Pavo Prime

"I've decided to change directions. So far our sucess has been limited...."

The shaded holo-projection was gritty and distorted, but the chairman of Belgardi Limited watched it like it was the latest holo-vid. Usually when listening to subordinates, or others in his highest sanctum, he could afford to rest his eyes, gaze out the window, or even lay back and rest. These however were other special circumstances.

"I've decided we need a new face.... some new vigor might liven things up. We don't want our customers getting impatient. Impatient customers quickly become unhappy customers."

Rico noted the bussiness analogy. Either it was unintentional, or the man in the projection was subtly hinting about what he thought about the casino moghul. Despite his experience with judging people's verbal comments, the CEO Belgardi Ltd. couldn't make out the exact meaning.

"I have had experience with that myself."

The holo-projection flickered, as if conveying a nod. Rico took that a good omen. Whether it actually was one, was another story.

"Excellent. Then you know what it's like, both dealing with clients who are slow, as well as contractors who delay."

Rico nodded, though he couldn't tell if the man acknowledged his gesture.

"You know who we're dealing with. We wouldn't want them to become unhappy. We have an oppurtunity for an excellent relationship. The key is providing, especially this time."

Rico nodded again.

"I'm placing you in charge of phase one of the operation. Our first attempt was thwarted, but has provided us with valuable intellegence. That will be passed along immediatly. When it arrives, I expect action quickly."

Rico knew what the man, the leader of the Union, meant with that statement. He wanted more than action- he wanted results.

"Of course."

The hologram flicked, the faint image appeared to be standing up.

"Excellent. Thank you for your time."

The image disapeared.

Rico stared at where it had just been. His companies super secret alliance with the shady organization had many perks, but it also had its downsides. He was being tasked with a difficult, dangerous operation; in tandem with a group that excpeted nothing less than the best. He had heard what happened to the captain of the Star Destroyer Noir Soleil , who had failed in a recent mission for that group. It had not been pretty.

Not that Rico didn't feel he would suceed. His personal coffers alone would have easily been able to outsurce the entire project, and combined with the massive reserves of Belgardi Ltd itself, both on Pavo Prime and stashed across the galaxy in the illustrious financial institutuions across the galaxy, and some of less esteem he had capital that rivaled even the mightiest corporate entity of them all, the Vinda Corporation. Yes, resources would not be a problem.

Still, money wasn't everything. To accopmlish his mission, Rico knew that a series of complex actoins would have to go right. He also knew the chance of such an occurance was not as high as he would perfer it.

Always have a backup plan.

His first bussiness class had taught him that little motiff. He kept it tucked away in his mind, as he thought about what he and his company would have to do.

The price you pay..... the price you pay....

Pavo Prime

"So, anything else?"

The man shifted through his datapad, his eyes glancing down briefly but his hand not moving from the device- a signaling to Rico he had basically exhausted what information he had. That didn't surprise the CEO; the breifing had been almost an hour long. What Rico had heard had both elated and disturbed him. He hadn't felt that way for ages- primarily because he had not faced a situation where sucess was so crucial, and failure meant so much. Even in the rough and tumble bussiness world, one mistake, one bad project didn't spell doom for his company. And although sucess was what he strived for everytime he tried something new, failing was never a major setback- something that couldn't be corrected or attempted again. What he was working on now however; it was serious. More than money was on the line here.

"Yes, sir, I figure that about it."

The man got up to leave, and Rico nodded when their eyes met. Rico's office was pretty relaxed, and most of the time he didn't have to give permission for his subordinates to leave. Most still looked for it- out of deference and respect for their boss. The man began to leave, then, as he reached the door he paused.

"Sir, I promise you, we're doing everything that we can to make this work."

He left on that note. Rico supressed a small smile untill he was sure the man had left. That was the sort of moment every executive dreamt off. The Belgardi employees (the few that were considered 'trustworthy' enough) working on the plan had to know that this was not any ordinary project. In fact, Rico was sure they knew. They might not have known how vital succeeding was, but they had a rough estimate. The thought that some of them cared enough to think of Rico was quite reassuring.

"Rico."

Rico looked up at the sound of his name. It was the voice of his executive secretary, Kella Portmin. The voice was soothing, even though it traveled some distance from her officer, which was a story below his. Without his intercom, Rico would have been totally alone.

"Yes Kella?"

"You have a transmission waiting for you on the new channel."

The new channel.

Rico hadn't exactly told Kella what the 'new' channel was, only that it was very important. The tone of her voice showed her curious interest in the secure channel. Having been recently added, Rico had an idea what Kella might be thinking about the channel, and he chuckled at that thought. Right now, it was the least of his worries.

"Patch it through please."

"Course Rico."

In another instance, Rico might have really anyalized her voice, and pulled up the security camera in the reception area. However, this was too important.

A moment later the voice only transmission came out of the same speaker. A different channel, same speaker. Rico however was confident he was the only one listeing to this channel. His security experts had garunteeded his privacy.

"Mr. Belgardi?"

"Yes?"

"I want to once again impress upon you the importance of this operation.'

You didn't have to tell me twice.

"Of course."

"I'm glad you understand the levity of the situation. In fact, I wouldn't have selected you to lead this project if I didn't believe you could deliver."

"I'm glad you have faith in me."

Where is this going?

"I just want you to be aware I'll be sending an advisor to assist you in this venture."

Assistant? What is he talking about.

"I'm sure he can be of use to you, and hi talents will be quite useful."

"Who is it?"

"You'll know him when he comes."

The line went dead.

Rico stared blankly, wondering what he had just heard, and pondering exactly what he had gotten his company, and himself, into...

"... and thus I am convinced that the profit margins of shockboxing matches on Pavo Prime simply aren't as high as they seem. Quite simply, ladies and gentlemen, we are not making the kind of money you think we're making on them- in fact I believe we might not be making any money at all. You see..."

'Do you have research to prove that statement."

"Not yet, but Iwnated to bring this to the board's attention before any future plana are made. We don't want an angry galactic community boycotting our casino's because we backed out on a deal at the lat moment."

