It was a logical choice really, if one actually looked at the galaxy logically. The Diversity Alliance was based on the boundry line of the mid and outter rims of the galaxy, with Ryloth and Vallus II sitting on the edges of its territory, extending inwardly toward Roche and then Bothan Space, and while the Bothans weren't offical members of the Alliance they held extremly close, albeit secret ties with the organization. Still a fledgling movement, the Diversity Alliance needed to soldify its base, and strenghten its section of space; which would form the core off of which further expansion could be based.

Using this thread of logic (and a galatcic holomap of the region) it would make sense for the Diversity Alliance to choose Falleen as a target for expansion, as the planet lay in the perfect region for the DA- the edge of the mid rim not far from Bothan, which would also link it to the Roche system, where the Diversity Alliance was expanding. This was of course, the logical reason for going to Falleen. The ideological reasons were even greater- the people of Falleen, the Falleen species, were a non human (though humanoid) race whose direct opression by humans still lingered in the minds of there population. It was on Falleen that a deadly Imperial bio-weapon was accidentally released, and to contain it and prevent it's further spread the crude but efffective method of incinerating the infected portion of the planets surface with orbital bombardment had been chosen.

The cost had been tremendous- and entire city and surrounding vicinity laid to waste, bringing in excess of 200,000 deaths and even more injured, most maimed for life by debris from buildings ripped apart by the rain of turbolaser fire. The Falleen, already a species who wished to remain out of the galactic pciture, and who's acceptance of the Empire on their world had been only to stay out of galactic politics had drawn further into their shell. Still, the recent resurgance of the Empire had not yet reached the realams of the galaxy where Falleen lay, and thus the Falleen sat, a fact which much of the population perfered. The Falleen had taken time for healing, and had spent years of recouperating continuing to advance their "superior" culture. Still, no matter how isolationist and arrogant they were, every Falleen, deep down, had a driving hatred of the Empire- a fact which Cortex knew he could exploit.....

".... As I'm sure you've been told by any number of my subordinates, its simply a matter of..."

Cortex Sinar summound all of his fortitude and inner strength to keep from exploding. No use in getting angry at this stage of the conversation; it would do little good and most likley hasten the end of the dialouge, which would undoubtably end not in Cortex's favor. Still, he was not going to take the beuracratic, executive bullshit which he had been getting from all of the lower officals and supervisors to whom he had spoke to already. He spoke sharply, but with an air of calm in his voice.

"Mr. Galigur, I know perfectly well what your 'subordinates' have told me and think it safe to assume I do not need to waste either of our most precious time by listening to it again. What I really want is a straight answer to my question- it won't take long, though a simple explination would keep my attenion as well."

The scratchy hologram of the Fondor Shipwork's executive flashed and flicked as the voice syntesiyzers transfered his voice across the galaxy.

"Mr. Jiftana (Cortex's newest bussinessman alias) I am afraid the situation is not quite as black and white as you would like to make it out to be. It's a complex bussiness and financial situation that would not be given justice if limited to a few simple..."

Cortex cut him off again, barley able to contain his anger.

"It's simple enough to me- I am being denied the ability to purchase ships from your shipyards on some financial technicality!!! My bussiness intrestes require protection! Fondor is one of the few major independent ship production worlds were I can be assured of quality ships for a reasonable cost delivered at the agreed upon date. I am hoping not to have to take my bussiness to some podunk manufactuerer in the Corporate Sector or some other equally backwater area if I can avoid it."

Galigur seemed unfazed.

"You seem mister Jiftana- you cite one of the main reasons we cannot at this time fill your order. Being one of the few major contractors independent of a major government we have quite a backlog of production orders, and are ensuring that our most reliable and long tenured...."

Cortex nearly popped a vein as he heard the executive utter those words. In character, as well as in his own mind, he was angry and responded as such.

"Are you Mr. Galigur, isuggesting that I am unrelaiable because if"

The executive tried to speak, his air of calm unshattered.

"Mr Jiftana you misinterpert.."

Cortex xut him off with an outburst.

