Ask Vexing Business

Larson Kao

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Nor'baal
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Vexing Business

Larson had no idea how he had wangled this meeting. However, he was not one to look a gift fathier in the mouth, and so he went back over his pitch for the hundredth time today, as his shuttle touched down on the nearest landing pad. "A Sith." his assistant reminded him yet again "One of the ones that fire-bomb planets Larson, planets." he added, as Larson rolled his eyes and stood up.

His assistant was probably right.

This was probably a terrible idea. It was unethical, immoral, evil maybe? But he didn't care. Sith credits were as good as anyone else's. "That's a popular misconception." he remarked "They only attack planets holding the Jedi, not Corporate bodies. Plus -" he walked down the disembarkation steps "- Jedi tend not to spend as easily as these guys." he laughed, mostly out of nerves "Wait here." he walked away, alone, only a fancy suit and a briefcase between him and the supposedly hostile Sith world he now found himself on.

Larson took a deep breath, and walked into his meeting.

@Mockingjay
 

Vex

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A speeder car was waiting for Larson outside the spaceport. One Vex had paid to take him to Castle Gaol above the main prison facility on Belsavis. From there, escorts from her Detention Force would lead him into the upper chambers where she did most of her business. As with all meetings with outsiders, Vex wore her armor to the meeting, helmet and all. She found it helped with her negotiations. No one could see the whites of her eyes. It kept them guessing.

This pleased her.

When he entered her office, she stood at a rain-soaked window at the back of the room, behind a large obsidian desk. Her arms were folded behind her, gaze out the window. She did not turn immediately to greet him. Leverage was important in negotiations, and the best leverage one could have was the mood in the room. Setting it off, were she successful, would give her the high ground in whatever was to come. She preferred that to the 'equality' the Jedi sought in their negotiations. Equality was a useless illusion.

"Larson Kao, I presume?" Vex said after he had been in her presence a moment. "Welcome to Belsavis. My assistant—" She gestured to Ranami in the corner of the chamber "—informs me that you have a rather intriguing proposal for me." She turned now, finally facing him, and summoning Ranami with a nod. "I would hear it."

The assistant pitched forward and quickly delivered a pair of water glasses to the desk. Vex was more hospitable when she was pretending to be Nahri. As a Sith, she preferred to live up to her reputation. @Nor'baal
 

Larson Kao

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"That's one hell of a complex." the businessman spoke to his droid, who looked impassively at him, as usual. "These Sith don't build anything by halves do they?" the droid did not reply. He shook his head in frustration at his droid's lack of social skills, before stepping out of the speeder car and walking with the Detention Force personnel.

His heart nearly stopped when he saw the Sith in person.

If nothing else, the Sith knew how to strike a pose. Larson retreated back into his 'Cutthroat Corporate Bastard' personality, deciding that the Sith respected strength, and most of all, power. He had credits, he had droids, he had a ruthless streak that would make the Pykes of old seem generous - and that was really what he was selling.

However, in this setting, Larson was an unproven outsider, who could turn out to be either an ally or an enemy to the Sith, as far as Vex was concerned anyway.

"Correct." he responded in a clipped, corporate tone. He ignored her assistant, Ranami, focusing instead on her alone. He waited for the assistant to step back before he spoke again. "Your assistant is most astute." Larson added, before taking the glass of water in his right hand. "I represent a conglomerate of business interests, who believe we might be able to bring some additional services to your expanding Empire. Specifically, your Detention Services, at the first instance."

He took a short sip from the glass "If I may?" he gestured to his briefcase, which had passed through security safely. Aware the Sith were somewhat 'tetchy' about such things, he waited for permission to open the case before continuing.
 

Vex

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Vex had to admire the irony. Her corporate cover as Nahri Nalju was meant to mask her Sith activities, and yet here she was, engaging in it all over again in her Sith persona. Not that she was opposed to it. Quite the contrary, she was good at it. Crunching numbers, making deals, it was her bread and butter, even as a Sith. But she was curious as to what this man was doing in her office, or why he would seek out a prison warden to make business deals with.

