Coruscant - Galactic Throne

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anan quietly sipped on his caf in the corner of the Officer's Mess Hall of the Scarab, flipping through the intelligence reports the Sith had on a man known as Kane Wartide. Apparently the Wartides were of some infamy and renown, many of them having successfully led some of the larger pirate groups the galaxy had known in the past. It was here that Anan had chosen for their meeting, quite appropriate as a power flex, but the room they would meet in later also had a magnificent view of the lunar debris field and cleanup efforts. Without saying a word, Anan could use the simple militaristic might of the Sith as a demonstration of what might happen should this new contact choose to cross them.

It had taken a while, but Anan had maneuvered himself exactly where he wanted to be: high in the echelons of Sith as an advisor. The Sith had power and resources, and Anan could use these to further his ultimate end goal, but all in good time. It had taken a bit of doing and pulling a few strings to get a couple key competitors for his position 'taken care of' so that he would be the clear choice the Sith would want when dealing with Black Sun, and the closer to the Dark Lord Anan could get, then the faster he would likely be able to find his son's murderer. First, however, he would need to play his own part, and secure a reasonable trade agreement with this...entreprenuer.

His comm buzzed, notifying him that his appointment time was rapidly closing in. The Scarab crew already had instructions for where to dock Mr. Wartide and to escort him to the proper location, partially for show, and partially to ensure the rogue kept his hands in his pockets when it came to the more sensitive items and information the Sith no doubt had aboard the massive ship, things that Kane might otherwise be tempted to...capitalize upon. Clearing his place at the table, Anan took a caf to go, and within minutes was inside the meeting room, staring out the large viewport at the terrible beauty of Hesperidium's debris field.

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anansi slightly raised his eyebrow as Kane was ushered into the conference room, pronouncing his name with little error, something that usually took a bit of practice for non-Chiss. After a brief pause he reached out to return the handshake, before taking a seat and gesturing for his company to do this same. He'd already set up the conference room so Coruscant's dramatic backdrop was directly behind him, which unfortunately meant he would not be able to enjoy the scene himself during the meeting, but sacrifices were always necessary even at the smallest scales.

"Please, just Anansi is fine. Or my friends call me Anan. Few call me by that name anymore."

He gave a slight smile, one that was more courtesy than genuine, before sliding the case in front of him and inspecting the contents. Inside was a beautifully retouched charric, a weapon from Csilla. Still, it was accepting a weapon from a person with potential criminal ties, and for all Anan knew it could be a murder weapon. While he gave no outward indication of his thoughts or intentions, he knew his emotions could easily give him away in front of Kane's Zeltron lawyer, a species he was unfortunately very familiar with due to his underworld dealings and their penchant for...fun.

For now, he still held his hand close to his chest. While this was an amicable business meeting, Anan represented the Sith and was potentially negotiating terms that he could not allow to come back around and bite them, or it would be his head on the block.

"Now, Mr. Wartide. You have come today to seek a partnership with the Sith, and have been very vague as to the legal details of what all that would entail. You are here now because you have made good on several important proofs in your capacity to get things done, intriguing my higher ups. As such, they have retained my services in any potential business negotiations. I am the chief point of contact for such dealings, and this is not anticipated to change any time soon. Any and all proceedings discussed today are to be kept confidential unless deemed otherwise by the Sith Empire, this is to protect both the Sith Empire and any entrepreneuring contractors it chooses to do business with. Standard contract boilerplate stuff."

Anan shifted his gaze to the trooper who was furthest into the room, having delivered the case. "Thank you. You may wait outside." For a few moments, there was silence as Anansi waited for the door to close shut and the room's privacy and dampening fields to softly start humming, ensuring the aforementioned confidentiality.

"Now. What can the Sith Empire do for you today, Mr. Wartide? And more importantly...what can you do for us?"

Edited June 8, 2020 by Ary the Grey

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anan shook his head with a slight grin. "None at all. A magnificent presentation, which also goes to show why the Sith prefer hiring contractors such as yourself to handle infrastructure needs. My people will be in touch with your people to negotiate the legalese of the final contract and to authorize funding. Of course, you understand that the Sith hold domain over everything they consider to be their property, and while your structures exist on their worlds and you manage them, they are their property. This means that you will be protected, but also potentially subject to their whim. Then again, they also tend to ignore things that fly under their radar, so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

Anansi pursed his lips a bit, turning away, mulling over whether or not he'd continue with the next part. After a few seconds however, he decided it would be necessary and spoke up once more.

