Ask Lucrative Business

[Darth Tempest]

.

It had been ages since Darth Tempest had last been to Tattooine. Years ago, when the planet was still under the administration of the Consortium - and she was still a fledgling Acolyte of the Sith, clueless and naive to where life would ultimately guide her. Despite the years that had passed, the streets of Mos Espa maintained their familiar allure - filled with the smell of exotic spice and bustling with activity. In truth, the half-Annfyn couldn’t help but believe that the planet would always prosper under the Hutts - its worst and criminal elements allowed to naturally flourish in the open.

She strolled her way towards the Belching Frog Saloon - though no one in proximity would recognize the Sith that walked amongst them. Instead, the features of the Dark Lord were shrouded behind a bodysuit and Ubbese mask - her voice mechanized like all those of the species. A simple blaster was strapped to her hip, while an assistant droid walked alongside her. In its arms, it carried a large chest - sealed but clearly relevant.

Though she wasn’t easily identifiable to the public, it was beneficial to Tempest’s purposes to take on an entirely new persona to operate under. Her identity as ‘Niash’ - exiled from her homeworld of Uba IV - left little to scrutinize in the event that someone cared enough to go looking.

As she slipped into the saloon, Niash made her way over to the bar - ordering herself something to drink. A straw was requested to fit with her mask. “I am here to discuss business,” She said towards the bartender before making her way towards a booth.

 

[Preef Callo]

The Belching Frog Saloon was the known hangout and headquarters of Preef Callo and his new crew of ruthless gunslingers, many of whom were enforcers of the former Five Syndicate Collective and all showed remarkable and well-tested skill. Even if they had known that it was the Dark Lord of the Sith that was claiming a table at their saloon, there was a good chance they wouldn't even be scared of her. And why would they be? Preef had caught three Jedi padawans and sold them to the Jedi Order to a Master sitting in the same booth as the Ubbese did right now. They had been bolstered in their beliefs that the Sith Order wasn't what it had been back when Preef had been forced to fight Empress Andruil and the last Sith they'd seen had been frozen in carbonite after meeting the wrong end of the rodian's signature peacemaker.

Let's just say there was confidence and peace in cartel space. Supreme Mogul Nor'baal was secure and comfortable on his throne, no challengers dared to present themselves and if they did they had to find a way passed a legendary quick-draw first. One would almost hing that the Hutt Cartel was beginning to grow complacent...

"Niash the Exile," Preef said from behind the Ubbese as he walked passed her holding a bottle of sewer-riped moonshine in one hand and a glass drinking jar in the other. "They told me you want to do business with the cartel-" he grinned as he sat down opposite her in the booth and placed the bottle and jar on the table, "-and on Tatooine to boot."

He appeared a little tipsy, which wasn't uncommon amongst quick-draws growing bored due to a lack of challengers. The same had happened back when he was the boss of the Crymorah Syndicate and made multiple fortunes a day on the spice trade alone. As long as no Force-abomination like Darth Raze returned to face him, Preef felt confident he could beat anyone in the draw.. and he hated that feeling. "I am Preef Callo. Here in Mos Espa, I represent the cartel."


@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

For just a few minutes, ‘Niash’ leaned back into her seat - idly drawing from the straw that accompanied her drink. Of course, she didn’t fail to notice the multitude of people that turned to glance in her direction, but opted to pay them little mind. The Dark Lord was confident that they were all clueless to her true identity, and she had every intention to keep it that way - for however long as her business flourished on Tatooine. It was the sound of another voice - echoing from behind her field of vision - that garnered her attention. The Ubbese glanced back over her shoulder, watching from behind the visor of her mask as the Rodian waltzed over and took a seat at the table.

The man didn’t need to introduce himself for Niash to know precisely who he was.

