Ask Eriadu Alternative Acquisition

[Marissa Hesse]

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All manner of wretched industries made their produce down by Eriadu City's marina. Factories and workshops belching out fumes and chemical runoffs that ran wild when the authorities weren't looking, and everyone down this end of town chipped in to make sure they never did. That made it ideal for even more clandestine activities to make their home away down here, and keep out of the eyes of many.

Most of that type were run by existing underworld groups, or represented little more than independent types eking out a living in the underbellies ecosystem. But one group had been bolder. With a credit turnover higher than some of the legitimate places down here many times their size, Varito Varico had made a little name for himself down there as the premier synth spice producer and dealer in the business. Ordinarily an operation like that would have been scooped up long ago, and had the Zaa Fenn had the aptitude to before now Marissa liked to think they would have. Because that was exactly what she was meaning to do today. But it was not going to be clean buyout. Their operation didn't have the money, not even after negotiating with Haro Mothraki on another deal, and in truth it was bad business to pay for something one could acquire in other ways. And while the old Zaan Fenn might not have had the guile, or the guts, Marissa and Preef did,

"I'll keep him talking, he won't know this is different to any other deal until we show him otherwise" Marissa spoke into her earpiece as her speeder touched down at the edge of the docks, cool sun rippling across the waves and drying the air. Preef would be able to keep tabs on the conversation on his end. While Marissa kept the boss busy, he was to break into the operation and make it theirs for the taking. Who exactly had the tougher job that day would be interesting to find out.

Stepping out of the speeder, Marissa was flanked by two newer family members as security, as agreed with Varito,

"But I don't expect any surprises"

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef stood up to his shins in dirty water, listening to the sizzling against his boots and eating the last of his pack of noodles. The noodle and fish shack around the corner had plenty of small fish options that he knew would work great with the noodles, but then the seller couldn't make any promises that the fish weren't caught from Eriadu's own seas. The sizzling around his boots didn't make him regret not taking the fish option.

About twenty feet ahead the foundation of the spice lab's building stood on top of a dozen sturdy concrete pillars that stretched almost ten feet underground. Coastal blocks of large cities needed some extra help or erosion and a couple of storms a year for a century would eventually cause it to collapse. Building on pillars going deep underground was an excellent solution, but it did provide a small crawlspace if you knew where to look for them. As a kid working for the Hutts on Nar Shaddaa, crawling through the sewers and crawlspaces of the Smuggler's Moon was his life. Open up a hatch here, burn through the floorboards there... then rob whoever house it was blind.

Needless to say, he wasn't worried. "I should ask Kel," the Zaa Fenn's premier smuggler, "-to bring some fish back from Manaan or something. It'd go great with these noodles."

Somewhat disappointed he emptied his pack, Preef carelessly threw it into the toxic water and ducked into the crawlspace. He made sure to keep both his blaster as the fusion cutter dry as he made his way forward, looking for the sewer pipes. His plan was simple: Cut a hole next to the sewer pipes and climb up into the bathroom.


@Nightfall

 

[Marissa Hesse]

The whir of Varrito’s speeder dropping out of the sky cut through the rumbling background noise of machinery, jet wash spitting up grime and water from the ground as it lowered itself onto the promenade.

As the doors swung open, Varrito slid his sunglasses onto his face and took a breath as he looked out over the view, the caw of birds over the bay joining the chorus before fading into the distance. From the speeder a pair of armed guards stepped out to flank them on either side, scrappily dressed and armed, they fell in step with Varrito as he walked over to meet Marissa in the centre. She did the same, her coat billowing against the ocean winds as her own family members stood by her side in mirror to Varrito,

“Well, well, well” she could he was sizing her up as he swaggered in toward her, a toothpick rattling around his mouth as he spoke and ran his eyes up and down her. She could hardly help but roll her eyes at the man as he did so “Marissa Zaa Fenn, couldn’t help but think you lot were on the way out, it’s a pleasure to be proven wrong” he continued before taking the stick out of his mouth, stretching out a hand to her. Marissa stood stock still, hands buried in the pockets of her flowing coat that wrapped around her, and didn’t let her eyes slip from his,

“Pleasure is all mine Varrito” she replied coldly, her lips barley parting for any syllable “but you’re right, we’re not gone, if anything we’re looking to expand, into some new markets ideally” she offered only the hint of a smile at the end, ‘that’s where you come in’ was the implicit suggestion there. Varrito took a moment, his charms failing, smarmy smile fading for a moment before whispering to one of his men,

“Bring up the goods”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Meanwhile Preef was pressing the fusion cutter against the durasteel just left of the sewage pipes, making slow but steady progress. Even for the rodian that grew up in sewers and enjoyed the taste of sewer-riped Hutta Shine, having to steady himself with a knee in the toxic waters felt beyond dirty and the sizzling along his boots and pants made him nervous. So far it seemed his pants were waterproof.