"I do have a private concern. You see, a large part of my background involves working rather successfully as a defense attorney. I've worked with all kinds of people, but criminals especially. I have noticed your familial ties, and I must ask...this will not come back to be a blight upon my better judgement, will it? While I fail to see any potential significant risks for the Sith in these plans, it does not meant they don't exist, and I'd rather our relationship didn't end in, well...unpleasantness."

Anan read him closely while saying all this, especially the end, looking for any tell on the man's face. At this point Tuulah would have felt some tension and trepidation coming from Anan, but only in the slightest amounts. This was high risk sabaac, winner take all, and one needed nerves of steel.

"And given your occupation, one final request for a custom droid for myself, though it's more of a personal order and I'm sure you have people to handle those things."

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

For the first time that day, or rather, for a while, Anansi smiled. A genuine smile. Tuulah would feel mostly satisfaction emanating from the Chiss, but mixed with just a touch of intrigue. Almost as if the Chiss were excited at the prospect of being interested in something again. He held out his hand across the desk, offering to shake Kane's hand

"You surprise me, Mr. Wartide. In a good way, of course. Keep in mind though that I do not share the Sith's outlook that everything is an obstacle to overcome or destroy, so no need to trump up your business acumen. But as someone who has dealt with the law their entire life, it certainly is refreshing to hear someone in your position understand how important it is to use the law to one's advantage rather than attempting to bypass it entirely. I think you and I are going to have a long and...interesting relationship."

Once the discussion concluded and Kane made his closing remarks, Anansi pressed a button on his datapad, summoning the trooper escort back into the room to allow them to leave at their leisure.

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

After Kane departed, Anansi began working on getting the ball rolling. For many contractors that worked with the Sith, that usually meant weeks of red tape as the proper paperwork moved through the burgeoning bureaucracy that had sprung up to necessitate the governmental proceedings of the Sith Empire. Every level of that treatment also tended to take their pound of flesh from the transaction, as the Sith valued greed. Greed was something that could be controlled. But at the level the Sith had brought Anan in at, he had the authority to direct public funds directly from a preexisting budget.

 

Within a couple hours, Kane began to receive several messages putting him in contact with important people across the Sith Empire, as well as giving him control over a fat spending account to invest as he saw fit. And boys and girls reading at home, governmental sized spending accounts are the best kind of all. 

And the best part? It was completely legal. Simply because the Sith said it was.

Back in his office, Anan began to brew a fresh cup of tea as he found among his things the contact information Kane had given him to requisition a custom droid. The funds he could divert from an expense account meant for elites among the Sith, a small group had tried to disguise it as a committee slush fund, but Anan already had dirt on a majority of the committee to include the chair based on information he'd acquired from various sources among his contacts. He needed a bodyguard, some muscle to back up his keen mental prowess. He'd come this far, and in the big leagues opponents didn't play nice, especially among the Sith. But now he didn't need to worry as the voice on the other end of his comm picked up the line.

"Yes...I was given this contact by a Mr. Kane Wartide who said I would be able to acquire a...customized droid. Yes, I might need to require a secure line to discuss the details. No, money is no object."

He was beginning to enjoy his new position.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Ary the Grey

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anansi sent Kane back a quick thank you, forwarding the relevant information to various Sith officers throughout the forces assembled at Coruscant. One thing Anan had to say for the Sith, they were brutally efficient. In many other governments or corporations it would be difficult to begin finding the information of who to contact, but the Sith streamlined that process as much as possible. Many of the narcissistic types the Sith attracted had difficulty working together anyways, so it made sense for certain other efficiencies to counteract those tendencies.

 

Compiling most of the information over the course of the next few hours, Anan developed and sent a report on progress to the Dark Lord. Lord Exodus should be relatively pleased with the business arrangement Kane had brought to the table, though the timetables had yet to prove themselves. Still, with all the movement on the construction side of things that Kane had certainly begun to make good on, it was absolutely an impressive start.

