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Taris


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Zalis rubbed her temples as the Obsidian Phoenix shock itself somewhat violently out of hyperspace. For some reason, Raven pissed her off to the point that she had a lingering headache that she couldn't shake. Putting one hand down, she glanced out at the planet before her that had once been covered in city lights from space, now only had about half the planet in those lights. A green color seemed to overtake the rest of it. Looking towards the Droid, she raised an eyebrow as she kept one hand still rubbing her forehead.

 

"Czerka has a few people here who might try to oppose the contract signed. The last thing that they want is to have a new flag be raised over their territory. This could become... Fun by Delta's standards."

She finally lowered her hand as she leaned forward to really take the planet in. Feeling confident that Taris would be the first of many planets to have no choice but allow for the banner of Black Sun to be raised, she suddenly realized that she didn't officially know what the droid's number was. She turned slightly to look at the droid and gave it a look that may have suggested she felt bad.

 

"If you're going to work closely with me, I'm going to need your name officially..."

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Zalis smiled at the droid as it made its attempt to speak its name. She was able to pick up some of what it was trying to say, but her own follow up question was blocked by an incoming transmission from the planet. There was no chance for either to answer it, as it flooded to life on its own. Before Zalis was suddenly a man of red hair himself. His blue eyes pierced through sharply as he looked over the droid first, calling it by name; Remo. He then addressed her and spoke rather quickly of her own reputation and made an invite followed quickly by the transmission cutting off. Zalis suddenly sat back in the pilot’s chair and spoke out loud to Remo.

 

“He’s quite an Kriffing gentleman isn’t he?...”

 

Zalis looked over at Remo, but could tell that the droid seemed nervous. Clearly there was some sort of history there, but she decided it was best to not press him for the story. She would most likely get it later. For now, she would visit this man and find out who he was and if he was an ally, an asset, or a threat and deal with him appropriately. She couldn’t afford to waste too much time with him though, as she needed to get Czerka under her thumb quickly.

 

As the ship landed, she was met and escorted by two men clad in armor of their own. Ugly armor to be sure, but still armor. She did take notice that neither of them was armed, which was a good sign. Zalis herself was armed, but only with her up close and personal assassination weapons of choice. She never let those weapons not be on her, as she never knew when she might need them. She herself was dressed in a white dress the was free flowing, but had a black coat like cape that covered up the majority of the white dress. Upon entering the main area where the guards escorted her, she immediately plopped herself down on a couch, crossing her legs and stretching her arms out over the top of the couch to make herself comfortable. It was just a part of who she was to make herself comfortable.

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Zalis looked the man in the eyes after he finished for a good five seconds before she even flinched a muscle. She was a bit annoyed at the fact that the man even knew her purpose in coming, let alone that he would tell her that her time coming was a waste. But if what he said was true, it meant that she had far more work to do.

 

But as she was beginning to think of what her next move should be, the man who introduced himself as Celteo O' Maoilsheachlainn spoke up about a proposition that he was half expecting from her. His posture informed her that he was serious and was now waiting for what she had to offer. It was amusing and brought her to a point of actual laughter.

 

“Oh, son… I can tell you’re slightly new to this.”

 

She now stood up off the couch and threw off her black coat and straitened her dress in one motion. She began to walk towards the desk that Celteo sat at in a very somewhat methodical and slow motion.

 

“You see, if you wanted a deal that favored you, you would have allowed for me to offer up the idea of a proposition first. Because you brought it up first, it means you’ve hit a problem. Most people like you means either one of three things. First, you ran out of credit backing. Second, you’ve hit a limit in your reach. Or perhaps my personal favorite, you don’t have any reach to begin with and being seen next to someone like me would bring more attention that you want.”

 

Her last word she emphasized with her raising both eyebrows before turning around to sit with her back towards him on the desk. She only now began to fully take in the room that Celteo brought her to. It was grand and fitting for someone who belonged at the top of the food chain within the criminal world. Looking at the two guards that he had, who looked a warped version of an animal’s backside, she squinted her eyes slightly.

 

“Based from the look of your place I would say you fall into one of the first two categories.” Zalis now turned her head to look directly at the man. She had already decided to help him, as Taris would be good for business. But she couldn’t let him feel like he was superior to her in anyway, so she would play around with him for a bit. “What sort of arrangement crossed your mind that you think someone like me would be of a help for you? Clearly you have no interest in Czerka Corporation…”

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With a slight smile, Zalis turned herself around to walk slightly away from his face. As she moved, she walked slowly towards the large window that overlooked some of the only nicer parts that remained of the city that had rebuilt itself. Squinting her eyes slightly at a glare that came through, she turned her head back around to look at Celteo. She used the pauses to make it appear as if she was truly pondering the situation before she responded. 