"Misinterpert!! I am not misinterperting you! You are denieing me- the leader of a bussiness trust with hard cash and a steady income flux ready to spend a great portion of it at your shipyards- and you not only deny me- you insult my credibility and...."

Galigur's calm fascade faded.

"Mr. Jiftana- let me be frank with you. My financial adiviors have anaylzed your payment package and are not quite convinced its a 'credible' as you claim. If you would like to resubmit and offer, that is fine, but it just does not make bussiness sense to deal with you at this time. Now If you'll excuse me- i have important bussiness to attend to."

The holofeed cut off, and the flickering figure vanished, leaving a frusturated Cortex Sinar alone in the cavern/office out of whiche he operated. If he had his choice, he would just take his bussiness elswhere, but for the scale of what he was proposing, no independent but Fondor had the ability to carry out what he wanted. His supposedly "fool-proof" finacial scheme put togather by his DA consultants, which relied heavily on estimates and other not necessarily reliable numbers had failed. In the long term, such a independent contract was not as critical, as the Roche shipyard began revving up for full scale production- but until then he need defense, and he saw no feasible alternative to Fondor. Something had to be done...

"Of all the choices- of all the worlds in this swath of space- of all the different species you choose, it has to be the Falleen. I'm sure there are a plethora of other worlds and races you could bring in and get the same effect."

It was in Cleivge Hintona's opinion, an act of pure stupidity. The Falleen were an arrogant, kniving and often plain mean species, with a majority of their population wishing to be left alone to admire themselves and their many "superior" accomplishments. They were rich, obnoxious and constantly degrading- and those were the best type of Falleen! The worst were the ones who left their homeworld (also named Falleen) and became even more vicious, more arrogant, wealthier and especially more dangerous. The most famous (or infamous if you want to put it correctly) was Prince Xizor; whose organization, Black Sun, had acted as an Empire without borders during the height of Palpitine's Empire. Other Falleen were also known to have created or acquired mass holdings on a galactic scale, though few had even come close to the immense size and power of Black Sun.

Cleivge was worried that a similarly minded Falleen might see the burgeoning Diversity Alliance as a perfect target for transformation into a new Falleen powerhouse- not a situation which was new in the galaxy. Only extremely confident and intelligent people, and complete morons ever brought Falleen lieutenants or "advisors" into to their business or organization; because the chance that a year from now that lieutenant was holding the same position was almost non-existent. He was either running the bussiness/organization, demoted or fired, or dead- most likely the result of an attempted hostile takeover of whomever he had been serving under. Cortex Sinar, in all his supposedly brilliance, seemed to be completely missing that one little detail.

"No, actually, Cleivge, there aren't."

Cortex Sinar knew that his assisstant and longtime friend saw himself as his "gaurdian". Ready to step in and lead Cortex away from foolish enterprizes. Cortex respected Cleivge's inate ability with people, his shrewdness and many of his other talents- but he did not need someone trying to tell him how to run his organization. However, his friend didn't seem to understand that.

"They're cold, cruel, arrogant and believe themselves better than any mammalian species in the gaxaly! They are reclusive, mean spritied and most of all probably want nothing to do with anyone!"

Cortex smiled- such qualities would be useful for what he had in mind with the Falleen.

"I know- which is why I want them.”

Cortex saw his confidant's face twitch in tune with his lekku in frusturation. Still, Cleivge knew when an approach to a problem was useless- so he tried another approach.

"You know, it's not likley Fondor will remain neutral for long- I mean, its such an important target, with its shipyards and all- how long can you hope to use them for our needs?"

Cleivge was trying to take away Cortex's main reason for approaching the Falleen- they need for there deep pockets.

"I know- but I only need Fondor untill our Verpine friends have their shipyards up to full steam. And besides, even if Fondor wasn;t an option, the Falleen will make useful allies. Money can be used for more than one project you know."

Cortex had sensed what Cleivge was getting at, and ended that line of reasoning. His friend looked lost for words, so he decided it would be best to pitch his plan.