The man paused to catch his breath, and Rico Belgardi took the oppurtunity to push his way into the discussion.

"Why thank you Gordon, am intruiged by your report. However, I would like to hear another opinion befor a decision is made."

That was Rico's standing precedure at such meetings- he was active and wanted to hear different sides to every story. His active approach had saved him countless credits, and made him extra revenue greater than many galactic citizens would see in their entire lifetime.

On this matter however, it didn't appear that any boardmember had a alternat oinion, at leastb one they wanted to share publicly. Rico was willing to be they had an opinion, but that most had few if any facts to back up such a statment, and probably didn;t even have a trail of logic to back up their decision. In meetings like this one, with the highest ranking and most influential members of Belgardi, Rico tolerated no bantha fodder.The silence wore on for a few more second then Rico spoke.

"You bring up several interesting points Gordon, and I agree with you that some linvestigation would not hurt; however I have a few opinions as well."

The man he was adressing was Gordon Goppel, the Director of Entertainment. He oversaw the numerous large and small events tha came to the varied casion's of Pavo Prime.

"Your argument that the shockboxing actually cost higher than the on datapad expenditures show due to overtime for employees, advertising and promotional costs and extra security measures. While I agree that to a point these aspects do drain from the boxing's net gain, consider these factors.

Everytime we have a larg match, we attract fans from across the galaxy who wish to see it. Many of the fans come from distant regions and require some time for tranit. Usually these travellers spend a day or so before the match, or a day or so after the match due to the travel hassle. In this day or two, the travelers will almost assuredly visit a casino or other attraction during the day. If we have large crowds, imagine how big of a spike in revenues this can become. Then consider the boon to resturants, hotels, our transit personal and passenger lines. They get increased bussiness from the influx of people coming to the panet. These are just a few of the things I can think off of the top of my head. I agree research might be required to see how much money the boxing matches are making, or losing- but even if they aren't garnering a profit, I will need conclusive proof or the overwhelmeing opinion of this board to suspend further negotations with promoters and the ISBF, GFHS and ISRC."

Rico fell silent. The board voted to approve some auditing of the boxing matches. However, despite the fact his own CEO had refuted him, Gordon Goppel didn't seem fazed at all. Everyone in the room knew Rico Belgardi, and the Belgardi family had done well managing their company.... and had an inate bussiness sense not often found in CEO's. Having an idea or opinion challenged by Rico didn;t necessarily mean it was a dead duck- sometime he probed for weaknesses while supporting a move.

The discussion continued quite well. The board discussed machine payouts and gambling odds, as well as new measures to defeat slicers, swindlers and cheats from hustling the casinos or their guests. They discussed how to incorporate the completion of th private funded Gencore Level II sheild generator into their next round of advertising in the core worlds, and took on issues relating to Belgardi operations or projects across the galaxy. Some were scheduled for cancellation, others were continued, some had their funding frozen pending a later decision, while others prepared to swim in pools of credits wither to fix them up or boost already good numbers. At the moment, more projects were getting cash than getting cut, the company was fairing pretty well in recent times.

One of Rico's favorite projects was known as Pavo Palace, a huge construction project on Coruscant which was just underway. Designed for the varied purposes of being able to house Belgardi employees on the numerous trips to the Imperuial Capital, to acing as a pseudo-embassy for the company and its dominions (world like Pavo Prime where Belgardi played the role of government) and also opening a large casino in an attempt to woe customers to the homeland. The building was going to be huge, and include its own generators and other neccessities, along with many other goodies still in the planning stage.

The meeting was nearing a conclusion when an aide walked into the conference room.

"Sir."

He adressed Rico.

"You have a waiting comm message, Mrs. Portmin assured me personally that iwas quite urgent."

Wondering what was so urgent a high level board meeting was being interrupted (Kella usually just gave people the run-around untill Rico was done) Rico nodded, dismissed himself and told the boardmembers to wrap up the meeting whenever they were ready. He followed the aide, and left the room at a brisk pace.

He reached a secure comm a few minute later, and after dismissing the aide, picked up a reciever and spoke.

"Belgardi here."

Taken from For the People... Bespin

Two glanced at the city Administrator. “Order all autocannons situated around the landing pads online, and manned.”

The fat man nodded quickly.

Dej chuckled, and approached the microphone. Clearing his throat, and beginning to speak in an uncanny impersonation of a somewhat distressed civilian, said, “This is Orion Seth of the Bespin Civilian Defense Force. On behalf of the BCDF, I warn you, incursion on Cloud City will not be tolerated! We will… we will fight you to the last!”



The Past

"System is coming online sir."

Ultos Telso, Major Assiatant Researcher, Imperial Navy, Experimental Weapons looked at his console. Bars of green and wavering energy readings confirmed the gunner's remark.

"Send out the transmission, bring targeting equipment online."

Ultos felt a certain emptiness in his stomach, a feeling he always got when any of his experiments, mundane or not began. The unknown would become the known; the theoretical world of numbers and forumlas would enter the very real world of people and objects. Lab tests usually told researchers what they wanted to hear- if they didn't then they changed the test to make them have the results needed for real testing.

"Scanners picking up target drone. Preparing telemetry."

"Line feed is steady... tinbanna saturation reached."

"Power readings steady."

"Target sited, locked and loaded."

The flurry of activity was a combination of scientists and researchers, and Imperial military personale. Ultos was surprised he had anyone assiting his small research team at all- usually untill a weapon was prove it never got such good treatment by commanders- and then they complained such weapons weren't suited for combat. Problems like those could be solved if soldiers were ever spared to assist in the design.They could be a problem too... human variables in complex tests which could be sent arry by a tiny mistake. Ultos however welcomed the gunners he had working with him- they gave him results of greater authentiocity than his assitants running the gun. He wouldn't complain.

Of course, he hadn't gotten the soldiers because he asked for them- they had been assigned to him as tensions across the galaxy grew. War seemed on the horizion, and there we already sketchy reports of the Corellian system under attack. Bespin's ample supplies of tinbanna gas were sure to be a target.. and there was no greater target on Bespin than Cloud City.