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anan suppressed letting out a large sigh at the news as he listened to the conference call, wanting to remain professional. He was a little irritated Kane wanted to use more of the resources of the Sith than they had agreed to, but he also made a very important point: this was a larger operation that required a bit of military muscle and precision. Not to mention, the Sith actually valued their contractors. Part of their ruthless efficiency included wanting the best man for every job, doubly true with civilians contracted for specific functions. At that moment, there was nobody who could match Kane's drive and intellect when it came to a massive undertaking such as this one, which made him and his men especially valuable, not trifles to be lost to the savages and other hazards on the surface. Of course, Anansi would also never tell Kane this explicitly...such was simply the nature of barter and bargaining.

"Very well. My people will be in touch with you in the next few hours to update you with a timeline of operations once they get back to me."

Anansi went to close the call, but hesitated as a thought hit him, and he continued. "Do me a favor, however, prepare a private observation deck. This kind of thing doesn't exactly happen often, and I'd imagine it'd be visible from orbit. I think selling tickets to specific high-paying clientele for something they could likely only expect to see once in their lives might help offset our costs here a bit. Reserve ten for me, to include one for myself. Perhaps we can take care of two birds with one stone here."

Without explaining himself further, Anan hung up the call with a slight smile. It was high time he began using his position for what he intended. The next person he reached out to was the operations officer onboard the Scarab, notifying him to start planning for the large operation involving the evacuation of the area as well as combat engineers to place the baradium charges precisely. They would reach out to Kane themselves, and execute the plan per his request. The wheels were already in motion, and they would certainly continue turning for a bit without Anan's watchful red eyes.

Next, however, he contacted his man in Sith intelligence. There were four special operations he needed to happen immediately. Though Anansi had never seen them in person, he'd done his homework, and knew that Sith special forces were above and beyond capable of getting the job done that he needed them to. For nearly an hour afterwards he sat at his desk, staring at four pictures on his terminal, memorizing every detail. One of them knew about his son, or at least something that could lead him to his son's murderer, and what better occasion than with a bang and fireworks to get started on on this great endeavor. Fitting that this part of his journey would begin with a momentous occasion, because it would all end with tears and agony until the man he hunted felt every last bit of horror he'd exercised upon Canan'ans'iitthral's family.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Ary the Grey

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Hours later, Anan got the message that the special operations teams had successfully secured their objectives. He had no doubt they would, the targets were nobody special in their societies, they had no extra protections, they had no idea that someone like Anansi would even remotely be interested in them. The element of surprise was a beautiful thing, and Anansi knew how to use it expertly on those who were caught in his spider's web and didn't even know it. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Anan began reviewing the progress of the evacuation as he walked towards the shuttle bay, noting several reports of hostile entities or other people who were unwilling to be evacuated. Some were deemed higher priority and were forced by squads of stormtroopers to evacuate, while others were simply left to their own fate. Most of the affected areas were seeing evacuation with no resistance, however, many of them being people just trying to survive who were unable to secure evacuation when Hesperidium struck and the Mandalorians attacked. Those people were more than thankful to see the Sith offer aid and shelter, but at that point they would have taken any port in their personal storms.

Meanwhile, all but two of the combat engineer teams had finished drilling to the designated points and were in the process of setting up the baradium charges. The two that had lagged behind had hit pockets of denser bedrock and required extra time to see their sites up and running. It took only a few swipes of his datapad to transmit that information to Kane, notifying him of an expected delay of around thirty minutes to an hour.

As Anansi's shuttle departed the Scarab, he made a point to stop working and watch out the viewport. Space travel was one of the few things he had experienced very few times in his youth, and it always filled him with a small sense of thrill to marvel at the technology that allowed them to traverse vast distances of absolute vacuum. The stars, the beauty of the now diminished orbital debris field, every minute detail caught in his gaze added to the wonder. And yet, this was all simply another part of the plan. Coruscant represented an opportunity, and he couldn't allow his personal feelings to get in the way. He knew the playbooks of past clients very well, and it was high time he began taking pages for himself.

He issued more instructions to the special operations teams, but as the shuttle neared Coruscant it was ordered to take up a high geosynchrounous orbit above the still-in-construction Midnight City. Kane's people had not relayed that the observation deck Anansi had requested was ready, so he would wait in a makeshift one until then.