A sound from above and Preef instantly stopped. Someone was in the bathroom and Preef could quite clearly hear someone unbuckle his pants and sit down on the toilet. He could've tried to amplify the sound of Marissa's conversation happening in his earpiece, but even that wouldn't have made a difference as he was treated to a symphony of congestion farts and pressure grunts. Someone skipped his coffee this morning.

Kriff, at this rate Preef was never getting up in time to interrupt the deal.



@Nightfall

 

[Marissa Hesse]

As Varrito’s goon returned to the car to fetch the goods, Marissa couldn’t help but glance back at the factory, the clock in her head ticking down with every step the grunt made. She had to buy time, keep all three of them up and close to make the day a success. It was with that in mind that, as they returned with a small case, she stepped in closer to Varrito, so she could look over the briefcases contents alongside him.

At first he looked shocked, intending to demonstrate at a distance. But as Marissa drew near he seemed to ease a bit, she easing back her guards in a show of trust,

“Now, now, just want to be sure your merchandise is as good as we’re told it is” she chided teasingly, trying to keep the tone lighter now so he didn’t clock on to her focus being elsewhere,

“It sells for more than regular market price, and at a fraction of the production cost from the mined stuff” Varrito replied with a sniff “it’s as good as it gets around here”

“So for a shipment of say, a dozen of these, were looking at what?” Marissa asked, holding a spice canister up in the light, peering for imperfections. Varrito clicked his fingers and a goon produced a slight little data pad into her other hand. While she had no true intention to buy, she was certainly going to play the part, and that meant haggling:

“750”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Water was rushed through the pipes just inches from Preef's head as whoever has just finished his symphony of farts flushed the toilet. The rodian waited while the sound of the toxic water biting away at his boots and pants was all that was left. Pff, close call. Switching the on-button for the fusion cutter, Preef pressed it against the durasteel floor exactly where he had left and continued cutting a hole large enough for him to fit through. Uninterrupted this time, it took him about thirty seconds to complete and he carefully lowered the slab of durasteel into the toxic water. "Alright, Preef-" he exhaled and cast his eyes into the light of the bathroom, "-switch to stun," he didn't want to kill the people actually running the lab. Without them it would be nearly impossible to recreate the synthetic spice, after all.

Blaster in hand, the rodian crawled through the hole and put one hand on the door. "Marissa, it might get a bit noisy from now on." he warned his boss as he slowly opened the door and was greeted by three turning heads. "Who are you?" one of them, human, asked as returned a vial and a datapad to the table he was working on. "How did you get in here?"

Instead of replying, Preef raised his blaster and shot a stun-bolt against the human's chest, stunning him instantly and dropping him on the floor. The two others were clearly taken aback and weren't exactly gunslingers themselves, so Preef managed to stun another before the third could even utter a sound. "No, wait!" he begged, not sure if the rodian shot to stun or to kill, but he didn't quite get the desired result as Preef pressed the trigger again and a stun-bolt collided with his nose soon after.

Looking around, Preef didn't see any more scientists or spice cooks and was about to holster his blaster again when a large weequay entered through a side door. "What the-" he turned his head and noticed Preef standing in the middle of the lab, blaster in hand and boots wet and worse for wear, "-Preef Callo?" He asked incrediously, clearly recognizing the Vanguard of the Five Syndicates. What surprised Preef was that the large weequay didn't even bother to draw his blaster and just stepped aside. "Varrito is doing a deal with your boss out front," he said in a complying voice, "I got nothing against the Zaa Fenn."

Hmm, maybe they were approaching the whole takeover business the wrong way? If Marissa and Preef's reputation proceeded them like this then showing up and telling Varrito he worked for them was maybe enough? Either way, so far so good.


@Nightfall

 

[Marissa Hesse]

She caught Preef's note in her ear as she and Varrito began talking price, it was something she'd keep an ear out for, just in case Varrito or his guards managed to hear her muscle moving in,

"500 is the lowest I can do doll" Varrico shot back at her last offer "Any less and we ain't making anything here, just handing it out to spice heads, which is not something a good business man does, I'm sure you understand" he protested in response to her lowball. Happily for the operation, Varrito Varrico seemed to like the sound of his own voice more than most. Half the offers shed made had been met with a sudden string of words like that,

"550 then, its still a tidy sum if we buy in bulk. And assuming it sells well next time we can negotiate something a little more generous" she swapped the datapad back to him with the new total written on, but as she finished her words she left him with a wink. She had no interest on seeing such a deal cashed in, but if it kept him in the game, then there was no harm done, not to her anyhow, when the operation found its way under her thumb.

She watched patiently as Varrito looked out over the bay for a time, clearly running options through his head before turning back to his bodyguards.

All Marissa could do was wait, and improvise from there.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

It wasn't long into Varrito's pondering that Preef exited the lab and joined the meeting. "Lab's clear," he nodded towards Marissa as he and the newly recruited large weequay stared at Varrito's guards. The latter seemed confused, what the kriff was happening? There was a moment where the rodian had feared it would all escalate in a big shoot-out, but none of Varrito's guards made even the slightest movement for their blasters, prompting the rodian the reholster his own. The lab had seen a serious security upgrade in the past months while Varrito tried to rival the strength of the failing Zaa Fenn Crime Family and burst out from underneath their monopolies, but while the doors were durasteel and encoded, no one had bothered securing the crawlspaces...

