him, she whipped him into the ground, though not before she'd managed to knock over her own share of ore to stop him. An ideal start had gone downhill, though hopefully they could still salvage this by getting the man to talk and bringing him to the Lord,

"Do you want to try him?" she offered Percy, pulling the suspect up.

Time to see what exactly had just happened.

@Alhon

 

[Percy Fleck]

Percy followed Saorise though the narrow confines of the mine. The backfiring of his own efforts had shaken him more than he cared to admit and made him prepared to follow his fellow Acolyte without question. If she had a sense the situation may yet be salvaged, then he was with her all the way.

The speed with which the mineworker fled the scene seemed to vindicate that line of thinking. Either he was very eager to take his lunch break or he had reason to get as far away from the scene of the accident as possible. Percy had a sixth sense for such things. By the time they caught up with the man, he was convinced there was something more to uncover.

Saorise showed her particular brand of directness again, putting the miner on his back and then hauling him up like a convict. Perhaps he soon would be.

Offered the chance to see what secrets he was hiding, Percy didn’t need to be asked twice.

“You bet” he said eagerly.

He put his hand on the man’s dust covered face, green eyes staring into the miner’s own. The suspect looked worried already, arms still pinned to his sides by Saorise, straining as if he feared Percy would pull him close. If only he knew that would almost have been better for him, better than what was about to happen.

“Let me in” Percy said, his words a command infused with the Force. The mineworker’s mind was frantic but weak and yielded instantly to the Sith’s will, the connection all the stronger for the physical contact. Percy pressed deep, sifting through the miner’s memories, thoughts and feelings as if they were an open book. The effort was taxing, but such work was the young Sith’s bread and butter. He soon found the truth of the man’s involvement in the mishap in the mine, and the broader discontent building right under the Merhrests’ noses.

“You were right” he said to Saorise, withdrawing from the man’s mind. “Arthur here isn’t happy at all with his pay and conditions; he wants to see the Merhrests bleed for what they put him through”. The miner stood their silently, dazed and drained from the force of Percy’s assault. But there was a hint of recognition there; a realisation that his very soul had been exposed.

“There are others as well” Percy continued, enjoying the fear that now crept across Arthur’s face. “A whole little group of them planning more stunts like today. There names and faces are still a little blurry, but with more time together I’m sure Arthur would share them with me”.

He turned to his fellow Acolyte, smiling wide at their changed fortunes. “We should show this urchin to Lord Heller. We can offer to buy his goods, but it looks like we might also be able to help keep his workforce in line”.

@Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

Watching as Percy took a dive into the mans mind was altogether a rather visceral experience. She could feel the rippling and digging of the force as it bent to his will in front of her. Even when he was done, stepping back to the present, Arthur, so his name was, wrote everything she needed to know on his face. He'd given up more than he ever expected to. Perhaps he hadn't accounted for the presence of the two Sith. How wrong of him to forget,

"I'm sure you'll find them. Or perhaps, Arthur will share a little more willingly this time, hmm?" she clipped at the fellow, even as his mind still rolled itself back into the world, recognizing what had happened. But yes, for now Lord Heller was their first point of contact, perhaps their little bit of cleanup could sweeten the deal,

"My Lord, my lord, my lord, I'll need to pay for more security, and, and armed ones at that, round the clock, and investigators, oh my. The costs just go up and up" Or not, it would seem, as Lord Heller rattled off his worries to the pair as they returned to him, handing over Arthur to his security. Perhaps they would be ask to assist, for now they still had their original purpose to attend to, though Lord Heller's mindstate now meant he had a little more to alter the deal,

"I shall have to raise my fee, I hope you understand, you can imagine the costs this sort of thing will incur me. Still though, I'm grateful for catching the man, hopefully with him in custody there won't be any more" the deal was still on it seemed, but at a bit of an increased weight. Saorise turned to Percy as Lord Heller's mind rolled over account figures, tax charges, transaction fees, all to add to the new total. Not an ideal outcome she had to say. Still, maybe they still had a bit of leverage they hadn't pushed as far as they could. Saorise gestured up and down with her palms open, as if saying "the deal's okaaaay", perhaps they could yet make it a little better?

@Alhon

 

[Percy Fleck]

Percy could see how the Merhrests had made their credits. Ever the businessman, Lord Heller seemed grateful for being handed the culprit, but still planned to extract a toll for his own mutinous workforce. The young Sith stood impatiently as the man spoke of a thousand fees and surcharges that would need to be added to the deal.

“Those are precisely your costs, my Lord. Arthur and his accomplices were here before the Empire called for your assistance. Surely you do not expect the Emperor to foot the bill for a problem not of his own making?” Percy was forceful, throwing the Force into his words in an effort to make his logic undeniable. He was tired of the man's resistance.

Lord Heller appeared to listen for a moment, but then the glazed expression forming on his face froze and then retreated. “The impertinence” he said slowly. Percy had gone on too strong and now his Lordship’s lifetime of negotiation had made him realise he was being strong-armed. “To suggest I have fermented disloyalty in my own workers, here, on my own property. There’s something funny about you young man and it isn’t just your gall!”

The man turned away briskly, indicating to Saorise to keep pace with him but now ignoring Percy. “I’m not a fan of your counterpart Ms Kallig, he doesn’t share our Kuati integrity. Do you at least still know what that means?”

@Nightfall

 

[Darth Inheris]

"Lord Heller," Saorise began with a mildly apologetic tone. It seemed the mans mind was more resistance to such things than she had expected. How that was she would never understand "My friend meant nothing of the sort, both of you make understandable points" she smiled a little at both of them, hopefully she might have a little more success, the man being worn down from Percy's own attempt,

"But the deal will go through as initially decided, will it not?" Saorise's left hand rolled over ever so slowly, guiding the force into the mans mind to make him 'roll over' in a similar way, be on their side of the deal. Anything more forceful would seem to out of character for the man, be noticeable to others. But something small, just a nudge, could go a long way, and be far less noticeable.

Or, so she'd hoped,

"Oh yes, yes, yes, the deal will go through, I shan't turn down business entirely. Though I might still have to raise costs by say... oh, forty thousand?"

"ten thousand"

"thirty five"

"twenty five"

"done"

"Well Lord Heller" Saorise looked to Percy with a roll of her eyes. The deal wasn't perfect, but at least it was done, and who knew, perhaps they could get a favour out of the Merhrest's once all this was done,

"A pleasure doing business"

@Alhon

/EndThread

Spoiler: OOC

Probably all good, thanks buddy :D