The Imperial Trade Consortium

[Borg]

In the study of Lord Hethrir at the Emperor’s Retreat

“The heart of the rebellion will work for us, dispersing our weapons and over time killing them from the inside out.”; Lord Hethrir remarked as Moff Savrem made his way to the exit.

Pausing at the doorway, Savrem turned to look back at his master and remarked;

“It will be so, my Lord. I will begin work on the network immediately..”

The Rebellion was growing stronger within pockets of the Galaxy and while the Imperial Fleet and Army worked to cleanse the sky and planets of resistance, Lord Hethrir worked to insure that those that thought they were beyond the reach of Imperial might….would be fatally mistaken. Savrem had been working as Lord Hethrir’s apprentice for nearly a tour and was now being sent on assignment. Assigned the title of Moff, Savrem was to align with a Trade organization that could facilitate the acquisition of various serums and bio-medical supplies. The supplies and serums would then be combined with the deadly venom being harvested on Dathomir at the Imperial Prison. Lord Hethrir’s toxins would then be produced and prepared for distribution throughout the galaxy in preparations for future operations.

Savrem left the Emperor’s Retreat and was flown to Theed where he presented his papers to the local garrison commander and had his requisition list filled.

“Ten Millon credits….may I say they are certainly paying Moffs well sir”; commented the garrison quartermaster.

“Mind your duties quartermaster…..fill the order……..that is your job….just do it or you will find yourself supplying the outer-rim outposts with latrine supplies.”; barked Moff Savrem.

“Yes sir…….sorry sir……..just making conversation sir”; replied the quartermaster with fearful worry.

Leaving the requisition office, Moff Savrem headed to the hotel to change into more local dress. Before he left he opened the door of the garrison commanders office and said without explaination;

“Commander….transfer the quartermaster tonight to station 719 on the outer rim.”

“Yes sir, consider it done sir.”; replied the Garrison commander as he saluted to the closing door.

If he was to make any connections here, he wished not to have the first thought be clouded by Imperial impression, or to have any rumors of a Moff spending credits locally on a project. Station 719 was located on a desolate planet that regularly contact was lost due to fatal plasma storms from a local binary sun. At the hotel desk Moff Savrem requested a room and passed several credits to the clerk to keep the name absent from the registry.

“Where around here could I find a good supplier of high quality steaks?”; asked Moff Savrem.

“Hmm…there is a vendor shop directly to the South…..go over the bridge and head straight, in the first housing you come to there is a small store where a Trade group has set up shop. They should have a supplier. A couple of them come in every few weeks to the gambling tables here…good natured they are….no trouble makers officer”; answered the attendant.

Nodding and thanking the desk clerk for the information, Moff Savrem went up to his room. Moff Savrem looked out his corner room and could see the bridge to the south and below the bio engineers station. This was a perfect room to see who was active in the local market of bio technology and harvesting.

Meanwhile back at the Emperor’s Retreat

“Lord Hethrir, how goes your testing?”; asked Emperor Palpatine.

“Very well my master….the toxins are undetectable and once in place they begin to work within the subjects….none are aware and have no side-effects they can identify.”; replied Lord Hethrir proudly.

“As we speak, my agent is beginning to set up the supply and distribution routes we will use later”; added Lord Hethrir.

“Excellent…continue your work. Inform me on the next stage of their infection. I will have the Garrisons on Talus begin to transfer more prisoners to your project, so that you can continue your…..studies”; Emperor Palpatine ordered.

“As you wish.”; replied Lord Hethrir as he took leave of the Emperor.