“Preef Callo,” She said with mechanized drawl, going so far as to deliberately drop her native Induparan accent. “What a pleasure.” The words were accompanied with a respectful dip of her head towards the Rodian. She placed her drink back down with a clink, folding both hands together on the surface of the table. With a jut of her chin, the Ubbese flagged down the assistance droid that followed her, prompting the servant to place the chest down on the table before Preef.

“A gift for his Supreme Highness,” Niash began, “And his illustrious representative.” Should Preef choose to open the chest, he would find the container filled to the brim with ingots of pure platinum. Each bar was embossed with the symbol of the Desilijic clan. It had been a previous endeavor that had earned her not only a free-and-clear ship, but thousands of credits worth of raw minerals. For months, they had sat idle. Now? A good chunk of it was offered a tribute and brib.

Naturally, it was up to Preef how much she chose to keep for himself.

“That I am,” She leaned back in her seat, thumping her fingers against the table. “I am looking to expand my business operations, here to Tatooine. There are a great number of Silicax Oxalate deposits beneath the Great Dune Sea. Untapped resources, which I should very much like to capitalize in lieu of my competitors.” She gestured a hand towards Preef. “With the blessing and understanding of the cartel, of course.” Niash wasn’t stupid. The only way to do business on Tatooine was to gain the blessing of the Hutts - and to provide them with an ample cut of whatever was being produced.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

It was extremely rare that someone came to do business with the cartel and presented an appropriate gift right off the bat. Whatever business the Ubbese wanted to discuss, they would find the rodian to be amenable to a degree. "Pure platinum ingots?" Preef smiled as he pulled the chest closer and took one of them out, "Ooff, they're heavy!" Which meant they were not just the real deal, but would fetch a marvelous price. Whoever Niash the Exile was, she didn't leave her planet penniless. After admiring it for a second the rodian nodded towards a nearby Mandalorian who promptly came over, "Put this chest with the rest of the tribute."

He didn't skim anything off the top as he wasn't a fool. The tribute was for the Grand Mogul, Nor'baal Desilijic Far'athra, not for the legendary quick-draw artist. "I will see to it that the Grand Mogul knows this is your gift to him, Niash the Exile."

Without further beating around the bush, the Ubbese then laid out her business plan. It was short, which meant there was ample room for the cartel to profit from the day-to-day of this operation. "Silicax Oxalate, hm?" Preef had entertained a similar deal from the Mining Guild a while ago, but unlike Niash they hadn't brought the Mogul a tribute and didn't allow the cartel to be involved in the day-to-day. "I know a great place for it," in fact, the mining guild had revealed it was a prime spot to mine for it, near an outpost village halfway through the Dune Sea. "we got the subterra charts and everything, but-"

With a satisfied smug, Preef poured some of the sewer-riped moonshine into the jar and took a rather large sip of it. "-difficult to reach by speeder. Difficult to fly in, because of the sand storms and a nightmare to transport ore without our maglev train." Another sip so he could pause for dramatic effect, "Not to mention the savages and their raids."

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Though it certainly wasn’t visible beneath her mask, Niash couldn’t contain the grin as Preef happily accepted her tribute. In the past, there had been a multitude of Sith who attempted to do business in cartel space - either by forcing their weight around or threatening the locals into compliance. It never quite worked, and more often than not, let to their own demise. She, however, wasn’t stupid enough to follow in their footsteps. The best way to do business on Tatooine was through cordial relations with the Cartel - and appealing to their greed was a step in the first direction. Platinum well spent, as far as she was concerned.

“I appreciate that you will,” She said with a mechanized drawl. A bit of good favor with the Supreme Mogul had a myriad of benefits.

Reclining into her seat, Niash took a moment to listen to the Rodian - nodding along when he mentioned a prime location for the mining operation to take place. It would save the Ubbese on prospecting costs in the short term, and allow her business to begin running quickly. “Is that so?” She said with a tilt of her head. Of course, the Ubbese wasn’t stupid. She knew that Preef would seek to put his own men into the day-to-day operation as much as possible. To control logistics and profit from what was an obvious protection racket. “I am sure,” She began with another small sip of her drink. “That we can find a way to make such a location feasible for operations.”