Of course, the tinbanna was the whole reason this experiment was taking place on Bespin. If it was a sucess.... it could change the way wars were fought. If it was perfected before an enemy attacked, it could render Cloud City nearly impregnable.

Amazing what the Jutraalins were on too.... if we hadn't hit them when we did...

The thought was lost amongst the sudden rush as the drone came into sight.

"Target sighted."

"Power reading's steady."

"Tinbanna feed is stable... constant pressure at 3072 psi."

"Targeting telemetry prepared."

Ultos listened intently. The large, freighter sized droid came into sight. It was a simple machine, with rudimentary progarmming, but otherwise harmless. It supported only 3 major functions, navigation, thrust and shielding. Shielding. Lots of shielding.

"Prepare to fire on my mark." The voice of the gunnery sergent was crisp and practiced.

The droid boasted incredible shielding for it size... alter Novaldex shield generators which saw use on large capital warships were generating an invisible energy screen around the simple droid mind. In a conventional test, even the most high powered of stationary cannon, much like the one being used here, would require mutlipe salvos to even have a chance of breeching the powerful energy barrier. This autocannon was not quite conventional, but put out the same power ratio. If things went normally, this might take some time.

"Activate active scanners."

Ultos's own meeker voice seemed out of place in the situation. His scientific team powered up the powerful portable scanning array, and focused its many sensing options on the drone. Recording data pads became active.

"FIRE"

The boomig voice of the sergent echoed across the landing pad. Ultos watched as the first shot climbed skyward. He knew recording cameras would capture the shots... but sicence often needs to be experience to be believed.

The first shoot seemed on target, but was in reality too high. It shot past the drone into a bank of clouds. A moment latter, the droid belattedly moved, and evasive action. Ultos chuckled at the slow processing power of the drone. The next shot exited the cannon's muzzel at blinding speed. In the moment the blast was visible, Ultos seemed to sense something different about this shot, compared with his previous viewings of such fire. He made a mental note to check the veiwing tape.

The shot flew straight, and was on target. It visible struck the drone. A flurry of five more shots riddled the drone. Ultos' team jumped into action. The voice of the sergent could be heard yelling.

"Cease fire."

"Get me a reading on those shields!"

"Working on a visual of the drone."

"Acessing damage assesment software."

Ultos sucked in his breath. The moment of truth was at hand. Had his time spent on Jutraal actually paid off... or was the document all a fraud, planted by some scientist who simply want to looks succesful. Ultos wouldn't have doubted the latter. Fearsons had been known to be a ruthless taskmaster.

"Shield rating at 98.9 percent."

.7 percent. Why thats not even as good as a regular salvo!

The document had claimed amazing unheralded results. Ultos was not happy.

"Visual uploaded... umm you may wasnt to come look at this.... definatley appears to be some visual damage."

What??

"Software assessment claims hull integrity is nearly gone sir."

But how?

Ultos ran over to see for himself. This wasn't possible. That shots hadn't even dented the shields!! He looked down at the monitor and visual scan. How could both be malfunctioning at once??

"Sergent, hit it again. I need more data."

Ultos was going to watch on the visually enhanced monitor, and see what was actually happening.

"Major, I'm sorry but I can't comply."

"Why Sergent?" Ultos's tone was a combination of annoyance, impateince and half heartedness. He was concentrating on the data spilling across the screen.

"Because, we just recieved the order to prepare for battle stations. An enemy fleet has taken up positions around Bespin"

Ultos looked up.... the relazation hitting him a few second's late. He could tell by the sergent's eyes what his face must have looked like......



Present

"Greetings Mister Belgardi. I hope all is well."

Rico grew rigid. The voice was familiar, but in a different way then before. He hadn't expected who was talking to him over the secure line. Rico kept silent, not knowing what too say.

"The Chairman has asked me to inform you about a major shift in plans. Unfortunatly I cannot trust the saftey of this line, even though I have been assured it is of the highest security. It's more of a personal issue really. Besides, I've sent someone to meet with you in person and explain the situation."

Rico's first thought was Who?

"Where do I meet them?" Still slighty surprised, Rico sounded a bit caught of guard.

"They'll be waiting for you at Seriaph Tower. I do hope you have the time to meet with them."

Rico, now more calm and over the intial shock, sounded much more natural.

"Of course- I'll see them forthwith."

"Excellent. Goodday."

The line died.

The voice on the line had been Brutus Nogoth.

Pavo Prime is a world often compared to paradise. Slowy orbiting an enormous black sun, the planet is basked in a warm glow with little glare for hours upon hours. The intrigue of having a black primary star not only atracts tourists, but also creates on the most pleasant climates imaginable for the entire world. Not too hot, but pleasantly warm nearly all year round, the planet boasts the largest concentration of casinos per capita of any planet in the galaxy. Resorts, spas, health clubs and sporting centers of all kinds litter than landscape; as well as any other attraction you can imagine. The planet is a shoppers paradise the planet sell everything you can imagine and about half the stuff you can't. It is often quipped that between the gambling and the shopping taking place on Pavo, that more money is changing hands than in all the banks on Muunlist.

One of the most frequently sold items in the many shops and stores of Pavo Prime is a picture of one paticular section of skyline, known as the Prime line. A line about 1/3 of a mile long, it is dominated by amazingly complex, beautiful, intruiging and unique buildings. The picture take from a floating airspeeder is embelished upon datacards, clothing, drinks, and a whole array of souvenirs sold for outrageous price (that still sell like wildfire). One of the buildings along the "Prime Line" is Seriaph Tower, the corporate headquarters of Belgardi Ltd.

