Called to the Board

[Voren Makr]

Voren was large, imposing man, and his filled the Bantha Leather office chair like a boulder. The entire board room was empty save for him, Ari-Ani and two Security Guards, stood just inside the door.

A single glass of water sat in front of the chair two down from Vorens right - in which their guest would sit. Confirming the time, Voren nodded to Ari-Ani.

The large man waited, brushing the sleeve of his white suit. In the top pocket lay a Data-Dagger cylinder, and his cufflinks concealed communication jammers. He had no other weapons, his large form, physical prowess and location serving as sufficient defence.

A notification appeared on his screen, and his stowed the data pad away in a small compartment in his chair - their guest had arrived.


@Black Noise @EmilyHuene

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Please don't be late. Please don't be late. Oh please don't be late."

The doors of the corporate building burst open as young Rico Redella came barreling inside. Miss Redella, commonly referred to as Red Haired Rico, was one of the several new employees to Czerka. She'd been hired during their recent campaigning as a shuttle pilot, and thanks to a certain lobbyist she'd been hired as the CEO's personal driver. Though she was a strong and capable pilot, Rico knew the only real reason she got the job was because of her looks.

As always, she was wearing her deep red flight suit that zipped up the front. It left little to the imagination, which made her feel terribly self-conscious whenever she went out. Because of this reason, she wore a black overcoat that buttoned all the way to her neck. Today however, she was still struggling to get the coat on as she was tugging her arm down the sleeve while entering the building.

Rico swiped get ID against the security station and was quickly let through; both guards would turn and watch her to the elevator. Once she got a second to herself she would finish sliding the jacket over her shoulders and then button the coat up. It was then she realized she'd forgotten her matching cap in her shuttle.

"Crap crap crap!" She exclaimed. "Oh I hope no one notices." Rico looked at herself in the mirror of the elevator shaft and did her best to flatten her hair and make herself appear professional and out together.

Once she reached the top floor she left the lift and headed down the hallway where she saw two more guards and someone whom she did not recognize.

"Um...hello?" She would call as she got closer. "Am I in the right place?"

Rico was not the most social of people, or confident for that matter, so seeing two armed guards blocking her way to the meeting room made her feel like she was headed straight for trouble.

 

[Black Noise]

Ari-Ani slipped in behind the woman, using one hand to close the door behind her as she replied to the timid question,
"You are in the right place, don't worry. Please, take a seat."
There was a chill in the dark haired woman's voice, a swift bite like the northern wind. It spoke to the obvious, Ari-Ani was not a woman of forgiveness.

In one hand, Ari-Ani held a shuttle log. All Czerka shuttles automatically logged their visits on worlds, it was standard computing procedure for all vessels. Similarly, all loading and unloading of cargo was logged in Czerka shipping manifests, as well as shuttle pilots. In Ari-Ani's hand was a shuttle log, and Rico's name was clearly the only one on the log. Without a hint of subtly, Ari-Ani scrolled through the logs, leaning on the door to the exit as she did so.

Armed to the teeth, the Director of Security held every weapon she owned draped from her body, each one bared obviously, included her lightsaber. As she leaned against the door, Ari-Ani spoke.
"I'm not going to tell you why you're here, you're going to guess. Then, after guessing correctly, you're going to explain yourself to Mr.Voren and myself."
Setting down the Datapad, Ari-Ani slid it over to Rico. One of the last entries was a loading of a mysterious cargo, and a visit to Korriban. There was no offloading log.

Looking Rico directly in the eye, Ari spoke once more, her dead eyes boring into the other woman's soul,
"Understand?"

 

[EmilyHuene]

"You are in the right place, don't worry. Please, take a seat."

The room had an eerie silence to it that made Rico feel very uncomfortable. Now she really felt like she'd done something wrong. She shook off the feeling and took a seat. The only thing Rico had ever done wrong was gambled money she didn't have. And it cost her several embarrassing years as a cocktail waitress to pay up for. Hell, she was still paying those lowlife mobsters every now and then.

She looked over to Voren, and then back to the strange woman who obviously had no issue flaunting around her weapons. Rico owned a gun. Kept it safe on the cabin should she ever need it. Could she fire it?...No. But how hard could it be? Point at the bad guy and pull the trigger. Right?

"I'm not going to tell you why you're here, you're going to guess. Then, after guessing correctly, you're going to explain yourself to Mr. Voren and myself."

"Wait what is this about?" She asked suddenly. "Aren't I here for a job? That's what you hired me for isn't it?"

The girl slipped the pad her way and she hesitantly reached for it. Korriban. Oh.

"Understand?"

Rico pushed back in her seats and held her hands up defensively, "Hey I was just dropping off a shipment. I flew in. I got the paper signed. I left."