"Cleivge, I'm not handing the Alliance over to some power hungry, lady-killing Falleen. I'm simply going to ask them to join us against a common foe. The Falleen are still smarting from the bio-weapon incident on their world- they have no love for the human Empire. In fact they have no love for humans in general, which suits our purposes well. When they join our financial problems will dissappear and we'll be in a overall stronger position. This is what we need- a foundation, a base from which we can expand. We've begun it but we must continue. Our work is far from over, we've only just begun..."

He caught himself as his speech started morphing into the all to familar rhetoric of his long rants. He returned himself to normal.

"Don't worry- I'll have everything under control."

Cleivge nodded, but as he turned to leave he wondered if Cortex could truely act as confident as he sounded.

Diplomatics with the Falleen were surprisingly easy in comparision to what Crotex was used to. Diversity Alliance officals had contacted the Falleen, and neutral site for a diplomatic summit had been chosen. Conviently, Cortex had made sure that a conference chamber at Hosk Station be reserved as the neutral site, which due to its close location to Fondor would be perfect for his plans.

The Falleen were not really excited about a diplomatic summit, but they were sending a team to Hosk Station as a courtesy, and because they had been told there was a possibility a favorable monetary exchange could take place as a result of the meeting. Of course they didn't know that the exchange would most likely be favorable for the Diversity Alliance. Cortex knew convincing the Falleen to join the alliance would be anything but easy- but he had high hopes. Cortex had been informed that the Falleen diplomatic team had authority to make offical and binding agreements for the Falleen government, and thus away from public pressure Cortex hoped to coax the reclusive Falleen into entering the Alliance.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome to Hosk Station, Mr. Sinar. I hope your stay will be pleasant. If you would be as kind to follow Kioulin here, he will show you to your room."

Kioulin was a massive Talz smashed into a uniform, not an everyday sight even on the excessive Hosk station. Still, he seemed to know where he was going, and was quite helpful carrying Cortex's luggage. He even helped Cortex get settled in, which he appreciated. As the huge furry mass left Cortex made a mental note to tip the helpful alien- after of course he had the Falleen's deep pockects backing him up....

"... We understand that you are a proud and independent race, with great strengths and many resources. Many would claim that this is a reason to stand alone. I disagrre with anyone who makes that suggestion. Togather, entered into an alliance with your peers, your strength will be magnified many times over. The Falleen will once again become a dominant species in the galaxy. You will have the power you need to gain the vengence your people want- revenge on those who have wronged you in the past. A generation of Falleen cry out for justcie- cry out for revenge-- cry out for penetence, delivered in the most forceful way possible. With the assitance of the Falleen, the Diversity Alliance will promise to bring justice for the atrocities that have occured on your planet- the atrocities of the humans who lord over this galaxy like the greedy power hunrgy gluttons that they are. We shall make the Galactic Empire pay for their sins in full!!!"

It was the resounding end to Cortex's Diversity Alliance pitch. The summit was scheduled to last somewhere around 5 days, but if all went well, Cortex hoped to be signing agreements by tomorrow. His experencies with the Verpine showed him that his fiery promises were usually enough to sway all opinion to his favor- because it was easy to see that Cortex meant every word of what he said- and he did. The Empire deserved to pay- he would ensure that it did. Not just the empire though- all of humanity would be subject to the wrath of the aliens of the galaxy- those who could be brought into the fold that is, before being swalloed up by the humans who wished to exploit them. Cortex knew his movement was gaining speed; but not fast enough. Not if he was to live up to his promises. Still every speech was another step forward, another step forward toward the ultimante goal.

The Falleen were begginning to murmur, talking amongst themselves about Cortex's speech. Cortex could tell, from the body language of the delegates that he had won over a good majority of the Falleen's diplomatic team. His hopes rose- his plans were working well- and soon the Falleen would be the newest members of the Diversity Alliance.