A huge structure, Seriaph Tower has a large very tall base; a wavy estoeric shape that has to be seen to completly be understood. Made totally of transparisteel, the whole structure is said to be resitant to great natural forces and even orbital bombardment for an extraordinary length of time. Also believed to sport its own personal shielding generators, the building is speculated to have cost into the trillions of credits, though Belgardi will not reveal the actual contruction cost. A the base rise upward, the building grows slightly slimmer, but the change is barley noticable from outside observation. At a tremendous hieght, it comes to a flat top, but does not stop there. A large cylindrical column extends upward, jutting even higher into the sky. At the top of the column is a hexagonal prisim. The building had many more than just these physical features... both internally and externally, but the huge hexagon that looms over its sourroundings seems to dominate the whole planet.

And the reason it did so was because it was from here the CEO of Belgardi Ltd conducted bussines.

Rico Belgardi was making his way toward that huge prisim, a trip that took several minutes. Like all tremendous buidlings, Seriaph Tower had a huge network of tubolifts and lift tubes that criss crossed it massive area. However there is only one lift that goes from the base of the building to the very top- a lift that only a select few knew about. Anyone ouside those few would have to travel to the highest floor, then enter another lift that ran the length of the column. Only Rico, and a few others knew of the concealed shaft that ran up the back of the building all the way to a secret enterance into the prisim. He was riding that lift now which even at full speed would take around 10 minutes to reach the top. Descending was faster.... much faster.... but fighting gravity is much more difficult than submitting to it.

The trip up seemed to be taking longer than usual. Most likley because Rico was going to be meeting with Brutus Nogoth's envoy. Rico wasn;t afraid of him or anything like that... but if he was ever caught associating with terrorists like Nogoth- well there would be problems. Of course, no one would be spying on him in his own personal building. He did have assurances at least about that. the connection to the Union was valuable- as long as it stayed a secret.

And if it leaks..... well. We'll deal with that time if it ever comes.

For now though. All that remained was to wait and see who the envoy was, and what he had to say.

The small light was blinking on the intercomm from Rico's desk. The light meant his secretary, the lady who kept his life in order, was waiting for him to acknowlegde her paige. Rico wasn;t sure how long the light had flickered... on some occassions Kella had been forced to wait hours while Rico attended to important (or secret) matters. She could buzz him verbally using another line, and oftne did... but if he failed to respond or was not in, she hit the hold button, and waited for him to open the channel. Rico's hand slid over to the call button.

"Kella?"

His secretary's sweet voice survived the harsh trip up the columns fiber optic cables and filled his office.

"Is there anyone here to see me?"

"Yes Mr. Belgardi. The CEO of Agro Industries in waiting here in our guest area. Shall I sen him up."

Agro Industries... what is Afdol doing here?

The somewhat eccentric, extremly bright corporate leader of Agro Industries was well known across the galactic bussiness community. Wealthy before taking entering the farming bussiness, he was one of the most well known executives in the galaxy due to his orginal claim to fame: Dejarik Hologame Galactic Champion. Most recently he had been known for his attempt to run for the "presidency" of the Azguards, a odd race who had opened their elections to the entire galaxy for candidates, then subsequently shut down the elections after some tampering with candidates.

I don't remember having an appointment to see Afdol.

"Send him up."

Hopefully Rico could entertain him then send him on his way.... the emissary sned by Brutus would be here antime and Rico didn't want to keep him waiting.

"Right away Mr. Belgardi."

It took several minutes for the turbolift to make its way up the long shaft to the base of the hexagonal penthouse. There were several reasons for this, the main one the great distance that was traveled, but other more subtle reasons. Today, Rico used it too his advantage, as he usually did, to make his way to the small landing where the turbolift opened. The landing was not very large, and was straight and narrow, with large ornate collumns coming out of the ceiling along a upwrad sloping staircase. The turbolift opened right near the base of this stairwell, from which the rest of the hexagonal structure was acessible.

The columns, walls and floor were well embelished; a dark red carpet ran up the stairs center, while polished white stone made up the foundation. The pillars were draped with large tapestries, weavings and pictures, both real and holographic filled the niche's created by the pillars and the narrow walls.

What was not visible were the mutlipe levels of security equipment built and integrated into the lavish decorations and furnishings: pop down cannons, security cameras, dectecion equipment and an assortment of other protections had been afforded the head of Belgardi Limited. It would be a rare or extremly bad situation if the equipment was necessary, but Rico coveted the fact he had an ace in the whole in a bad situation.

When the lift doors slid open, and there stood Hilter Afdol. Smiling Rico extended his hand. The other executive shook it, and smiled back. Rico gestured for Hilter to follow.

"Welcome welcome, Mr. Afdol. Welcome to Seriaph Tower."

"The pleasure is mine."

"So what do you think?"

"About the tower, or Pavo Prime in general?"

"Both."

"The tower is magnificent. Quite an achievment..."

They began making their way up the steps.

"...and it seems I haven't even seen the greatest part."

"It's not much really- just a place to hang my hat."

Hilter chuckled.

"And the planet?"

"Gorgeous. I still cannot get over the sun. Its huge, but the light seems as if it has a calming natural effect. I feel more alert than usual."

"Our primary has that effect on people."

They neared the top of the staircase, the fluffy, but yet rigid protocol of bussinesmen keeping their conversation small, inconsequential and almost mechanical. Each had botht eh questions and answers programmed, and were speaking without really thinking. Such was the bussiness world.

"I'll be sure to set up a tour of some of our more featured locations."

"I'd love to but, I must refuse. My schedule is quite packed and I just can't fit it in. I'll make sure to come back sometime when I have more time."

Reaching the large doorway, Rico pulled open the thin wooden doors by their ornate handle. Put up mainly for show, the oversized doorframe barley disguised the fact a industrial strength blast door that could be closed if the situation required it. Rico entered, then veered left, into a small sitting/conference room.

"Have a seat."

Hilter nodded, and sat. Rico followed suit. Casually, he decided to get down to bussiness.

"So... what brings you to Pavo Prime?"

Hilter's ligh hearted fascade seemed to dim. Looking absently at a holographic peice of art, he said almost laxidazically,

"A mutual aqcuaintaince of ours sent me."

Mutual Aqcuantiance... what is he talking about?

"I see. Who was it."