“You don’t need to sign a deed over to me. Legally, since Shura Cohl’s death… the contract signed makes the company mine regardless. You only have leverage over the branch of Czerka out here. However, your position here does provide a very interesting leverage that intrigues me heavily…”

She instinctively raised her hand expecting to have someone put a drink in it, only to realize quickly that Celteo did not have such a staff always on hand. With a sigh, she put her hand back down and turned to fully face him. 

“The proposition that I give you is this. You remain here as my sector Vigo. You help increase the black market, increase slave trading, and create a culture of those who will do well within the organization…”

Zalis folded her arms in a way that allowed for Celteo to know that she was awaiting his response. She of course knew that he would have questions, along with a potential counter offer. Although she also knew that she wouldn’t accept anything less more than what she had offered up to him.  

Edited by Zalis Krales

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Zalis gave a slightly amused glance his way as Celteo expressed a desire for more. She walked up to the bar and picked up the glass, and with a rather quick movement, downed the drink offered to her. The very slight burn that echoed in her throat provided her time to put the glass down and leaned in towards the well dressed man to whisper into his ear.

"Who said you can't move towards the core? Chandrila, Anaxes, even Carida sits within your means. A sector Vigo is just that. You have full control over your area, and that area is yours to choose. You can take whatever liberties you want and need to advance Black Sun within your area. The only thing you'd be bound to uphold is that when I make the call for you,... You come."

She now took a step back away from him, allowing for him to regain his space. After a moment passed by, she lifted her hand towards him.

"Do we have an agreement, Vigo Celteo?"

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Zalis offered up a smile that was curled up in a sly devilish manner. She looked upon her new found Vigo as anyone who had just broken a cur. She poured herself another drink of the Tarisian Scotch that Celteo had given to her earlier, and she of course downed it in the same fashion as she did before - quickly and with authority. Having the glass slammed upon the bar-but not hard enough to make a super loud sound or breaking the glass. Using her arm to wipe her mouth dry, so moved away from the bar. 

"I leave that to you Vigo."

She went over to the couch and picked up her coat, and with a quick motion, put it back on as she stared at Celteo. 

"Expand as you wish. Black Sun HQ is now on Ord Mantell. I expect a report in person from you within a standard month's time."

She began to make her way towards the exit, but stopped short and turned around, clearly remembering to tell him something that she forgot.

"Also... Coruscant is... currently in turmoil. If the opportunity arises... offer the Mandalorians free resources from the Black Market. I'm sure that they will have no problems dealing with illegal goods..."

Letting her last few words hang for a moment, Zalis then turned and walked out of the luxury palace and towards her ship. Now that she had somewhat done what she intended for Taris, she would need to report back in to Ord Mantell and keep the local casino owners in line. Hopefully, Remo would have the ship ready for her departure from this planet.

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  • 2 years later...

Zalis stood and looked out over the skyline, which glowed from the setting sun. The office of Czerka that Akor’ketez occupied offered up a perfect view over the incoming ships at the main docks of the Upper City. Her assistant sat at the head of a large table, as a group of shady looking characters all sat around the table, each had a drink and a platter of some sort of food within reach of their arms. One of those seated was talking, addressing some concerns, but otherwise paid absolutely no attention to the Twi’lek at the head. Instead he directed his voice towards Zalis, who stood within the orange and red light of the sun as it was preparing to set on the cityscape. 

 

“... And if I’m completely honest with you, I’m not sure that Czerka, or Black Sun-whichever group you choose to front this, has anything worth noting of being able to secure a long and fruitful future. What is proposed here doesn’t really provide anything other than replacing the local guild leaders with just hubs that filter back to a main leader running everything. That’s not really realistic. Let the guild run as it's currently operating.” Zalis kept her eyes on the horizon, watching ships come and go, nowhere near as busy as a place like Coruscant or Corellia, but enough to occupy her attention as she looked at each ship. After she watched a few ships come and go and allowed for a very awkward long silence to fill the room, she broke the silence. 