After a moment the din died down and in turn several Falleen began to speak, each praising Cortex and the Diversity Alliance, Cortex smiled, revelling inthe praise. This deal was as good as done, untill Herin Jixor stood. Jixor was the head of the team, and from the way he systematically picked apart Cortex and the Diversity Alliance, he was not in favoir of the Falleen joining. The meeting turned drastically downhill from that point on.

2 hours later, Cortex threw himself on his luxurious bed in his chambers on Hosk Station, frusturated, annoyed and seething. Herin Jixor held the Falleen diplomatic delegation in the palm of his hand. His own elequant rebuttal had completly changed the delegation's mood toward Cortex, though whether it was Jixor's positions or his reputation that had actually swayed the opinions of the Falleen was unknown to Cortex. The way things were going, the chances for the Falleen joining were next to nothing- a thught which made Cortex slam a fist into the wall of his chamber.

He rcoiled in pain, and the sharp sensation brought a level headness to the infuraited Twi'leck. It was a simple matter really- one Falleen, no big deal. He would go to the meeting again tomorrow, and try and ut finess Jixor. If that failed he would have a contingency on Hosk station ready to go. It was simple really- Cortex was holding himself to the fact that the Falleen would not leave this station without having signed agreements entering them into the Diversity Alliance, period.

He picked up his comlink....

The pitter patter of little feet. Through out the galaxy that saying created a feeling of joy and of life. But today that saying meant death for some unfortunate individual on Hosk Station.

Most of the Falleen diplomatic party had retired to their quaters by now. Herin Jixor was still sitting at the table. He was silently congratulating himself on how he had swayed the minds and hearts of his brothers. Who ever this arrogent Twi'lek was he certainly did not understand the Falleen way. We keep to ourselves. Let the lower lifeforms kill each other off. was the main thought in his head. Come tomorrow he was going to murder this dumb Twi'lek. He had saved all his best arguments for last. With a satisfied sigh he drained his glass of its contents and headed off to his quaters.

Tomorrow is going to be a fine day indeed.

However unknown to Jixor a pair of eyes was following his every move. A pair of glowing red eyes. Eyes that did not belong to any guard or any diplomat.

Cass quitely observed his target. Then with a soft sigh he once again retreated into the ventilation shaft. Due to his small size he could easily manuver in here. Quitely he made his way back to the rest of his drones. The order had been received. They had identified the prey. Now all that missed was the kill blow. Once again Cass wondered why this Diversity Alliance did not hunt their own prey, but Daragon had been quite clear in his orders. He would obey Cortex as if he spoke with Daragon's voice.

Cass had arived earlier that day with the ship carrying Cortex. One by one his drones slipped aboard. Each one almost deathly quite, except for the pitter patter their feet made on the hull floor. But this sound was so soft that no of the Isolates heard a thing as Cass made his way onto the statioin.

He had studied the plans of the station extensively before coming aboard. He knew his way around. Driven by an effiency achieved only by a hivemind Cass' drones once again set out across the station to where Jixor's quaters was.

Their progress was only halted once when a guard looked up towards the a ventilation shaft over his head. He turned lazily to his friend.

"Did you hear that?"

"What."

"That sound in the ventilation shaft. I could have sworn that I heard something."

"Stop dreaming and get back to duty." his friend snapped iratated.

The guard looked up for a moment, then he shrug his shoulders and focussed his attention on his guard duty.

One important skill in the hunt was the ability to remain quite, absolutely quite. Some Bartokk have mastered this art to such an extent that they could pass for dead. All fifteen of their drones. Cass was one of them. When he was sure the gaurd's attention was no longer on the shaft Cass retraced his steps taking care to be extra quite. Finally when he was out of hearing distance he heaved a great sigh of relief. This attentive gaurd had now forced him to take another route to their prey's quaters.

Finally at what was about the midnight hour aboard the station the same pair of red eyes that whatched him earlier glared over the grates of the air vent in his room. There was Jixor. Fast asleep with what appeared to be a human female. Both were very naked and the human had her hand draped over the rising and falling chest of Jixor. Cass smiled slightly. It seems his prey had enjoyed himself in his last hours. This was always a good thing. Fine memories to take into the next life. Quickly he unscrewed the vent. One, two, three... fifteen bodies dropped into the room. Taking care not to make any noise the individuals slipped through the room to form a circle around the bed.

