Ask Nar Shaddaa Dancing With The Stars

[Emryc Thorne]

A personal invitation from Preef Callo. Emryc stared at the comm for a long time when it first came in. A sideways glance was cast towards the stash of Preef comics he owned. He looked back at the message and began to chuckle. No one was around to hear it. No one was around to see it. But it happened. It was a genuine laugh as he thought back to his days as a teen running small time spice smuggling jobs.

Emryc was back in his armor complete with helmet and modulated functions to distort his voice. He had gone public on the Holo address and he couldn’t afford any slip ups with his identity. Preef was one of the very few that knew who he was and, as a result, held some form of leverage. Emryc filed the thought away for now. He would worry about that if it ever became a problem.

He found himself at the ground floor of a tall building on Nar Shaddaa. Preef Callo supposedly owned the entire top penthouse level. Emryc stood at the lobby, a twi’lek comming in upstairs.

“Mr. Callo,” She said, “I have...Spicelord here to see you. Can I let him up?”

The camera would flash over to show Preef a familiar helmeted face. Emryc knew he was on camera and gave a casual jut of his chin as the twi’lek waited for confirmation. Emryc had been searched and they found no weapons on him. He didn’t need them. He did, however, hope to walk away with one.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Since last week Preef found himself in the luxurious position to own a rather extravagant penthouse. It was a stark contrast from his ranch on Takodana, but he couldn't exactly say he hated it either. He had guards, servants, private dancers and dedicated ship mechanics to make sure his personal ship was always in the best shape possible. The rodian himself was nearly spread out on a large divan and was being attended to by two Twi'leks that weren't dressed modestly. It was, quite frankly, the exact thing Preef had dreamt of being a small boy.

Only thing missing were... Kriff, had he really lost that many people? His parents were dead, obviously. The Bounty Hunter that had practically raised him through his teens had been dead now for longer than Preef had known him. His sister was alive, though, Preef hoped, she disappeared on him after they rescued her from the FWA prison ship.. bit like how Kholvar had just disappeared. Not a lot of people left from his childhood..

"Just go," he regretted it immediately, but he still waved the Twi'leks away. There wasn't any time for fooling around anyway. Today was the day that Spicelord was supposed to come visit. The HoloNet had been full with chatter since the announcement about a new interplanetary government, mostly with people agreeing, which didn't quite fit with the Five Syndicate plans for the region.

After all.. the more government layers, the more laws and the more scrutiny. Preef liked the Outer Rim planets just as they were: Individual frontier worlds too suspicious of each other to help hunt down outlaws and too poor or incompetent to track anyone outside their sector. He was certain that if Emryc Thorne's plan was to make the Outer Rim a "civilized" place with competent law enforcement that the Five Syndicates would do all in their power to ruin those plans. But Preef knew Emryc Thorne and the "Spicelord" to be one and the same, which begged the question: Was this the end of the Spicelord, or was there something else afoot?

The rodian's servants had prepared the parlor with nice comfortable chairs, playing Preef's favorite music and a good amount of the expensive brand of Iridonian whiskey and good Corvus cigarra's. So, when the receptionist chirped, Preef nodded to the servant that had answered her call. "Where are those girls?" he suddenly cried, looking around frantically but not seeing the scantily clad Twi'leks anywhere. "Tell them to get ready!"

By the time Emryc would reach the top floor, Preef would be sitting in one of the two parlor chairs with a cigarra already lit in his mouth, "Welcome, Spicelord, to my new abode."

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc stepped into the repulsorlift that took him all the way to the top, taking in sight of the lavish building. He had only dreamed of meeting the infamous Preef Callo, and it was about to happen in just a few short moments. The helmet hid his expressions, fixed in a permanent state of cold, piercing steel. The helmet and armor served its purpose to exude a menacing aura that he preferred for his ‘Spicelord’ identity. His exploits at Kessel had certainly been embellished enough to get his name out there even more.