The uncertainty in Rico's voice was more evident than he wished. Hilter turned to face Rico, his face much more stern and thoughful.

"I'm sure Brutus warned you I would be arriving."

Hilter... knows Brutus?? He.. he must be the envoy!

"You're the envoy!?"

Hilter smiled, but with much more wicked conntence.

"Why yes. I assume from your question you weren't aware it was me?"

Rico regained his compsure.

"I had no clue you even knew Brutus."

"Everyone knows Brutus... at least now."

Rico had to admit he was right. The GLF's string of sponsored attacks had made a lot of waves.

"So are you..."

"... a worker?" Hilter finsihed his sentence for him. "Yes... yes I am. I support Union labor fully."

The ironic euphmisim confirmed Hilter's connection. His simple pun showed he knew that the Union, the parent organization for the GLF and many other groups exsisted- a fact only a select few were aware of. Even the GLF, a mioghty organization in its own right, exsisted and prospered galactically primarily because its Union connectiosn had allowed it to growth, supported by a network of organizations, and a vast pool of resources.

"I see. Well, if you the envoy, whats the message?"

Rico felt uneasy discussing Union bussiness, even high in the sanctity of his won tower. He knew no one could be listening... but it still made him uneasy.

"We have a bussiness deal for Belgardi. Brutus and the chairman have brokered a deal that requires the assitance of your corporation."

Rico had talked with the chairman not too long ago, about a project which he would need Belgardi's assistance with. Now he was being asked..... well to some degree told... what to do with his corporation. That idea didn't sit very well with him, deep down on the inside.

"What sort of deal."

Hilter leaned over a bit, as he made himself more comfortable.

"Belgardi is currently holding several assets in the Tion Hegemony, with arangments similar to those here on Pavo. I assume thats how it works."

Rico nodded. Hilter coninued.

"Those assets are lying directly in the path of some major changes in that sector of the galaxy."

Rico knew that to be true. There had been quite an storm hanging over the Tion. He muttered.

"Black Dragon Empire.."

Hilter either read his lips, or heard him.

"That's correct. Rather than stand opposed to the changes, the Union has prepared a deal that we think is rather benefical."

"That is?"

"In exchange for those worlds, Belgardi will recieve direct and complete soverign control of Bespin, recently liberated by the Black Dragon Empire."

Rico paused as he heard Hilter speak. The Tion worlds were old strongholds of Belgardi, and did quite well in producing revenue and other major services. Still, Bespin was on a whole other level entirely.

"Which worlds are required?"

Hilter pulled a datapad out of his pocket.

"That contains the specifics of the deal. You can see for yourself."

Hilter got up.

"I appreciate the hospitality... I think I can find the exit."

Rico barely heard him, as his eyes fell over the datapad, his mind assessing the price he would have to pay.

Staring out the viewport of his shuttle, Rico admired the prototype vessel he would be using as a courier vessel. Fresh out of the large shipyards orbiting Pavo Prime, the large Star Destroyer sized vessel seemed vibrant, imposing and dangerous. The vessel was highly advanced, its profile invoking a feeling like that of the Empire's fearsome Imperial Star Destroyers. Hopefully, when the ship was perfected, governments and navies across the galaxy would sport replica's of this awesome vessel. A new name in space warfare would becoem commonplace- and each utterance would be advertising for Belgardi Ltd. The name was well suited for the job, crafted specifically to invoke a sense of awe when spoken. This prototype would bear the name of the next class of warship- Rico Belgardi was about to take aride aboard Belgardi's newest product, the Immolator.

Rico felt comfort in the fact that he was going to be journeying across th galaxy in the large, powerful warship. The Tion Cluster was a bastion of unrest since the recent advances made by the Black Dragon Empire had sparked a small insurgency. The Immolator 's size and weapons compliment was assurance enough that Rico would traverse the distance safely.

Not that he should be worried- Rico's own secret connections with the Union would keep him safe from a myriad of terrorist and insurgency groups whom he might otherwise have to wiorry about, and the planets he was chosing to visit were relativly peaceful. He had never heard of the large Belgardi outposts on either Ciutric or Axxila report any strange happenings. Once the stomping grounds of high ranking Imperials like Sate Pestage, and Prince-Admiral Krennel, both worlds had been relativly out of the way since the recession of the Empire. Belgardi Ltd had opened a large complex on Cuitric, as well as several smaller ones, primarily because of its location on several trade routes. Although rico was planning on handing over the soveringty that Belgardi nominally held over both worlds, he hoped to maintain the large compound on Cuitric intact and under Belgradi's coproate control. The smaller, more mundane outposts on Axxila could be relinquished without any second thought. Either way, the acquisition of Bespin would cover any losses sustained in the deal.

The large ship was growing inexorably closer as Rico's shuttle drew toward one of it's large hangars.

His thoughts of Bespin set in motion his able mind... wondering exactly how and why the Union, or one of the Union's intermediaries had worked out this deal. How, Rico could peice out much easier than why. He could see a Union member impersonating a Belgardi envoy, or even making an anonymous offer. Why..... why was another matter. Other than the profits Belgardi could garner from the lucrative sale of tinbanna gas, some of which would be passed back to them, Rico was unsure of what the Union would recieve directly. He was sure it was something, though exactly what he could not fathom. He knew, that soon enough, he would b enlightened if he needed to know.

Or if I make it a point to as.

He often downplayed his influence, but if push came to shove, Rico Belgardi was important enough to demand to know such things.

With a slight jolt, Rico's shuttle entered the Immolator's spacious hangar, a lone ship in a space meant to house many. Why the large cruiser was traveling devoid of a fighter escort was beyond the CEO of Belgardi- it made litle sense- but if nothing elese it showed a high amount of confidence in the new ship with Belgardi's security personnel.

Disembarking from the shuttle, Rico was led by ship secuirty to his personal quarters. A engineer waiting for him at his room told him that during the hyperspace trip, he would be given a tour of the large combat vessel, an experience Rico was looking forward to. He barley noticed when the Immolator's engines revved up to full power and the ship jumped to lightspeed.