She walked over to her elaborate desk, finally taking a seat behind it just as Ranami slid a glass of water across its reflective obsidian surface to stop in front of her. This too was part of the game. She didn't answer immediately, took her time getting to where she needed to be, and then, when she was settled and certain the pause had left an awkward tension in the air, she glanced up and nodded at the seat across from her.

Both permission for Larson to sit, and to open his briefcase and show her what he had for her. Then, she crossed her legs, settled her back against the backing of the chair, and waited to see what he had brought with him. @Nor'baal
 

Larson Kao

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The silent type, eh? Larson thought to himself as he clipped the case open, and laid out a set of holoprojectors onto the table, alongside a datapad. Closing the case and setting it down next to his chair, he activated each of the projectors in turn, before he spoke calmly. "Our business operates across three major areas, automated logistics, combat material and agriculture.." each of the holoprojectors fired into action showing images to support his claims.

"I'd like to talk to you first about the automated logistics offering. Whilst security for your prison complexes is most suited to organic personnel, drawn from your own forces, our company can take the strain when it comes to logistical tasks - using our comprehensive leasing package, which enables your organisation to access a full suite of astromech, loader and surveillance units." the projectors showed a range of R-Series Astromechs, CLL-8 loaders, mouse droids and even a Viper class probe.

"This comes with an onsite maintenance and repair team, as well as a control room facility to ensure the smooth operation of your automated service." he added, finishing his first pitch with relaxed ease, before moving onto the second round "We also offer comprehensive agricultural services, which can be fully automated, or serve as an add on to your detention centres, should you wish for certain detainees to be allowed 'recreational employment' during their sentence. In the former case, our farming facilities will be fully autonomous, in the latter, we can provide security overseers in the form of droids." he added, keeping the options open for the Sith.

"Either way, our farms have high output, and the food their products can help shore up your planetary supply lines, or even serve as a paste-based nutrients product for your detainees." he added, handing the Sith a datapad containing the nutritional schematics of the paste "As you can see, we can provide a comprehensive and adaptable range of services to suit your needs."
 

Vex

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Vex waited in complete silence until Larson was done. But her mind was not silent. Staffing Belsavis had been a difficult challenge when she first took over. The old staff running the prisons had to be 'dealt' with and an Imperial garrison brought in. But there were prisons all across the planet — above and below it — and she would soon have another on Kamino, if her campaigns out of Rishi were successful.

The Kamino prison was a secret project. She couldn't have a private company staffing it. There were too many risks involved. But when she moved her offices there, she would need more muscle on Belsavis. This could be the muscle she was looking for, at least in the logistical department—if everything checked out. "A very generous package," she said, her voice smooth as wine despite the device in her helmet distorting it. "I assume you know Belsavis is covered in thick glacial ice. Most of the settlements and prisons on this world have been drilled into the ice near sites of volcanic activity. Can your automated agricultural equipment account for the difficulty in growing foodstuffs and supplies on this planet?"

As of now, Belsavis imported the majority of its foodstuffs and goods from elsewhere in the Empire. But most of the Empire's agri-worlds were halfway across the galaxy. Having a homegrown source would eliminate most of the costs associated with transporting goods here. Vex couldn't imagine the Empress would object to reduced cost. And yet, there was a potential risk the Sith Master wanted to address. "Additionally," she went on, "what relationship does your company have with the Empire or any of the other galactic governments? If your systems and packages are used by the Republic for instance, or the Alliance, then what is to keep a Jedi from learning those systems and using them to crack ours?" @Nor'baal
 

Larson Kao

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There was little to be gained from being dishonest about his company's client base, especially as any business they did would most likely be covered in the commercial press anyway. Larson addressed her first point "Indeed - we are aware of the unique environmental challenges posed on Belsavis. Our farms operate using a polytunnel methodology, mostly focused around the growth of protein-rich outputs."

He meant grubs.