Niash was willing to accept reliance on Hutt trains and a fee off the top to miraculously avoid raids from the ‘savages’.

“And of course,” Niash continued, “A percentage of raw material - if the cartel might consider allowing our operation to expand beyond this initial mine.” She smiled beneath the mask. The Ubbese wanted flexibility to prospect and lay claim to additional locations across the Dune Sea. If some of them were far more convenient to profit from - bypassing the logistical nightmare that Preef laid out - then all the better. But that was merely theoretical.

“I fear, however,” The Ubbese said with a small sigh, “That our biggest threat exists in the form of our competition. Silicax Oxalate is quite valuable, after all. I would hate to see any agreement struck here undercut.” Her head tilted to the side. For all that she was agreeing to, the Ubbese wanted assurances that her business wouldn’t be infringed upon. Or perhaps that others wouldn’t last very long on Tatooine.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Preef's eyes became even bigger as he sighed dramatically, "An Exclusive Contract?" This Ubbese as dreams that might be too big for her breeches if she wanted to use the cartel to fend of competition from the Galactic Mining Guild. But, as long as she paid the agreed-upon amount of credits for the cartel's services there wasn't a scoundrel Preef and the Supreme Mogul weren't willing to sacrifice for the credits.

"Let me see," the rodian put the jar back on the table and began counting fingers, "The cartel gets a cut for," this would be the moment where the Ubbese would either shrink back, shake her head and run away, or accepted what its cost to do business on planets controlled by the cartel. "The first mining contract," one of his long suction-cupped fingers went up, "protection of mining operations from savages," a second finger went up, "transport of the ore to the spaceport on Mos Eisley," a third, quickly followed by the fourth, "and protection of the transport, ofcourse."

He paused then, seemingly thinking something over, "then there's the Champakh to consider," the fifth finger went up with a grin, "plus the exclusivity of the contract." A sixth and seventh finger went up, denoting the percentage of profits that the cartel would claim of this business venture. "That's seven cuts, so seventy percent of proceeds go to the cartel. Delivered here at my saloon every galactic standard month."

Preef took the jar in his left hand again to fill it back up from the bottle when he seemed to remember something important that made him prop up slightly in his seat, "Oh and yes, a lump sum for every new mine to be opened. I'm thinking one million credits."

This was a shakedown befitting a criminal cartel that had nothing to fear from the rest of the galaxy. Niash the Exile now had first-hand experience and Preef was keen to find out how she'd react, so he paused again, this time to take another rather large and satisfied sips of his moonshine, before putting it back on the table, hailing a nearby datapad-holding droid, and looked at the Ubbese with some degree of malicious pleasure, "Agreed?"

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

There was a long tick of silence - broken only by the steady drum of gloved fingers against the table. Niash considered everything that Preef said and the deal that was laid out on the table. Such was the price of doing business on Tattooine. Such was the price - tantamount to a shakedown - of openly involving the Cartel in her operations. Even still, Niash couldn’t help but believe that the benefits outweighed any short-term cost that was inflicted upon her operation.

An exclusive contract with the Cartel, and assurances that the Mining Guild - and anyone else who had the resources to challenge her - would be kept well away from the desert.

“Seventy percent of the proceeds,” She repeated slowly, nodding along. “And a lump sum of one million with every new mine that is opened.” It was steep. But the mineral she was mining was worth a fortune, and every mine going forward would be inflicted with less monthly tribute to the Cartel.

“Agreed.” She finally said - her attention turning to the Holopad with a tilt of her head. She flagged the droid down, prepared to sign the terms and agree to everything that the Rodian demanded. It was a better deal than anything the Mining Guild would offer. A better deal than Preef had received up unto this point, and he would know it. “But there is one more thing I wish to square away,” She said, fingers stopping short of placing down her signature.