Back in Theed

Hanging his suit in the closet, Savrem dressed and left to walk the city and see who made up his new home. As he strolled passed the shuttle port a team of rebels disembarked and moved quickly to the center fountain and began to ambush Imperial troopers stationed nearby. The surprise attack took down one stormtrooper and as the Imperial commander began to call in for reinforcements, he was killed by a sniper shot. Local citizens scattered from the gunfire and as Savrem knelt and instinctually reached for his pistol, which was not there, he saw two women get burned alive by a rebel flamethrower. This was the concern that the rebels had…none for anyone outside their twisted belief and agenda. As the rebels moved forward to take over the starport, Savrem tripped up one of the rebels and as a skillful medic, quickly snapped his neck. The other rebels reached the starport and as they did a militia team poured out to face them. In hand to hand combat they began to fight while locals aided by sending their pets and as the reinforcements of Stormtroopers arrived they made quick work of the rebel team. One creature handler ordered his Graul to feast and though a distasteful sight, it was a fitting end to the vile rebels. In the aftermath there were four Theed civilians dead by the hands of the rebels and 5 Imperial soldiers. The ten rebels were dead and Savrem searched the one he killed for papers. As he stood up a stormtrooper approached and without knowing who he was speaking to ordered Savrem to turn over the papers.

“You there…..what do you have there…hand it over.”; ordered XT-309

“Yes sir….here…here are the papers he was carrying.”; replied Savrem as he turned over the papers.

Savrem had glanced at the orders and did not wish to let the stormtrooper know who he was. The papers were orders to destroy the Starport in hopes of eliminating the city of Theed from getting interplanetary transports. Today those orders cost 4 civilian lives and 5 Imperial troopers lives, add to that the rebels killed and nearly a score of lives were lost. Such a waste of life Savrem thought to himself. The rebellion proved again how criminal its actions and beliefs were.

A crowd had gathered and now began to disperse, Savrem took note of as many as he could when he spotted a pair engaged in some business near the bazaar. A wookie and a transdoshan were selling their architect and droid designs. Savrem took a place at the back of the small crowd and observed and then stealthily followed the pair after their business was completed. Upon entering the bank, Savrem took a terminal and withdrew enough credits to afford one of the medical droids. Getting the attention of the transdoshan, Savrem requested a medical droid.

“Sesh Dresnok is my name and this is Kimpek, if you ever need a nice home or another droid don’t be shy, just call and we will be sure to set you up with a fine unit.”; commented the transdoshan mechanic.

Kimpek nodded and let out a wail as he waved goodbye to Savrem as he took his medical droid out of the bank area to be supplied at the medical facility. As the day progressed, Savrem met with other local merchants and occasionally asked if they knew of Sesh and Kimpek. All around he received positive remarks and recommendations to do business with them. Perhaps Savrem had been fortunate and on his first day, he may have found the Trade organization that he needed to complete his assignment.

Next Morning

Rising from bed Savrem moved to the window and parted the blinds. Looking down toward the courtyard below the morning sun was beginning to burn off the morning mist. Savrem could make out an outline of a tall figure conducting some business with the local bio-tech. Reaching over for a pair of range-viewers, Savrem kept an eye on the figure as he departed and faded back into the morning mist. As he raised them to use….the figure was gone. Savrem then turned to get a closer look of the containers the bio-tech now began to store and utilize….high quality meats, hides and some live larva samples…..excellent…Savrem thought to himself. Later Savrem took a closer look at the containers at mid morning and he could see a wide variety of meats and hides. The hunter was obviously skilled and knew some solid grazing areas. The next day though he did not return…….nor the next or the next. It wasn’t till the 9th day did the same figure appear early in the morning mists below Savrems view. Again though he was unable to reach the bio-tech in time. Offering compensation did not work, as the bio-tech maintained his confidentiality agreement with his supplier, sighting Imperial law on medicinal supply and bio-tech rights of agreement.

In the first 2 weeks he had been able to establish a solid working relationship with the Trade Consortium duo of Sesh and Kimpek, successfully found a weaponsmith and begun to work on locating a bounty hunter within the shadows of the spy-net system. Zarbalt the weaponsmith was eager to work as long as the credits were flowing. While his mercenary mentality was not ideal, his weapons were top notch and carried good reputation with the marksmen in Theed. Zarbalt also knew many of the local bounty hunters and this enabled Savrem to narrow his search down to a few candidates.