The Immolator exited hyperspace as smoothly as it had entered it, deep in the Tion cluster. Rico had spent a good portion of the trip being regaled by the high tech, state-of-the-art devices mounted on the Immolator . He had been paticuarly intruiged by it's "shield masker", a novel device created soley for the Immolator . If it worked as well as the engineer claimed, then it would make the Immolator a profitable class of warship.

Perhaps the Black Dragon Empire will be interested in purchasing a few Immolators.

His bussiness plans were rudely interrupted by a voice over the ships intercomm unit.

"Mr. Belgardi, please report to the bridge as soon as possible."

The voice, even digitized, was that of the Immolator's captain. His voice did not seem distressed, so Rico didn't fear anything bad had occured. Merely something that required Rico's authority. Rico decided whatever it was, it would be best to handle it quickly, and thus made his way swiftly to the bridge.

The large sphere of Ciutric dominated the Immolator's viewport, plastered againt the backdrop of the vaccum of space. Numerous small ships could be seen coming and going from the planet, and Rico noted their profiles on several sensor boards displayed prominently on the bridge. He also noted the much closer and larger vessel ahead of the Immolator . It too showed up on the sensor board, but it was of a designed of which Rico was not familiar. As he stared at it, the Immolator's captain stepped up next to him.

"That ship has opened a line of communication, asking to speak with you."

"Did they say why they hailed us."

"The captain of the ship said he had a message for you personally."

"Open a transmission."

Rico turned to a holo-projection, which suddenly flicked and revealed a rather dishevaled man. Not at all what he had expected.

"Mr. Belgardi. I'm glad you dropped in. I'd suggest you do the wise thing and power down your ship, and prepare to be boarded."

Rico was taken aback by the blunt statement. A bit shocked, he started to reply.

".. What?? Who do..."

The projection cut him off.

"No. Well, I'm sorry you couldn't see reason."

And with an amazing suddenness, the vessel opened fire.

The first turbolaser shots rattled home, frighteningly close to the Immolator's bridge. Rico heard the captain spring to action.

"Raise shields and charge the weapons! And bring the Deciever on line!"

"Enemy vessel launching fighters." The voice of the crewmember sememd amazingly calm.

"Are they jamming us" Rico asked, still stunned by the sudden attack.

"Shield's rising."

"Weapons up to 57 percent"

"No Mr. Belgardi, they aren't jamming us."

"Send out a signal to BDE, informing them we have come under attack."

"Yes sir."

And as the ordr was given, Rico watched with a smile as the Immolator fired its first terrible salvo of revenge....

The armada of the Black Dragon Empire had jumped from hyperspace a distance away from Ciutric and were cruising at sublight to rendevous with their contact. A small compliment of the newly commissioned Tion-class Star Destroyers took the lead, while several DragonClaws, Farfalen Shotos, and Cutter-class battlecruisers took their flank.

"Ciutric coming up," the nav officer said, nestled in the crew pit under the command walkway. "Scopes detect several signals above orbit engaging each other. Looks like a battle out there." He looked up to his superior officer. "Should I call battle stations?"

Admiral Vaako looked to General Grevious, who then nodded to him. "Raise shields, Lieutanant. Order battle stations." The klaxons suddenly blared aboard the lead Tion Star Destroyer, Necros.

"I thought this was going to be a simple operation," Vaako said, clenching his gloved fists in annoyance. "But I suppose we were asking too much."

"It is to be expected, Captain," Grevious countered. "But no matter. It will give our pilots shakedown time to test our Deathgliders."

They were approaching the night side of the planet, and while the darkness wouldn't hide them from the other ship's sensors, it would offer them some cover from curious eyes.

"We're about four minutes away from the rendezvous point," the nav officer chimed again. "Any luck at all and the smarties operating the scopes there won't notice us until we're a minute of so out. Time they change course to intercept us, we'll be right on top of them."

"Noted," Admiral Vaako said. "Deploy our Deathgliders."

Vaako felt his stomach twist, go fluttery. The operation so far had gone from smooth to dangerous, but this was going to be a whole lot more so. "Has our contact been sighted?"

"Yes, Admiral," he replied. "Immolator-class vessel is engaging the enemy. They are signalling for help."

The Admiral shook his head. "This was not my idea of a smooth operation, Grevious. I want it on record that this was not my idea." He gave another order. "Order our squadrons to engage the enemy and defend our contact. We are not going to lose this vital negotiation because of a few resistors."

"I am not concerned, Admiral Vaako. Our fighters will display their superiority," he simply replied in his mechanical voice, as he watched squadron after squadron of Tion Deathgliders fly ahead of the armada.

***

The attacking ships had formed a loose hemisphere in space. There were an awful lot of civilian freighter and passenger ships going to and coming from the planet, and it was all Wing Commander Kix Davin could do to avoid hitting one of them as he dodged the fighters buzzing them. The civilians tried to get out of the way, which made things worse. And sooner or later, the Black Dragon Empire armada was going to arrive in range and probably add to the confusion. Why they hadn't already made Kix wonder.

As he watched, one of the aggressors fired at his wingman. The cannon's beam struck one of those passenger ships, punched a hole through a power converter, and caused a bright flash as the unit shorted out. Lot of damage, probably nobody hurt.

"Lousy shots," his wingman, Dragon Two, chimed over the comm. "Don't care who they hit."

Kix nodded. He had thought they might weave in and out of the thick traffic and avoid being blasted, but it seemed his wingman was right: The resistance didn't care who got fired. The Deathgliders around him quickly splintered and began to engage enemy fighters at random. Tracers of red and green lit the vacuum of space around him. He snap-rolled his fighter and raced toward the capital ship engaging the Immolator-class vessel, the rest of his squadron following suit.

Things looked bad. Really bad. Debris and wreckage began to litter above the planet.

One of the attacking fighters came straight at them, cannons winking hot plasma eyes--

The attacker exploded. A Deathglider blew through the cloud of debris. It pattered like hard rain against Davin's shields.