The half Sephi strode into the penthouse, spotting his hero relaxing and smoking a cigarra. Emryc didn’t slow his stride until he took the proffered seat, glancing over at the spread of whiskey and cigarra that probably cost more than his speeder bike. He spoke as he reached over to pour himself a glass.

“Mr. Callo,” His mechanized voice cut in, “You are shorter than I expected,” The glass filled to a generous portion before he took it and eased back in his seat. Emryc was careful not to let his starstruck state of being bleed through. There was a mental switch flip and he eased right into becoming Spicelord.

“Let me start by reassuring you that we have mutual interests,” The helmet stared in the direction of the Rodian as Emryc loosely held the glass in his gloved hand, “If we want the families to come into power, into true power, they need to appear helpful to the general public. Tensions are high with the Jedi and the Sith and it’s the perfect time to capitalize on that.”

Emryc purposely didn’t take a sip yet, not till he saw Preef doing the same. He paused for a moment before speaking again, “So you don’t need to worry about disposing of me just yet.”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

size=3] Spicelord arrived in full armor, which internally startled the rodian. His gunbelt with his trusted blaster hung from the side of his chair and he figured he could grab it in time if needed, but he was expecting the grey-eyed man and not the armored foe. As such, when the Spicelord reassured him that they had mutual interests the rodian visibly relaxed and took a large sip from his own glass of Iridonian whiskey.

Then those words. "If we want the families to come into power." Preef only knew that name to be used for the Crymorah and it sure has kark wasn't a monicker for the Five Syndicates combined. Good, he thought, and puffed on his cigarra while his mind did the turns and cycles.

"You're smarter than you look," he said pensively and perhaps even as a somewhat passive aggressive reaction to the comment about him being shorter than expected. Preef was torn. He knew from his time in the Crimson Dawn that you could make an incredibly amount of credits in corrupting politicians and 'laws of civilization' but at the same time he didn't see much of a role in that for himself. He enjoyed the lawlessness. In a certain way, he figured, bringing the families into power could mean shackling himself. Was it worth that much to him? Should he put the Zaa Fenn and the other crime families before himself?"Tell me how you would capitalize on that."

He took another large sip of his whiskey and leaned forward.



@Sreeya [/size]

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc watched Preef visibly relax and sip from his drink. He paused for a moment before drawing the drink up, lifting part of the helmet to take a sip. It was rather inconvenient, but he couldn’t risk his face being spotted here. Emryc set the glass down, considering the various options they had.

“The rhetoric about the Jedi and Sith getting the whole galaxy caught up in their feud is hitting home with the general public,” Emryc explained. The average civilian only saw terrorist attacks and heard about Jedi and Sith. People chose sides, and those that chose to side with Jedi inevitably invited Sith attention and vice versa, “Sullust can be spun as a show of Jedi aggression and the inciting of war. The Sith attacks can be considered retaliation for planets getting into bed with the Jedi.”

He had developed his platform with careful thought, “Who better to be the backbone of structure and order than those that speak for the people? The families will have a larger foothold on the galaxy if their influence expands. That influence can expand only if they can be seen as the saviors of the forgotten independent systems,” Emryc knew Preef liked the wild nature of the Syndicates and Hutt space. However, they needed to evolve into more subtle and organized crime to truly hold the cards and gain a foothold in the galaxy.

“We start by getting rid of nonsense that objectively makes us look bad,” Preef would likely notice Emryc’s use of the word ‘us’, “I’ve gotten Blackwell into power in Thyferra. That’s been a lucrative goldmine that’s eluded them for years. In exchange I got a massive discounted contract deal to leverage,” He took another sip from the whiskey before he continued, “I think it should be used to mass produce cheap droids to replace slave labor.”