When Varrito turned his eyes widened in shock. Where did Preef Callo come from? The rodian's acid-eaten boots and pants would make an educated guess easy to hit the mark, though, and the rodian merely shrugged upon recognizing the shocked look. "We managed to rob a Canto Bight casino with just the two of us. Getting into your lab was easy."

Having more or less just taken control of the lab and the unconscious cooks inside all that was left to do was decide whether or not Varrito was valuable enough to be kept around to run it for the Zaa Fenn. That decision was up to Marissa, though.



@Nightfall

 

[Marissa Hesse]

A devilish grin grew on Marissa’s face as he exited the lab and joined them, with a new friend in tow as well. He truly had a way with his work. From a purely pragmatic angle he was an asset the Zaa Fenn could not afford to lose. From a more personal one, well, the acid eaten pants left her perilously close to letting out a rather unfriendly laugh at the sight of his bare legs beneath. She’d buy him a new pair, maybe something that wouldn’t burn through so easily. She let herself feel something like that around perilously few people these days, Preef still held that spot,

“So I gotta say, you got me in a bind you two. You got me good” Varrito began as he picked his jaw up and put it all together. He began to slowly clap realising how easily he had been played. He wasn’t used to that, but he had a respect for it, especially at least now he could boast a little,

“You’re right, it couldn’t have been difficult for the likes of you two. But, I do get to say it took the dynamic duo to pull it off, my ego ain’t entirely bruised” he was surprisingly well spirited. Perhaps it was a play, trying to stay in the good books. Perhaps it was genuine. Either way, the deal Marissa would offer him would be the same,

“So long as you know who the boss is now?” She raised an eyebrow at him. Of course, they could have taken it directly, assigned another scoundrel to lead it and not worry. But Varrito had built this place up into the premiere spice lab it was, and she wasn’t about it let that expertise go to waste when it could make the family a find stack of credits, especially when distribution channels were about to get a whole lot wider,

“That I think I do, Ms Zaa Fenn” he nodded her way,

“Mr Zaa Fenn” he did the same to Preef

“Can I keep the office at least?”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef walked up to Marissa and stopped as they stood shoulder to shoulder to quietly say something to her in relative privacy. "He a message?" he asked, learning more and more of how the underworld works. If they let Varrito keep his office and a decent share of the profits, then the rest of the Eriadu underworld would willingly accept the Zaa Fenn Crime Family as their new overlords. String him up by his thumbs and have Tresshk eat him up, well... that might cause them to revolt. Preef liked the idea of a peaceful transition and he hoped, or rather he expected, Marissa to go the smart route as she always did.

Meanwhile the Zaa Fenn guards she brought motioned for Varrito's guards to disarm themselves and they complied. When facing Marissa Hesse and Preef Callo it was just foolish not to... after all, didn't they ever hear of what happened on Kessel? Preef now made himself a bit more comfortable and even holstered his blaster and pulled a pack of cigarra's from his pocket. He didn't used to smoke, but staying too long in one place -especially a civilized one- got him craving for something to control his restlessness. Smoking had been that cure.

Careless in the knowledge he could outdraw Varrito even in his sleep, Preef lit a cigarra and started puffing it. It was a typical Outer Rim sight. The gunslinger and his cigarra. Too bad they were on a largely urban planet.


@Nightfall

 

[Marissa Hesse]

“A polite one, yes” she whispered back to Preef before letting him step back and light up his cigara. There were a whole slew of minor criminal industries across the Eriadu, as there was on every planet. But here, Varrito was a known quantity to most, successful, rarely raided, and poised to make it big. Until now though, of course.

She smiled at Varrito for a moment, then replied,

“So long as there’s a report in my office by Monday. You and I will have plans to make” and so, the Zaa Fenn were in charge. Hopefully a little show of mercy would make the rest of the minor producers fall in line quick smart, ready to keep their roles and spare themselves the trouble of sitting independent. For the smallest it would probably even benefit them, a larger pool, the same share but more credits. It only made sense.

And on a move like this she was glad she had Preef with her. Some of the new ones could be a little too bloodthirsty. Something that worked on occasions, but that their operation needed both. And she’d sooner cut a deal then dig a grave, spared everyone quite a lot of danger. Not that she hadn’t seen it before,

“I’ll see ya then, Ms, I’m already dreaming up a few options ya might like” he nodded his head profusely, and wiped away the bead of sweat that ran down his forehead, already back to the forced charisma that made him such a known quantity around here. She nodded and let him leave back to the office, sending her own men alongside to keep an eye on him and his lab, at least for the first day, make sure no funny business was happening in the background.

It was with a satisfied sigh that she turned back to the speeder and to Preef,

And to his trousers that one might generously now describe as ‘acid-washed’,

“I owe you a new pair I imagine”

@Eccles