"We are confident our methods can overcome these challenges." he paused, taking a ship from the water he had been offered at the commencement of the meeting "On your second point, we are a pan-galactic organisation, and yes - we do business across Governmental borders, with appropriate safeguards around security and information sharing. Whilst our commercial offerings are open to multiple clients, the data we hold, for example, the data our droids here would hold on your internment facilities, would only be processed and held, here." he stressed the last word "Meaning if the Je -" he paused and rephrased "- if hostile counterintelligence operatives wanted access to the data, they would need to come to Belsavis and secure it personally - which would, I am sure you agree, be a bad move for them to make."
 

Vex

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"Quite," Vex replied.

She was satisfied with this reply. Which meant it was now time to move on to other topics. "You said this is only the first matter you wished to discuss with me," she continued, harkening back to earlier in the conversation. His company's services sounded nice and all, but she was still wonder why he had come to her. After all, if he merely wanted to sell his services, a simply flyer would have sufficed and cost him less in starship fuel and travel fees. Not to mention all the clearances he had to go through to even secure this meeting. "Consider me interested. Now, I would like to hear the other matters you came here to discuss. I very much doubt you traveled all this way just to sell me droids and farm equipment."

Vex also doubted he traveled this far for the sights, but she left that snarky bit of commentary out. @Nor'baal
 

Larson Kao

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Larson kept his face impassive, despite inwardly being confused as to why Vex had sought to move the conversation away from business and onto something else. However, the Sith was quite correct - there was another reason he had flown all this way.

"I took the considerable effort to come to see you, here in the heart of Sith Space, for another reason, certainly." he replied calmly. Getting the patronage of Vex, in the form of her business, was not the most valuable thing he needed. No, Larson had his business needed something far more important - the backing of her Order.

It was almost impossible to thrive in Sith space without the direct support of the Order. Throughout history, quick-minded businesspeople had identified rising intergalactic powers and ensured they were adequately leveraged to take advantage of that powers moving from conquerers to builders. The InterGalactic Banking Clan was one such power, securing the permission and licence of the various powers to operate across borders.

That was what Larson wanted.

"I would like to secure a formal licencing for my business to operate within Imperial Space as a member of the Imperial Business Community." he tried to keep it subtle. He was hoping that Vex would provide an avenue for Larson to step into the Imperial upper circles, its industrial and commercial power base, and, in doing so, expand his company's position as a truly intergalactic venture.
 

Vex

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A smile crawled up Vex's face underneath her mask. An ambitious man. Vex liked ambition in her associates. It made life less... boring. The coldness of her mask regarded him a long moment before she spoke again. "I can see the value of having a business like yours in our Empire," she said cryptically. "If nothing more than the benefits it brings our prison system."

For a moment, she was quiet again. Then, she stood, pacing around to the back of her chair and folding her hands behind her caped-back. "Only a Sith Lord can give you the licensing you speak of," Vex told him eventually. "The Lords of the Sith are those that sit on the Empress' council and rule the Empire. I am not a Lord — yet. Just a Master. But like you, my ambitions lead me to higher places." She rounded the chair, facing him again. "So here is my proposal. I will license you to work within my power base. The Belsavis system, and soon, the planet Kamino." She did not mention Rakata Prime. That planet and its usefulness to her needed to remain a secret for now. "When my rise to the Council is complete, you will have your licensing in exchange for your loyalty to me. Operate your business however you please, with whomever you please, so long as my interests are not harmed in the process." She glared at him from underneath the visor of her helm. "I presume that will be a reasonable arrangement?" @Nor'baal
 

Larson Kao

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An entire system! Larson had to do his best to avoid appearing too excited about the proposal from the Sith. Partnered with the offer to be licensed across the entire Empire should she climb further up the Imperial Command Chain, Larsons business was set to expand quite considerably. "I believe we have a mutually beneficial arrangement then." he replied, doing his best to keep the ecstatic smile from his face.

"As a Sith Lord, you could bring great advancements to the Imperial system, mistress Vex." he commented, avoiding going into any degree of commital and detail in case he caused offence "- we can have the Belsavis and Kamino infrastructure put in place, and furthermore, I shall ensure a timeline of implementation and then future changes down the line to enhance the system, is made available to you, or a person of your choosing, as soon as is possible."
 
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