Meeting with the final two candidates at the local Cantina, Savrem explained that he would determine which bounty hunter would receive a considerable contract for services, based on which bounty hunter succeeded at finding the elusive hunter harvester that had been delivering to Theed on no pattern of schedule. The two bounty hunters agreed to the terms and took their leave from their potential new employer.

As the two bounty hunters moved from the Cantina toward the bio-tech area the one began conversation.

“So you think this is legitimate?”; asked Waksu Duval.

“Honestly, as long as the credits are good…it is legitimate to me.”; answered Kyllian Wolf.

Savrem slipped out of the Cantina back exit and stood near the junk dealer tent and watched as the two rounded the corner of the bank. Once the pair reached the back side of the hotel, he could see the one bounty hunter preparing his weapon.

“You know you will not find him before I will.”; commented Waksu.

“I don’t need to worry about that.”; replied Kyllian.

“Huh….didn’t you….”; Waksu began to ask as he turned to look back at Kyllian.

****Shrrack****

Kyllian shot point blank into the throat of Waksu, nearly cleaving his head off with his weapon.

“With only one dewback in the race….it is assured to win”; stated Kyllian coldly with a smile as he sheathed his weapon at his side.

Savrem had found his bounty hunter….now he needed just to wait for the results of his orders. He slipped back into the back entrance and made his way toward the front bar. In the side room he noticed Kimpek and Sesh enjoying the company of another Transdoshan as well as an exotic dancer. Asking the pair if he could join their table, Kimpek bellowed toward the barkeep and in a short time a round of jawa beer arrived at the table. It turns out that Sesh was here with his mate Jaglegh, while Kimpek was fawning over Nivea the Twi’lek dancer. Savrem spent the rest of the evening carousing and joining the group for a meal and later to walk to their building to the south that the hotel desk attendant had pointed out to him weeks ago.

“Welcome to the Trade Consortium Savrem.”; Sesh said as he opened the door invitingly.

“A fine shop you all have here”; commented Savrem as the group entered.

“Tis a good shop….great location…..and you know what they say….location, location, location.”; replied Sesh.

“What have you done with all the structures you have bought?”; asked Kimpek in Shyriiwook (wookie language)

“I was wondering when you would ask me that my furry friend.. I am building up an area of land in hopes of drawing the attention of some entrepreneurs that would be interested in a contract that would virtually take care of them for the rest of their lives.”; answered Savrem

“Sounds like a long time…how can a contract be so large. I have never heard of such a thi…”; Sesh began to reply and in doing so began to answer his own wondering.

“Its an Imperial contract isn’t it”; finished Sesh.

“I never said it was an Imperial contract my friend….just that it would take care of you for instance for the rest of your lives. I will tell you it is not a rebellion contract since they cannot insure your well being long given they care not for anyone who serves their cause or are lawful citizens. It is a legitimate contract for medical and bio-tech supplies amongst other supplies.”; answered Savrem cryptically.

Pulling a few Jawa beers from a machine, Kimpek muttered about rebels and their rampant disregard for legal transactions. Kimpek had been taken for several million credits over a year ago when some rebels hijacked a shipment of his modules destined for Lok. To maintain good relations with Nym, Kimpek had to purchase some modules from competitors to fulfill the then late order.

“So then Savrem…..where be this operations headquarters you speak of?; asked Sesh.

Looking over his glass of beer as he slugged it down, Savrem replied:

“Further south of here….far enough to be away from the cities for security but close enough for trade.”

“Well, if we ever did business with you my friend, you must understand our relationship would end if it was found to be benefiting the rebels or their cause.”; Kimpek grumbled in Shyriiwook.

“That is one thing you would not have to worry about Kimpek….not with me.”; assured Savrem.

The rest of the evening filled with business negotiations and principal matters of trade and protocols. A basic understanding was reached that when Savrem was ready, the Trade Consortium would be his supplier and distributor. They agreed to meet at that time for formal contractual agreements to be made in Theed. On that day after the signing, the Trade Consortium would begin to fulfill orders and requirements in exchange for compensation and structures within the operations headquarters.