 

“Local guild leaders siphoned credits out of the overall guild resources. You were all underpaid for contracts. This isn’t news, or shouldn’t be. To assume that I have no knowledge of how this operation runs is absurd, let alone to insinuate that the current setup is profitable to you. No guild leaders means protection fees. No default standard pricing for contracts.” Zalis turned at locked eyes with the speaker of the group of bounty hunters. “So while someone like you Gystur gets a fairly decent contract, others who sit at your side end up with scraps and disproportionate funds.” She now walked forward and leaned into the table, making her voice more stern. “Or is that your goal? You have no wiggle room here to actually compensate your fellow hunters, nor do you have the position to push and maneuver with the Crime Syndicate's heads.” She now stood up and regained her composure. “Since I am one of those heads… I can assure everything that I promised.”

 

There was some slight murmuring throughout the room. Zalis let it happen and refused to reign them back in. It was her goal to get them talking. Gystur was attempting to set himself up in a position to take the lead of this ragtail group of misfits. He held loyalty with the majority of them, and she knew this and exactly how difficult it would be to get them to agree on this deal. But part of what she offered up, along with some truth of what was actually happening would keep things from spiraling out of control. She picked up her drink as Akor’ketez leaned in to whisper. “Ma’am, speaking of the five, the Pyke’s are unhappy with the recent events at Outer Haven. They’re claiming it was a deliberate move by Black Sun and Crimson Dawn to push competition out. They’ve requested a meeting.” 

 

Zalis kept her eyes on the table, but within her own mind began to race a bit. If the Pyke’s moved openly, it would draw more attention to the inner workings taking place and could jeopardize the entire phase of operations she had set into motion. Not letting her eyes give anything away, she kept them focused on the center of the table and spoke in a whisper in return. “Have the Hutt’s agreed to this meeting? If that mad Bakkull is willing to travel, you can bet it’s being taken seriously by Crymorah as well…” Akor’ketez offered up a slightly sympathetic look, which he knew she didn’t see. “Unfortunately it does appear to be that outcome.” Letting out a sigh, she set her glass down with a load thud that almost broke the glass. 

 

“Whatever is going through your heads, know this. The galaxy is on the verge of changing. The winds of change are running high. Clear signs of it are obvious when you see things like the Alliance boldly striking out at Outer Haven, or their strong and surprise move and victory at Korriban. Getting contracts is about to be a hard thing. I’m not asking for anyone to vote on this proposal yet. Instead, take this contract before you know, as a good favor and omen towards the guild. The contract calls for each Hunter to receive ten grand worth of credits for participating. A bonus of three grand will be given if accepted today, along with one free purchase from the Black Sun black market. You have one rotation to accept, and two to get the job done. Good day.”

 

Zalis turned and gave Akor’ketez a pat on the shoulder, letting him know she was handing everything over to him for the rest of the meeting, and she then began to walk out towards the private landing pad of the Czerka office.

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  • 4 months later...

Akor’ketez sat behind his desk and punched in a few things here and there as he read through the message that Zalis had sent to him. The posting through all of the normal secure channels along with her giving the thumbs up for the Malidris job. Across from him was a holoprojected images of Gystur and Hylliburk, two of the bounty hunters who took the job Zalis offered up them. The job, which paid handsomely, freed up the Bounty Hunter's guild to move more openly again, as the final resistance piece of the Czerka buyout would be eliminated from the job. The Twi'lek brushed his shoulder as he finished transferring some funds from one account to another before looking up to address both men before him. 

 

"You officially are on the clock. It's expected that you complete your contract within twenty four hours, but I will also say not to complete it in the next two. Other items need to be moved before you can officially take your marks." Both men gave a nod of their heads and then shut off their projectors, leaving behind them a blue skinned Twi'lek named Ejin'crebi, but she had everyone call her Ejin for short. She broke the small silence that followed the ending of the meeting. "I have two hackers currently awaiting the final order... We do have their DITI's and are watching." Ako'ketez gave a nod. "Send word to begin their assignment. Current time table suggests that the linking of the two systems to haze their movements might take longer than expected, and far more expensive. But Zalis feels as if Helvault is big enough to take eyes of the heads of the crime syndicate families." Ejin slowly nodded her own head as she began to type away on her datapad before looking up and giving a thumbs up that the word was sent. "That will be all Ejin. I will send word to lock down all other credit accounts unless its goes through the 7 step unlock process." 

 

Now it was a wait and see game for the two operations. Only time would tell if Zalis' gamble would be successful. Either way, he was certain that Czerka would survive anything.

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