There was a little more to the story, a certain girl that she wasn't supposed to talk about. Some Sith Acolyte who damaged some of the goods she was delivering. Rico wanted nothing to do with it. But the other girl had a lightsaber. You didn't say no to a lightsaber.

 

[Black Noise]

Ari-Ani's teeth gritted ever so slightly, then relaxed. In her head, she repeated 'Patience, patience Ari, once more.' Reaching for her lightsaber, she withdrew the double ended hilt and twirled it between her fingers. It was almost mesmerizing, how the weapon flittered between her fingers as if attached by invisible strings. Sighing, she spoke again.

"Czerka does not deal with Sith, you know this, and yet you willingly took a shipment of goods to Korriban. Someone is going to die for this, and right now you have a very, very small chance to have a say in who it is that loses their life. You can tell me EVERYTHING, right now, or I can deal with this in my own manner. So, you have one, last, chance."

Ari-Ani was not well known for her patience, rumors of her utilizing the Force to choke people, throw men and women around, and even cause 'disappearances' were fairly common. Although nothing could ever be proven, her dark presence spoke more than a thousand words about all those rumors.

Rico walked a fine line, whether she realized it or not. Ari hoped, for the girl's sake, that she figured out really quickly who was scarier, the Sith or Czerka.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Seeing the lightsaber activate made Rico's eyes light up, and her heart stop. Her whole body froze and she didn't even feel the tears coming down her cheeks. She was staring at her own death. No. She was staring at death.

So this is how it was. Not even a month into her job and she was already on someone's hit list. Forget being fired she was literally going to die. It was probably just a scare tactic, but that didn't occur to the girl right then.

"Czerka does not deal with Sith, you know this, and yet you willingly took a shipment of goods to Korriban. Someone is going to die for this, and right now you have a very, very small chance to have a say in who it is that loses their life. You can tell me EVERYTHING, right now, or I can deal with this in my own manner. So, you have one, last, chance."

"I'm sorry!" The girl blurted out. "I didn't know! I didn't know!" Rico pleadingly slapped her hands on the table trying to somehow grasp her freedom. "I needed money. I saw a job and I took it. I didn't know there were rules against that. Please!"

Rico looked away from the frightening woman and to the man sitting a few chairs down. He looked so unamused. Like he didn't even care what happened to her. She felt so expendable. And that's when she realized how alone she really was.

"It was just a job," she continued to plead. "I picked up the boxes. I flew them to Korriban. My contact said he'd pay me a good sum because no one flies out that way. I braved it. I'm a good flyer. Honest I am. I flew past the Border Alliance and I just dropped off the cargo. Honest."

She then choked on her words as the tears made it harder to talk. "Please. It wasn't my fault. There was a girl. She signed the papers. She threatened me. Told me to tell everyone I met with someone else. Someone named Rolland." Rico pointed to the database where it showed the forged signature. "She was just trying to screw someone else over. None of my business. I dropped off the cargo and got paid. Easy. You can have it. I can get the money. Please please. You have to believe me. I'd never do something to jeopardize my position here. I need this job. Please."

She then got really quiet, "I can't go back to those gangsters. They'll kill me...or worse. Please. Please."

She was crying so hard she couldn't even see straight. She rubbed at her eyes and kept her head lowered. She couldn't believe she'd been do stupid. It was just a job. It was just a job....

 

[Black Noise]

Ari-Ani stepped back as the flood of words almost erupted from the smaller woman. A sly grin spread across her face, playing across her features like a pair of wild wolves. Her lightsaber was away in a flash, and she shook her head. Placing her hands at her hips, Ari-Ani looked first to Voren, then to the girl. Ultimately, it was the CEO's decision as to whether or not this girl was allowed to walk out of the room alive, let alone with a job or not.

Ari-Ani was not known for her impulse control, but at that moment, she had very little impulse to kill the woman. Slap her across the face and scream at her for crying? Yes. However, a better idea slipped into her head. Leaning against the door, cutting off all escape, the dark eyed woman spoke once more. Her voice sounded exceedingly annoyed, and it held no inch of kindness. However, it did not hold malice either.

"Oh shut up and stop crying, it's not going to help you. Now listen up, you can look at this one of two ways. One, you wasted Czerka materials and created a link from Czerka to the Sith. That is unacceptable. But there's another option, two, you could see this as Czerka simply invested those goods in you in order to create a better employee. Now, if you want option two to be your reality, listen closely."

Ari-Ani stepped forward and pushed the datapad towards Rico once more, flipping through the screen and tapping an empty communication screen. Grinning cruelly, she continued speaking.

"You could contact this person you dropped the goods off to, tell them to come here, tell them anything you need to in order to get 'Rolland' to come to our little meeting. We'll 'talk' to her and find out everything about this, and you'll walk away with an even more secure job with Czerka. You made a mistake, but now you have a chance to fix it, earn our trust again, you see? You wouldn't need their name to contact them, just the same contact information you used the first time when you visited them on Korriban."