"Good shot!" Kix yelled. "Who got it, was that you, Dragon Two?"

"Not me," his voice came back. "I've got plenty to worry about coming in from my side. Must have been Dragon Six."

"Wasn't me," came her reply.

Kix blinked. Then who did?

Over the comm: "Hey, Dragon Leader! Okay if I joined your party?"

"Zem! What are you doing here?"

"What shouldn't I be? I can fly a Deathglider too," she teased. "Sorry I took long to get here."

Another of the unmarked attackers blossomed into a fireball.

"Well, just don't let it happen again," Kix said. He grinned. Now that most of Dragon Squadron was here, the odds were a little better.

He swung his fighter into a wide turn and gunned straight toward the enemy battlecruiser's engines.

"Follow me gang, let's show our new clients in that Immolator how the Black Dragon Empire plays..."

The Past

Dr. Lorih Mentoas was the picture of a frazzled, stressed out individual. His brown hair, usually cut short had grown out, and lay in a twisted mat on his head. He had grown a ragged beard and pathetic moustache, grown due in part to the insane hours his research project had been taking up. Mentoas wasn't the type to throw away his life on a government funded project. Like most geniuses he was an eccentric, and could get lost in his work for hours upon end even days at a time- but that trait was not the reason he was working so hard now. What drove him on thi project, was pure and simple terror.

Terror of what would happen if he failed.

He had not asked to be assigned to this project- he had been told he would be leading it. Actually given an ultimatium- produce or die. And not just any death; a horrible, painful, force assisted death. The storeis of what Emperor Fearsons could do in a fit of rage were living nightmares that constantly played in the back of his mind. He saw horrid image of limbs being ripped from his body as he stood helplessly in the face of the maneviolent, all powerful ruler of the Jutraalian Empire. And so here he was, pouring over blueprints and schemtics, running complex mathematical equations, running computer simulations- and hoping against hope what he was concocting would work.

His assignment had been insanly difficult- design a weapon and weapons platform from scratch that would redefine the nature of warfare, and launch TJE to the top. No notion of what to build, not specifics- only a hefty budget, labratory space and few assistans. Insanity. The Emperor, his power waning after the decimation that had followed the Wraith virus, wanted a quick jump of power- directly from the ahheap to the top- and Mentoas was supposed to hand deliver it to him. That is if he valued his life.

He had been working almost constantly for a little under a year to produce what Fearsons demanded, facing stress attacks everytime he was forced to make a status report. Progess had been slow- he hadn't even had a major feasible idea for 3 months- until a sudden ephiany had occured to one of his assitants; a saving grace that came right before a crucial deadline. Presented with nothing more than a rendered computer simulation, the Emperor had been satisfied and interested, and told Mentoas when he expected a working prototype. Mentoas had nearly swallowed his tongue as he heard the time, but had done nothing but bow and nod. Now, months of work would be put to the test, as Mentoas prepared for the first field test of his design.

"Dr., gas pressure at maximium level."

The voice of Dr. Mentoas's lab assistant carried oddly in the high wall facility. Mentoas confirmed the technicians assessment with a glance at his control panel. Green bars showed a go on all critical systems: power, targeting, line pressure and many more. Mentoas's eyes looked up at the large emplacment off to his left. What met him was a mutated turbolaser battery, with large tubing lines running into it from odd directions, and a mishapen, frightening body case.

Months of work...

His eyes followed down the huge shaft. At the very end of it a small shield tower stood, an invisible energy barrier encasing the fragile construction. His sensor's shopwed the shield was running at full power.

Let see where I've gotten...

"You may fire on my mark."

He watched as the turbolasers barrel angled itself, its targeting computer bringing it to the most efficent position to fire ont he shield tower. Mentoas held his breath, when with an electrical "sstheeew", an eruption of energy spit from the barrel. His eyes tracked the fast moving beam down to the tower which suddenly exploded in a fury of white fire and electrical sparks. Mentoas sat, stunned silent by his handwork. Suddenly his brain caught up with him. He let out an uncharacteristic shriek of excitment. He saw his aides look at him, their own smiles confirming their own joy- and the tint of surprise from his sudden outburst. Mentoas's mind began racing at 100 MGLT a second.

"Get me the video and power fluxuations on that shot. And get another tower up I want to see that again. And I want a technical readout on everything connected to the batteriy at the moment of fire."

A standard turblaser would never have punched through the scaled down novaldex shield tower in a single blast. Whatever had just happened was not normal- something they had done had worked.

"And.... call the Emperor. I think he would be most pleased."

[hr]

The Present

The void of space was lit up as the capital vessel and the Immolator traded volley after of volley of fire. Rico sat mesmerized by the combat, like a moth drawing closer and closer to a deadly flame, admiring the beauty but not the threat. He knew the danger the other ship posed, but couldn;t help but stare in awe as both ships danced around each other, ponderously slow compared to the fighters flitting around in space, pummeling each other with crimson and lime neon fire, interspaced with the electric blue of ion cannons, and the the trail of warheads. He wasn't a space commander, a fleet tactician, and although he knew the basics of what was going on, he was more consumed by the sight of it all. The idea that his company he developed such a lethal instrument, and he was seeing it in action wa sperhaps the most enthralling of it all.

A direct hit from a paticulalry concentrated volley of turbolasers shook the Immolator's bridge, and knocked Rico to the floor. As he rose shakily to his feet, the reailzation of how serious the battle going on was hit him.

"Captain! What's our status?"

"Sir, bridge shields are failing, main shields holding at 55%. I suggest you make your way to your quarters. I expect they'll be pounding the bridge pretty hard now."

However, as the next blast from the enemy vessel slammed into the Immolator's defenses, the thunder seemed distant. Rico's eyes probed the captain's, who appeared confused. Suddenly, a flash of realization overtook his eyes.

"Mr. Belgardi- I will give a medal to whichever techie developed the Deciever shield masker."