It is time.

Two drones standing at the head of the bed slashed his throat with their razor sharp claws. The Falleen's eyes popped open. It was already to late. His voice box ruined Jixor could not utter a word. The next moment another drone pulled out a vibroblade and slammed it into his chest.

Hiren expired in the arms of his lover.

Cass next took the sleeping human's hand and gently folded it around the hilt of the blade. Taking a step back with all his drones he inspected his work.

Perfect.

As quitely as he entered Cass left.

All this occured without the human even stiring.

She must be a heavy sleeper. Too bad for her. Cass thought to himself as his last drone exited the room.

"What do you mean the meeting has been poseponed!!!"

Cortex Sinar had woken up late after a poor night of sleep, and his bad mood had been compounded as he began to ready himself for the lunchtime meeting which was scheduled to take place. He had attributed his bad sleep to the whole Jixor affair- that pompous idiot who believed the Falleen were powerful enough to affect the galaxy if they remained independent. Unfortunatly for a diplomatic aide who has broken the news to Cortex, he was in the mood when he was liable to shoot a messenger.

The Twi'leck aide tried to explain himself and the message.

"You see sir, it's.. it's li.. it's like this. The Falleen delegation says, that... umm.. they umm.. they need time to...."

The aide's stumbling was evidently cuased by nervousness, but it did little to gain sympathy from Cortex. Quite to the contrary it made him infuraited. His anger apparent he lashed out verbally at the poor,
defensless aide.

"What do you mean they need more time- We have a scheduled meeting- i rented expensive conference rooms, put togather an expenses paid trip for their team, got special security meausres and am offering them a chance at revenge and they need time to think! You moron- you should have told them that we will have the meeting and they WILL attend. Where's your common sense- you honor. Why are letting yourself be bossed around by Falleen who our enjoying the benifits of our money. You ought to be demoted for this, people with no initative are not welcome in my organization- i swear if you dont marhc right back there and..."

The distressed aide was taking the pummeling, and hadn't even had a chance to finish his sentence explaining the Falleen's message. He considered just letting Cortex just rant, knowing that it was probably just a superior blowing off steam, but as he heard the the word 'demoted' he got a bit scared, and starting considering butting in. Finally he got up the courage and spoke.

"But sir...."

Cortex stopped mid sentence and indignatly said,

"Now don't you 'but sir' me"

However the aide didn't stop, he just kept talking, knowing he would never stem the tide if he gave in now.

"... Diplomatic leader Jixor was found dead last night- the Falleen want a day to pay respects and mourn."

Cortex shut up. He looked at the aide, silent, his eyes wide. He started to speak but stopped, unsure of what to say- while internally his raging anger was only increasing. He finally spat out,

"Go- tell them they can have there day."

The aide hurried off.

Cortex picked up his com-link. He needed to talk with Cleivge Hintona- whom he had asked to set up his 'contingency plan.' Cleivge was in for some heat- his man had jumped the gun, and Cortex wasn't happy at all...

Before Cortex could activate his com-link a hand shot out from what appeared to be nowhere and grabbed his wrist. The Twi'lek whirled around to see a body appearing from nowhere. For a moment the leader of the Diversity Alliance just stood there, stunned. The figure had now materialised in full. He was around 1,7 meters in lenght and wheighed aproximately 90 kilograms. He was dressed in what appeared to be a heavy robe. No distinghising marks were present what so ever.

"WHA....!!!!!!"

The figure simply raised a hand stopping the tirade from bursting forth.

"I am sorry sir, but we didn't had much time. I was the one you contacted. I set the assassin in motion. Jixor was a threat and he was Falleen, something you could never be. That is why he had to be elimnated. But I would suggest that you ask for the details of his death. For even in dark times there is a sliver of light."

The voice from this mysterious figure was flat and emotionless, much like a droid.

Before Cortex could react in any way shape or form the figure once again vanished. Efective use of light absorbtion materials.