Droids were normally expensive to produce, and the ROI was significantly worse than free slave labor. However, the deal he had cut with Blackwell could help offset that and start to clean up the Syndicate image a little. It was ultimately a small price to pay to get more people bought into supporting them in power.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef blinked twice, "I thought Sullust was Jedi aggression?" the rodian didn't quite understand how massacring so many rangers and other innocent people could be retaliation for what Preef had witnessed to be an utterly incompetent Jedi Order. Both on Sullust and Kessel the Jedi had faltered and retreated after first contact. Emryc wouldn't see his doubts about that spin, however, for Preef had learned the valuable skill of 'Sabacc face' after that human cleaned him out a couple of years ago.

What he armored man said next peaked the rodian's interest. "How cheap we thinking?" his question was too direct to be able to still feign indifference and made clear that Preef was very interested in ending slavery on Kessel. This interest had nothing to do with the Jedi Order, mind you, for Preef's keen negotiating skills had them retreat from Kessel without any such promise from the Rodian or the Pyke Syndicate. Instead, it had all to do with Preef's own history and him finally being in a position he could do something about it.

Droids were expensive in initial cost, but once you got them there they can go on for at least twenty years if they get regular maintenance. Slaves were... well, even the strongest among them usually only last a few years and pirates and slavers were less dependable to bring in new ones with the FWA and the Republic expanding in the last couple of years. There was no denying that if the Five Syndicates wanted to keep manufacturing spice in the future then they'd have to switch to alternatives to slave labor... Spicelord could turn out to be the answer to a problem that wasn't even on the radar of most crimelords yet.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc grinned beneath the helmet when Preef mentioned thinking Sullust was Jedi aggression, “I know that. You know that. But the Rangers and FWA are still convinced the sun shines out their ass,” He said before taking another sip. His gaze flickered over to the cigarra. He would have to stash it away and smoke it when he didn’t have to wear a damn helmet, "But that's my problem to worry about."

When Preef asked how cheap, Emryc reached for a datapad he had brought just for this. He slid it across the table to the Rodian, “You won’t find a deal like that anywhere,” It was true - Thyferra was a massive win for Blackwell, “Less than a third of the cost of the average worker droid. And they have thrown in a five year warranty on all fixes.”

Emryc thought for a long moment, gazing off slightly past Preef, “Your problem will be the power dynamics that come from the slaves. Many of them are from planets where the slaves are being used as leverage for compliance. That gets lost with a shift towards droids, so there will need to be other means to...inspire continued collaboration with said planets.”

Pyke and other Syndicates would be caught up on that hurdle more than anything. Erasing slavery wouldn’t be as simple as a quick replacement.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Looking at the datapad even Preef Callo could see this deal and know it was the best the Five Syndicate would ever get, but while he read and the gears in his head turned in their familiar speed, Emryc laid bare an issue that wasn't to be underestimated. It was true that the people of Honoghr, Formos, Sleheyron and Nimban were kept in line with the sheer threat of abducting villages and families and pressing them into slavery on Kessel. Without that fear of slavery these words would try to resist syndicate influence or worse: join the Free World's Alliance.

"You've thought this through, spicelord-" Preef smiled, put both the datapad as his glass back on the table and stood up. "Pallo!" he cried and a mere second later an old weequay appeared and bowed, "Yes, Mr Callo?"

"Close the door and guard it with your life. If anyone is to enter without my permission, then let it be known I'll personally shoot them and then toss them out of the window." The weequay's eyes grew wide for he had never in his life or during his employ in the rodian's service, which had only been a week, heard Preef make such a distinct and uncompromising threat. "Right away, Mr Callo." He knew better than to disobey the legendary gunslinger and the door was closed behind him.

Once they were assured to be alone, Preef sat back down and returned to puffing his cigarra. "The whiskey tastes better without the helmet, spicelord." A smug grin appeared on the rodian's face as he tried to blow a ring of smoke, and failed, which consequently distorted his grin into a grimace before he returned to the conversation. "When I-" he paused and his eyes shifted to the top right corner for a moment while he was lost in thought, "The one that took me away from this moon also ended my time as a slave. I owed him my life although he wouldn't take it as his and I guess that made me love him." his death was also the catalyst that drove a young rodian into a life of crime. Preef remembered the bounty hunter that had taught him to shoot and enjoy the little things and it never failed to bring a calming feeling over him.. not so much when he remembered the man's violent death. "What I'm trying to say is, is that if a Hutt had set me free I'd still hate them for what they put me through. The one that freed me wasn't a Hutt."