 

[Voren Makr]

It was not that often that the CEO of Czerka concerned himself with the poor practice of his staff, indeed had Rico not been his Pilot, he wouldn't have taken a personal interest in her transgression. Voren listened closely as his Director of Security terrified the Pilot, her threats unabashed in their nature. As Rico blabbed out a confession, Voren rose to his feet, drawing to his full height as he did so.

Silently, the 6 foot 7 man looked at the two security guards by the door, uttering but one word ''Leave.'' which was obeyed with haste. He continued to walk around the room, circling behind his chair and standing facing the shutters that covered the rear windows, looking up at the Czerka Logo on the wall, the words ''Work with Pride, Work with Czerka.'' carved underneath the symbol.

Voren was a man who prided himself on remaining clean, and as such he never got directly involved in genuine criminal activities that took place in the galaxy, by or with Czerka resources and members. He was only aware that such activities took place, and was not aware of the specifics - and it was for this reason that he took such an interest in this case. Rico had taken an unnecessarily dangerous risk, and it had to be taken care of.

He considered his course of action with a deliberate pause, he could kill her, here and now. Or he could warn her, and allow her to serve the Company. Voren made up his mind: ''Do as the Security Director asks.'' his response came bluntly, before he continued ''As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, as soon as you arrange what the Director requires, you never went to Korriban, you are a scared little girl, thankful to work for such a benevolent company.''

Voren walked around, standing behind the Ladies chair as he spoke once more ''Do anything like this again, and Director Ani will be the least of your concerns.'' the large man concluded, walking back to his chair, and sitting down, before facing it away from Ari-Ani and Rico. He picked up his data-pad, and started going through the reports coming out of Tatooine.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Oh shut up and stop crying, it's not going to help you. Now listen up, you can look at this one of two ways. One, you wasted Czerka materials and created a link from Czerka to the Sith. That is unacceptable. But there's another option, two, you could see this as Czerka simply invested those goods in you in order to create a better employee. Now, if you want option two to be your reality, listen closely."

Rico sniffled several times as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. There was hope after all. At this point she'd gotten into a lot of trouble. Trouble she didn't want. If there was any chance at redemption, any chance to keep her job, she'd take it. Rico looked up at the woman timidly as she flipped through the incriminating datapad that practically held her future.

"You could contact this person you dropped the goods off to, tell them to come here, tell them anything you need to in order to get 'Rolland' to come to our little meeting. We'll 'talk' to her and find out everything about this, and you'll walk away with an even more secure job with Czerka. You made a mistake, but now you have a chance to fix it, earn our trust again, you see? You wouldn't need their name to contact them, just the same contact information you used the first time when you visited them on Korriban."

Rico looked down at the screen as it waited for her to put in the contact info. Could she do that? Technically spaking yes. She could contact the person. But what would she say? What could she possibly use as motivation for the Sith to leave the comfort of her academy and fly all the way out here? Plus, could she lie straight to her face? If the Acolyte was any kind of smart she'd know it was clearly a trap.

It was then that Voren moved next and would stand out from his chair. He ushered away his guards and left her alone with the two frightening executives. The large man walked around the room saying nothing, which made him seem all the more scary. Rico stayed silent, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. This was the moment. Her fate was already decided; she wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear what came next.

''Do as the Security Director asks. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, as soon as you arrange what the Director requires, you never went to Korriban, you are a scared little girl, thankful to work for such a benevolent company.''

He was forgiving her! She let out a soft sigh as she thanked the gods for her luck. All she had to do know was get this Sith female to come. That would be the hard part, and the danger wasn't quite over yet. Rico could very well still end up dead....

''Do anything like this again, and Director Ani will be the least of your concerns.''

"Yes, sir!" she blurted out. "Thank you, sir. I will, sir!"

Rico would then look down at the datapad and sniffled again. She rubbed at her eyes and messed with her hair. Her eyes were probably bloodshot by this point. Oh well. Nothing she could do about that. Rico thought for a moment about the number and then typed in the contacts address. She began to type.

I've got a mission you might be interested in. I know I can trust you. Come to Czerka. We'll be rich....
~Little miss red​

"How's that?" she would ask Ari-Ani as she slid the pad around to try and get her approval. She knew if she sent too much detail the lie wouldn't be too strong. It needed to be simple. It needed to be believable.

 

[Voren Makr]

Seeing the Datapad come out, the CEO stood from his chair, and walked towards the door. Walking past Ari-Ani as he did so, he simply nodded ''Continue Director.'' he said clearly, walking out of the door which would seal behind him as he did so. He had no interest in being in the same room as the Director as she dealt with how Rico would bring the Sith to them. Walking through the building, he returned to his office, to focus on matters of greater concern.