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Boris Threl. Arrug'il Mo'tiki. Fringo Reeds. Desdemona Foucault. Four people with histories that almost never touched, who had no idea why they had won some sweepstakes to come witness the reopening of Coruscant. They likely also had no idea who Anansi was, and why he was present on the observation deck, watching them closely as they entered along with all the other guests. They were all professional speeder drivers at one point, and Anansi had narrowed it down to one of these four having been the one to deliver his son to his death.

Anan walked over near Kane, fidgeting with his datapad. "This is absolutely a marvelous setup, you should be proud of this crowning achievement you've reached by securing funding from the Sith. It's set to make you a very rich man. Funny, isn't it, how the threads of fate wave so, why if you'd never had this raw ambition, then we never would have met."

The last sentence almost didn't seem to be for Kane, as Anansi watched the four guests as one by one they read a message he had just sent them. Looks of shock and panic followed by paranoid gazes. It was simple, really, he'd simply taken someone they each loved, until they decided to give him the information he needed. A wife, a niece, a son, a father. Each of the abducted family members was on a live feed broadcast discreetly to the new holocomms they had received prior to the party. Each of the abducted family members were in stasis chambers, with a readout behind the chamber that listed the location being aboard a shuttlecraft on the surface of Coruscant, directly in the danger zone for what was about to happen. If they sent the anonymous kidnapper the information he wanted about who they were working for during a specific time frame, they would be set free.

Three of the four panicked, as expected. The fourth, Fringo, simply stared at the live feed for a long time before sending a message, but not to Anansi's anonymized contact listing. Anansi watched as each typed to each other, having backdoored his own software onto their holocomms to enact a man-in-the-middle attack on the communication.

}> Fring_R: I've got a problem. Someone knows. They have my son.
}> 3nnrJ6: Who is this?
}> Fring_R: Reeds. The Nar Shaddaa job.

}> 3nnrJ6: ...

}> 3nnrJ6: This is unauthorized contact over an unsecure line. The penalty for misappropriation of emergency lines is at least excommunication, and at most termination.
}> Fring_R: This IS an emergency, spast it, they have my SON.
}> 3nnrJ6: The penalty for misappropriation of emergency lines is at least excommunication, and at most termination.
}> Fring_R: AREN'T YOU LISTENING? I've worked for you lot for too long not to be owed this!
}> 3nnrJ6: ...

}> 3nnrJ6: Very well. Things will be taken care of. Your son is in no real danger. Say nothing. Meet at your designated rally point Epsilon when able.

So. It was Reeds. Anansi had already strongly suspected him, but had no real proof until now. The other three had their feeds shifted, swiveling to look out the main viewport in each of the shuttles, showing the real location as being in orbit above Coruscant. One by one, each of his other guests breathed a sigh of relief. Fringo's son was also in orbit in a similar manner, but Anansi wanted to watch the man stew. At the least, at the outset of things, it was the first twist of the dagger Anansi had planned.

Smiling slightly, Canan'ans'iitthral turned back to Kane. "You think it's about time we got the main event started? No rush, of course."
 

[Canan'ans'iitthral]

Anansi nodded, sending a quick message to the engineer teams on the surface, and a 30 second countdown timer overlaid over several nearby screens. Frankly, he was unconcerned in monitoring his "guests" further, he already had what he needed. 

As the timer reached zero, several white-hot blasts visible from orbit uniformly detonated down the fault line at the same time, followed immediately by an enormous line of dust cloud as the entire tectonic plate shifted almost visibly. As the dust started clearing, the celebration continued, drinks were poured, the floor returned to a comfortably opaque state, and a few cheers came from the assembled crowd. Anansi turned to Kane, a satisfied look on his face.

"This marks a new era of growth for the Sith Empire and its citizens. You should be proud. I am retiring back to my quarters for the time being, but If you wish to use the opportunity to rub elbows with the financial elite I understand. Please bill all charges to my office under the construction costs."

With a slight nod to Kane and his lawyer, Anansi turned smartly, exiting the party without fanfare. He had a different game to play. Fringo Reeds was about to become an interesting node in his woven web.