@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc had indeed thought this through. He was meticulous in how he operated no matter what the mission. He observed Preef curiously as the Rodian called for his guard to close the door and ensured no one came through. Emryc considered Preef’s words, wondering how many hidden cameras there were in the room. In the end, however, Emryc adopted a different tactic entirely.

Instead of reaching for a cigarra, he used the Force to float it over. It was a subtle gesture, but one that would remind Preef that this was a Sith he was dealing with in the end. One that could bring all kinds of devastation as he had witnessed first hand on Sullust. His fingers casually grabbed the cigarra from the air as his other hand lifted the helmet off and set it on the table.

Instead of a cold helmet, piercing silver eyes gazed into the buggy ones of the Rodian, “I will need to be the face of the operations,” Emryc flicked the lighter to ignite the cigarra, exhaling a plume of smoke, “We will need to go public with the joint ventures with Blackwell. In the meantime, have your people begin to take part in charitable events on the planets that funnel the slaves so they are a shoe in when the time comes.”

“None of this can overtly trace back to you,” Emryc said, “Once it’s said and done, the family will be in power in these planets and I’ll be the face to love and cheer for,” He grinned at the Rodian, “It’s far more appealing than yours, after all.”

Emryc lazily blew a few smoke rings in succession, “And in return you will help me with my galactic ventures within the independent systems and, more specifically, with Crimson Dawn.”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Several alarm bells starting ringing for the rodian. Not only did Emryc take a dig at the rodian's less than near-human status, something that reminded him of the old Imperial values of the Sith that ruled Eriadu and stood in stark contrast with the Five Syndicates, but he also started talking about 'we', told Preef what to do with Crymorah assets and put himself as the figurehead of massive criminal operation. To make things worse: He tried to make it sound like it was all just doing favors and that he wanted something in return. He didn't ask for it.. he more or less demanded it. And why? Because he had a discount on droids and could use the Force to lift a cigarra?

The arrogance of these Force users knew no bounds, but Preef had learned one or two things in his cooperation with them and didn't show any this to Emryc, through the Force or otherwise. Initially he had liked the idea, but there were factors the Sith didn't account for. First, the fact that Kessel was under control of the Pyke Syndicate and it hadn't even been two years since the Kessel War and the reaffirmation of said control by the other syndicates. Preef could buy an army of droids all he wanted, but if he moved on Kessel now he'd be facing the other syndicates as well... something about how rising too quickly would move the others to shoot you down.

"These sound like long-term plans," the rodian finally replied, which they were. Preef couldn't press for any of this without first becoming the actual boss of the Crymorah Syndicate or had settled into that role. "I'm not in control of Kessel, nor do I currently have the funds to buy an army of droid laborers." The rodian shrugged, whatever he felt about the actual plan was now limited to his actual influence and pull within the Five Syndicates. His right hand was still close to his trusted blaster in case Emryc didn't take his reply well. "What I can do is work to get you full support of the Five Syndicates, providing we still rule the planets you'll claim to represent."

Maybe if Preef was already the boss of the Crymorah Syndicate and could use all their assets to benefit Emryc's plans, then his answer could've been different. Right now he only had the assets of the Zaa Fenn and that wouldn't be enough to sway the mighty syndicates to relinquish their public role and stature in favor of having a Sith function as the representative and figurehead of their precious worlds. The Hutts, for one, would never agree to it and that would mean a war.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc grinned at his words, sensing the skepticism as clear as day, “Of course they are long term plans. I wouldn’t waste a meeting with you to discuss what small thing I want to do next week,” He leaned forward in his seat, “You have more influence in Kessel than you think,” Emryc called the datapad he had passed to Preef before, switching it to a message he had received. He slid it back over to Preef, “Pyke has been trying to reach out to me since the spice mine incident, and they're clearly desperate since they know I've been running in your circle more than I ever have theirs,” His name had gotten around since that whole mine debacle, “The associates and people have a lot of gripes about Carr Pyke and her ability to protect Kessel’s assets. You know they’re singing more songs about you than usual over there?”