“I want Cartel sanction to seize any existing operations on Tatooine. Local village miners, mineral shops - down to Jawa traders. Anyone moving Silicax Oxalate across these deserts - I want in my employment or possession.” The woman wasn’t kidding when it came to the exclusivity of their contract. “I believe that falls squarely within the exclusive nature of our contact terms, but in hopes of fostering a prosperous relationship with the Cartel,” She drummed her finger. “Forty-nine percent of any seized inventory and goods will be delivered to the Saloon as payment.”

“And a guarantee that all movement of the mineral flows through me, and thus, to thr Cartel’s benefit.”

 

[Preef Callo]

The rodian suddenly chuckled, "You want the cartel to allow you to rob and take the existing mines?" It was difficult to control and collect from the little guys, so this wasn't something that Preef nor the Supreme Mogul would lose any sleep over.. but this Ubbese -Niash the Exile- was already walking a fine line between working for the cartel and challenging their control over Tatooine. "Your wants are to no concern of us, but neither are the wants of others," meaning that the only thing the cartel cared about were credits and an untested control of their planet, "You'll pay sixty percent of any seized inventory, but you rob the wrong person-" Preef shrugged, referring to locals who might be connected or protected by existing cartel-agreements and more importantly; payments, "-and you'll find out what it's like being on the wrong end of my peacemaker." unless they make up for that mistake, ofcourse.. by given the rodian the entire inventory.

Now the gunslinger made it obvious that he expected her signature under the deal and turned towards the datapad that the droid was holding. "You think that thing has enough energy to run for so long?"

"But, master Callo, this datapad is plugged into my mainframe and has battery for as long as I do." its eyes suddenly seemed to glaze over for a second before it turned its head towards the rodian, "Statement: This model can function without a recharge for eleven more galactic standard hourds."


@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Though it wasn’t exactly visible, ‘Niash’ couldn’t help the smile that spread across her expression beneath the mask. She certainly didn’t doubt the reputation that Preef had garnered for himself - and the legendary peacemaker - over the years, but neither did the Rodian have any idea who he was actually dealing with. At the end of the day, Niash didn’t need Hutt assistance in seizing inventory from small-time miners and businesses on Tatooine - dared to trade her Silicax. The Cartel would get their cut, of course.. But there was no real way for Preef or anyone else to determine exactly how much sixty-percent of stolen inventory was.

She’d gotten everything she wanted - from the inventory to the monopoly on Silicax sales. Niash wasn’t stupid enough to believe that the Cartel wouldn’t attempt to abandon their little agreement at some point in the future, and her mind already went to work on contingencies for when it happened.

For the moment, however, Niash turned her attention back to Preef - waving the droid over with pen-in-hand. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Callo, and the Cartels.” She said smoothly, her voice mechanized and distorted. “I believe this is the beginning of a fruitful business relationship.”

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Niash the Exile was ambitious. She had the funds to get the rodian -and the cartel's- ear, and she agreed to being cut out of the majority of her profits on Tatooine. Her request to rob other miners suggested she had her own people waiting to back her up and that made the rodian a little suspicious as she so quickly agreed with Preef's gang guarding everything that operated under the Silicax Operation's banner. It seemed rather obvious -even to the rodian- that this Niash the Exile was looking for more than to just mining silicax.

Was she secretly funded by the competition? Was she a Crimson Dawn proxy? A scout send by the Falleen Council of the Black Sun? Or worse; was she there to take revenge for what they did to Shane Covax and that man's mysterious source of credits that Preef and Nor'baal just couldn't figure out in time. Well, they could've perhaps tortured the knowledge out of him... why hadn't they? Just putting him on carbonite suddenly seemed such a waste.

Regardless, this 'Niash the Exile' and her operations would be closely monitored until it could be confirmed that she was who she said she was. "The cartel is looking forward to your Chapakh," the rodian smiled as he watched Niash sign the contract. "To always getting more credits than one needs," he held up his glass of moonshine as a toast and down the shot.

/end thread
@Altaris