With that statement, Rico understood as well. The enemy could have pounded the Immolator's bridge, and possibly broken through the shield- but the shield masker didn't show the critical level of weakness- and so they had changed targets. Rico's smile lit up his face- technological achievments like that were what his company was known for.

"Incoming energy signatures."

The captain turned toward the sound of the voice, a crewman in the sensor area of the bridge.

"What kind of signature."

"Large force exiting hyperspace."

And at that moment, a large contingent of vessels, appeared out of nowhere. Rico stared at them, unfamiliar shapes, but unmistakable deadly.

"Identification?"

"Sir, ship transponders are reading that they are from the Black Dragon Empire."

Rico let out a sigh of relief; they would be here to help. The captain spoke.

"Open up a hailing frequency, and set for course beta 4.5.9. Lets let our friends help us out a bit."

As Rico watched swarms of small craft launching from the BDE ships, and a new sourc of light rakin the enemy, he barley noticed the sudden shift as the Immolator made its way toward the saftey of the Black Dragon vessels.

"All fighters have been launched," the bridge officer called, throwing a quick look at the tactical holo floating over his display bank. They had come out of hyperspace exactly in time and within easy striking range of the enemy fleet and its compliment of fighters who were currently engaging the Immolator, but were now turning their attention upon them.

"Response?" Admiral Vaako called to the tactical officer.

"Defending fighters now launching from the enemy ships," the other reported. "Nothing visible as yet."

"Get a location on those battlecruisers," Vaako ordered, "and detail the Nemesis and Empyrean to move in and destroy them."

"Yes, sir." The officer relayed the orders to the comm station to signal the named Tion Star Destroyers.

Admiral Vaako could see the fighters now, coming at them like a swarm of angry insects. Off on the Necros's starboard flank, the Tion Star Destroyer Empyrean was moving toward one of the enemy battecruisers, its Deathglider squadrons sweeping ahead of it to engage the defenders. "Change course to the farther of Ciutric," he ordered the navigation officer. "Deathgliders to set up an advance screen. The Erebus will set course for Axxila with a compliment of DragonClaws to accompany it." He looked to General Grevious, "Any special orders, General?"

The cyborg menace was gazing at a mid-distance scan of the planet Ciutric. "Stay with the program for now, Admiral," he said. "Our preliminary data appears to have been adequate; my armies will begin to choose target cities at will and begin their landing. Remind your fleet that my men need air support once they have reached the surface. Inform your air force that the plan is to hurt and frighten, not obliterate. Ciutric and Axxila are to be taken without collateral damage."

"Relay that," Vaako nodded toward the communications station. "Have our Deathgliders so reminded as well."

Out of the corner of his eye, Grevious saw Admiral Vaako turn to a holoprojection that suddenly appeared by his station. "Captain Adaala?" he said. "What's the status of the Erebus and your fleet? Are the DragonClaws ready to proceed to Axxila?"

"The Erebus is ready to proceed, sir," she reported, as the female Captain of the Tion Star Destroyer brushed aside one of the dark braids of her hair. "The DragonClaws are still getting in formation. The opposing fleet is giving us trouble at the moment."

Frowning, Vaako turned to stare at the tactical displays. "Save your concerns, Captain," the Admiral told her coldly. "Get those DragonClaws to formation and make the jump. We have no time to waste with our client in the Immolator waiting on us."

"Yes, Admiral," Captain Adaala replied, her tone nuetral. "The Erebus and the DragonClaws will be making the jump within the hour."

Vaako's frowning face frowned harder. "Make the jump now."

Adaala frowned at the Admiral. "Sir--?"

Vaako turned to her, a warning gleam in his eyes. "Attend to your duties, Captain," he said.

"Yes, Admiral," Adaala murmured, and the holoprojection vanished.

The Necros was in range now, and tiny blips started to appear on the tactical holo as the Tion Star Destroyer's huge turbolaser batteries began firing. Communications towers on the enemy's battleships flared and went black; bridge deflector shields flared, went offline, then flared again as secondary fire attacked the same target, igniting its hull. A pair of the enemy's Carrack-class light cruisers swept in from starboard, the Necros's Deathglider screen breaking formation to engage them. Off in the distance, the Nemesis and Empyrean's turbolaser batteries were blazing against their targets; and even as Admiral Vaako watched, the enemy's battlecruisers flared into vapor. The battle seemed to be going well.

Remarkably well, in fact.

Thus far, the fleet of the Black Dragon Empire had lost only three Deathglider squadrons and sustained superficial damage to the Tion Star Destroyers, DragonClaws, and Farfalen battlecruisers, compared to eight of the enemy's line ships and ten of its fighter squadrons. Granted, the Black Dragon Empire vastly outgunned the defenders, in which they had no idea they were arriving to Ciutric. Vaako still wondered why they incited an attack on the Immolator in the first place.

"Admiral Vaako," the tactical officer called again. "Erebus and her fleet are leaving." Vaako and Grevious turned to the center of the main viewport and watched the Tion Star Destroyer commanded by Captain Adaala give a flicker of pseudomotion and disappear, taking the smaller DragonClaws with her.

Out of the corner of his eye, General Grevious saw Vaako stir. "Patience, Admiral," the cyborg told him. "Their preparations took time, but they're now complete. The negotiation and transaction will soon proceed."

"The enemy is retreating, Admiral," the tactical officer announced, "their fleet is breaking up and starting prelightspeed manuevering."

"Excellent," Vaako murmured, coming up to look out the viewport over his shoulder. "Any word from our client?"

"The Immolator has taken shelter into our folds and is hailing us."

"Proceed and open a channel."

"Channel open, sir."

"Immolator, do you require any assistance? The enemy has been driven away and we are proceeding with the disembarking of our troops on Ciutric," Vaako said, his tone thoughtful with just a hint of concern mixed in. "Is there a location in which we can rendezvous and proceed with our transaction?"

He turned and whispered to the Captain of the Necros. "Bring our ship alongside theirs. Have the Nemesis and Empyrean take our flanks. I want this to go smooth and by the numbers. I want no more interferences..."