For all of Preef’s fame, he was a rather cautious man. If he didn’t act on things soon, the opportunity wouldn’t present itself again, “I think you have a staging ground to at least invite their crime lords to the table. There are a few of them that are beginning to question Carr’s way of doing things.”

Emryc considered the droid army point as well, “It was never intended to be a one time bulk purchase to outfit the entire planet,” He agreed, “What you need right now are optics. You can very well go in and replace the mining facility that I was at with droids and that is good enough for the show of good faith in how Kessel is changing,” It also avoided grappling with the larger issue of the slaves being used as leverage. Most of the slaves from that particular mine were old and decrepit anyway, “Your optics improve, you get some crime lords on your side because production is better than it has ever been and it only goes up from there. In your war with Pyke, Kessel will be a battle Carr will simply have to lose.”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef was on the verge of taking down Gori Xaa Hafven and claim the position of Crymorah boss, but apparently he still underestimated his reputation and reach. Emryc clearly had a better grasp and just like he had always allowed Marissa to take the lead in planning heists, so was he inclined now to go with the young Sith's plan as well. "Hmmm," he rolled the cigarra over in his mouth, "The Falleen Council would chew out Xar if I managed to get a foothold on Kessel with the families where his Four Syndicate invasion failed." he grinned thinking about the large Xar, leader of the mighty Black Sun, standing before the Falleen Council with tears in his eyes over their harsh words. Kriff, that'd be the second major slap in the face for him and no victories of not in the past six years... someone was bound to step in soon.

Needless to say, Preef liked this plan of phasing the Pykes out of the Kessel by simply making the ringleaders and crimelords in charge pledge to join the Crymorah instead. Being so bold had a certain panache that Preef was eager to show in his new position. He'd be taking assets from the Pykes and destroying the Black Sun's reputation.. if he was smart he could even support a challenger to Xar's rule. Preef eyed Emryc with keen interest.. he might- no, the challenger cannot be Force sensitive, that'd break ancient tradition. "I like it. I can buy two-hundred droids, put them to work in a Kessel mine-" because Emryc was right there, too, no one on the ground would refuse him and Carr Pyke was notorious for always being out in space, smuggling, instead of overseeing her operations on Kessel. -then we make ourselves and Blackwell look good by phasing out slavery." and the Jedi Order look bad because instead of the peaceful option, the self-proclaimed peacekeepers had attacked and murdered employees of 'Kessel Medicinal Spice Conglomerate" to try and force the same result. "Although," he sucked on the cigara for a bit while he pondered on Emryc's previous words, "I guess you want to share the credit between yourself and Blackwell. Keep my name out of it."

Preef tried to remember the dealings of the Crimson Dawn. He thought he understood the dealings of Vivienne Donatade better now that he was older. She was someone that always kept to the shadows while there were only few mega-buildings going up on the urbanized Core worlds that she wasn't involved in personally. High payout without exposure.. that was the crimelord's dream... perhaps that was how Preef should be looking at things too.


@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc could tell the gears were turning in Preef’s mind. The skepticism that was there before began to melt away as Emryc laid out an actionable plan. He stared at Preef, smoking from his cigarra as the man silently thought over everything. For a moment it appeared as if he were about to pitch an idea, but he instead shifted focus to the Kessel droids. Emryc nodded in response, agreeing with the plan on bringing Blackwell in.