Cortex blinked, realization of what had happened only starting to set in. His half completed exclamation reverberating through out the Hosk station room, which to Cortex had suddenly become deathly quiet. His hand was still outstretched, clutching loosely at the com-link which he had picked up. His hand was shaking slightly, an involuntary shiver that reeked of fear. Cortex could still feel the tight clutch of the figure's hand on his wrist; hear the eerie metallic voice speaking to him. His initial reaction had been surprise and indignation, but after hearing the message and then having the figure disappear into the thin air had sent a chill down Cortex's spine. The mere thought got him shaking uncontrollably.

This lasted for about 20 seconds, then he awoke with realization, and disgusted with himself forced his body to be still, overcoming the impulse. Fear was one thing- cowardice another. The first was natural, the second the sign of a weak being- and Cortex Sinar was not going to be a weak being. As he regained control of himself he began actually thinking about what the figure had said, actually digesting the words he had heard for the first time. He realized the message was actually good news to hear, delivered in one of the worst ways Cortex could think of. He suddenly realized that he was still holding the com-link outstretched in his hand. He pulled it in, and returned to normal posture. He was about to call his Cleivge Hinota, and then realized it would be a waste of valuable time. He set the com-link down and stood there, thinking about the situation. Questions were popping in and out of his head wildly: Who was the figure, who did he work for, how'd he get in, how'd he disappear, was he telling the truth- all excellent questions, but none with answers easily found. He knew he had more important things to worry about than these questions- he still had a diplomatic team to persuade- one embittered by a loss of comrade and still remembering the departed one's words and ideas. Still without him, they would be no longer feel intimidated or threatened, and Cortex believed they would be as receptive to his ideas as they had been at the first meeting- he hoped anyway. After making a mental note to have his personal security increased, he retired to his bedroom to prepare himself for the post poned meeting with the Falleen.

-------------------------------------------------------

"... and thus we have taken into consideration the many facets and aspects of the proposed deal, carefully evaluating every angle and position, and have come to interesting conclusions. Economically we have seen that..."

Cortex was listening intently, even to these bureaucratic details which he would often ignore. The Falleen representatives hadn't been quite as receptive as he had hoped and it appeared that the vote on whether or not to join the alliance. He had done what he considered an excellent job at pushing his point across, but several members, enamored if the late Jixor, and disturbed at how he died had held staunch against the movement- although some of them had come to the realization that a human had 'killed' Jixor, and had later changed their minds. Still it would be close- Cortex only hoped he didn’t have to find out what it was like to be rejected by a prospective member.

"... thus, we feel that for military reasons it may be beneficial to continue with our aforementioned..."

The Falleen spokesman was sure taking his sweet old time, even though Cortex cared little why or how the Falleen joined the Diversity Alliance- as long as the joined and came in willingly- as well as a full extent. Still, he was hanging on every word. That Falleen could be reading stock reports from Muunlist, if it was important enough to get mention and it would bring the Falleen into the Alliance, he would listen to a human politician rant about aliens. He was not desperate, just hopeful- his vision was so close from taking shape he was not going to see it fail now- so far into the journey.

“So, in conclusion, after reviewing all the facts at hand, and carefully perusing all options the following has been agreed upon by our diplomatic team; which has the authority, and will be exercising it, to speak for the people of Falleen and our government: The Falleen shall petition for membership in the Diversity Alliance, aiming for the status of a full member with an unrestricted membership.”

Cortex smiled, and began clapping as he heard the announcement. Another victory for his Alliance, another step forward for aliens in the galaxy. It seemed that his theme was repetitive and constant- because it was. He refused to lose sight of his goals, refused to back down to any opposition. He was a man on a mission- a crusade to right the galaxy and liberate it from the oppressive human overlords who controlled it. To do so resources, ships, money were all needed, and with the Falleen now entering the alliance such resources would become more abundant, and the Diversity Alliance would be that much closer to its goal.

Now was time for a short shuttle ride to talk with Mr. Galigur on Fondor.