“Yes, the credit would have to overtly be taken by Blackwell and I,” He nodded, “Otherwise Blackwell’s name would be tarnished on grounds of coercion or fraud,” Preef was thankfully intelligent enough to know what it meant to hold power without having to be loud about it. The man’s reputation already preceded him, he could afford to forego this particular instance.

He thought for a moment as the cigarra smoke plumed from his nostrils. Emryc reached over to drink from the whiskey again, happy to have the helmet gone.

“What influences do you have over Droid Gotra?” He asked after a moment, thinking purely for his own interests at that point. While he wanted access to Crimson Dawn for the artifacts, his main interests were around mass producing droids.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

The credit would "overtly" be taken by Emryc and the Blackwell megacorporation. Preef tried his best to remind himself again of Donatade and to a lesser extent even Marissa. They didn't claim credit, but still raked in quite the profits, perhaps moreso than the obvious robbers and thugs. If Preef did this, would they be proud and recognize his growing smarts? Most likely, after all, had he not already orchestrated the Xaa Hafven downfall in a similar manner? Sure, he had left his calling card with that armed robbery, but he hadn't actually done any of the legwork now had he...

Emryc's next words surprised him, though. "The droid gotra?" What he knew of these free-fought droids living in the Coruscant's lower levels is that the Mothraki Crime Family often employed them as muscle, but he doubted whether the 'droid emancipation party' would look kindly at the idea of using droids as spice mine slaves. As such, Preef exhaled suddenly, as if he found the thought funny but not enough to really laugh. "They'd have us pay wages to those Blackwell droids," he explained his sudden mirth, "We-" meaning the Crymorah Syndicate "-use them as muscle on Coreworld operations. Easier to hide in plain sight, but we don't use them much out here in the Rim. They're-" how to put this nicely, "-difficult to control. Programming makes logic loopholes, makes them unpredictable."

No, Preef wouldn't want the Droid Gotra even knowing about their plans to crew the spice mines with droids. They saw things more black and white, would probably rush to Kessel to 'free their brothers' without paying any mind to the consequences. Not like sentients, you see... not like Jedi, either.. the droids might succeed.


@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc frowned slightly as Preef explained about Droid Gotra. He hadn’t dealt with the group before and assumed them to be a part of the Syndicates. They would certainly pose as a blocker to his eventual goals of amassing droids. Emryc filed the thought away from now, deciding he would tackle it later.

“I think we have a path forward then,” Emryc said after a moment, “You will meet with Pyke Crime Lords to get them to come over. Then we’ll buy the initial batch of droids and do a PR campaign around showing how we’re cleaning up slavery, blah blah,” He took another drag from the cigarra and blew out smoke.

Emryc met Preef’s buggy gaze, a grin gracing his lips, “There is also the matter of my payment for my assistance with the mines,” One of Preef’s personal guns with an autograph.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

"yes, yes," the rodian nodded to confirm the plan they had agreed on. Freeing some slaves would get the Jedi Order off his back, taking control of some of the Kessel mines would increase the Crymorah's powerbase and authority within the Five Syndicates and some positive PR never hurt anyone. All in all a good plan.

Now, their meeting had two reasons. First, Preef wanted the comfort of knowing whether or not Spicelord was going to screw them over with his FWA-representation scheme. It seemed that he wasn't, in fact, he was very much still in support of the syndicate business. That made them settle that and continue to the second reasons: payment for the Sith's aid in the defense of Kessel.

Preef smiled, he had the specific blaster cleaned up especially for this. Simply to make sure he didn't come off as ungrateful for the Sith's help against the Jedi. Thus, shortly after Emryc brought up the topic, Preef rose from his seat and walked over to a nearby cabinet where he retrieved a small case that he handed to him. "One of my personal blasters," he said, confirming that he had remembered the rather audacious request made on Kessel. To ask a gunslinger for his gun... anyway, "You'll see my name in full, written on the long end of the barrel."

When Emryc opened the case he'd see a Peacemaker Heavy Blaster Pistol with "Preef Callo" written on the barrel. The requested reward as promised.

@Sreeya