Zakroti remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought about the story she had told him. That hardly sounded like volunteering, more like conscription by his reckoning. He shifted over towards her, placing the bowel down and wrapping an arm around her gently as she buried her face against him.
"It's okay, Miry. No one is going to trade you away. You only have to be you." Zakroti said reassuringly, gently holding her to his side. It was quite the brutal move, to sell out ones own family for politics like that. So much for the Gem's supposed moral superiority, he supposed, that was a move that would have insulted his own family with its blatant and unapologetic political powergrabbing. Not that he was precisely a stranger to fighting with his own family, the succession crisis that followed his father's passing had been clear enough in that regard, though Nastaki had sought to confine the fallout.
And of course, Nastaki would be extremely eager to learn of this; After all, such a situation could probably be exploited by an unscrupulous lord for political gain... If anyone was able to exploit this situation, it would be him - or Zakroti himself, the young lord mused, considering the implications of his Grandfather's own impending succession for far from the first time. For a Drakken, Nastaki was extremely old, yet remained in surprisingly good health for his very advanced age. Aside from the use of magics and Nastaki's own lifelong commitment to his own health, it was often joked that Krenta's servants were simply too scared to come for the formidable old warrior.
The conversation moved on quickly enough as Miry answered his question about languages. Zakroti paused as he listened - or watched, rather - intently to her explanation. She was evidently highly intelligence to know so many languages, and his mouth dropped open slightly as she rattled them off one after other. Some were extremely complex languages he couldn't have learnt in his dizziest day dreams, let alone have learnt with seventeen others to boot.
"I disagree, that's very impressive, I can't claim to be able to read or write half that number. Learning patterns is how we learn, no?" Zakroti replied with a shake of his head, peering over towards Nenra for a moment and then glancing back down towards Miry as if trying to invite the other Gem to say something reassuring, realising that it would probably be a lot more beneficial for her to hear it from one of her own people than him given the details of their association.
Zakroti shifted awkwardly in place and continued to eat from the bowl of soup as he peered at her, watching her sign away the specifics of the history with interest. The Drakken were hardly ones to allow themselves to be taken advantage of, the nobility of the west had hardly taken it lying down either; Ever since the False Truce of Depuce the Oshwel had taken great exception to such dealings, and their imperial dominion during its height had made it practically standing policy to make an example of those who reneged on agreements with them. The sack of Caradhangias had in fact directly resulted from such, and it was said that their forces had left not a stone for a bird to perch upon once they had razed the city-state to the ground and sold its population into slavery. The effect was pronounced; The other vassal states of what was then known as the Mavakian Mountains had quickly fallen into line and it was a century before any of the city states dared to raise an objection to their control again, and only then as the winds of fate had changed and the imperial prestige had vastly declined.
The Great Drakken themselves had similar stories, for the Kingdom of Drakka was ruled in such a way that treachery and double crossings, while not uncommon, could carry disastrous consequences for those who engaged in them. Although duels were not an uncommon way of settling disputes, all out war between vassals of the Drakken royal family had resulted from disputes between noble houses over everything from land, trade down to alleged insults and slander. From his own perspective, the Gemmenites had truthfully gotten off lightly, for there were a great many worse things done between the Drakken on account of truce breakers and those who had forsworn their oaths, good intentions or not.
Still, this had been an internal Gemmenite dispute, and if they were unable to find a method by which to fulfil the original terms of their agreements, they ought to have had the foresight to seek a solution to the problem. It was an entirely understandable objection, but then they had agreed to it in the first place and been utterly unable to put a stop to it. Morally, he understood precisely the conundrum the Gemmenites had found themselves within; A generally peaceful people, the cataclysmic upheaval that they fell prey to and the dangers that lurked in the south, let alone those waiting across the mountain, had forced them into a losing hand and they had tried to play it as best they could to buy their time. Was a stipend for volunteers moral? Far from it, he understood far too well that the economic incentives for that effectively shuffled the entire burden from the rich and powerful onto the poor, and the former would undoubtedly be incentives to ensure that it remained that way lest they have to give up their own daughters. He knew that the Muthseran had at the time petitioned multiple times to introduce terms and - subsequently - to renegotiate the contract to include terms that would prevent precisely this. Not, of course, that the Muthserani had cared at all for the moral and ethical considerations, such a move was hardly motivated out of altruism but rather out of pure pride and political concerns. In deed, taking those who would inherit had been precisely what some of the Oshwel Orthi had in mind.
Zak mused for a moment; The Drakken king had brought the Muthi off in the end through the transfer of the vassalage of the southern realms, which had long ago been annexed into Drakka. Ironic, considering that access to the very brides that they were now being brought off dictating the terms of had been a buy off for western military support for the campaign against the then independent Drakken tribes in the north east most part of the Drakken Kingdom. Of course, that these lands now became a problem for his own family by empowering a rival due to the split between the various noble families in the west after the collapse of the dominion, was perhaps only more irony to top off this bestial arrangement.
He also wondered whether the Gemmenites were knowledgable at all about the handful of brides who had been given to the Kalderans by the Oshwel some 80 prior, a payment to the mercenary warriors that the Unalim family had recruited to supplement their own numbers during the civil war where the Unalim family reclaimed much of their predominance over the other Oshweli families. The Kalderans did not possess the same qualities as the Drakken, but the so called 'Gaunt Drakken' of the Aylhame a Vorgula did and the tribes had sought to trade these Gemmenites with them. True to the common abbreviation - or perhaps rather slang term - of 'Gems', these women from the east had been exploited more like objects than people right across the continent at one time, and he doubted in truth that it would come close to an end soon.
"When you are sharing a den with a wolf, it is wise not to starve him; They ought have been more careful with their social policies." Zakroti replied as he continued to listen to her story, taking up another spoonful of soup and slipping it into his mouth. "It was a better system to keep it strictly voluntary, perhaps your rulers ought to fix the mess they have created. The Great Drakken are not known for their restraint, I doubt they will back down from this of their own accord, they'll have to be brought off, or they're likely going to continue this."
That was not precisely in the best interests of the Oshwel either; Gemmenite brides had become something of an accepted feature in the west, and were highly prized as they were in Drakka. There were many practical reasons for this beyond the aesthetic, as there often were when it came to Drakken interbreeding with other races, and the academics of the west had long since been engaged in advising the great and small on breeding with non-Drakken kind, and with their own kind. Although such a mindset might seem crude, uncouth and barbaric to outsiders, to the Drakken this was a necessary part of their survival and had been their greatest strength in adapting to the world. Losing access to this valuable source of traits and features from the east could cost the Oshwel severely, shortening their pool of respective partners and leaving them less capable to begin their reconquest once the matter of who truly held the Imperial Mandate was settled. If that matter was ever settled. Nastaki had come closer than any other in centuries to finally reestablishing the Imperial mantle, and he had been very clear to Zakroti that he desired him to ensure it was achieved - not that the favour of his Grandfather had done him any individual blessings, given the pressure to excel it had placed upon him.
"What do you mean by that?" Zakroti asked with a pause, peering at her carefully. The implication of the words was obviously that she had volunteered, but that did not seem to be at all what the appearance of her face was suggesting. Been volunteered perhaps? He wasn't sure, but he would rather know than not know. He returned her smile warmly "What tongues do you know, then?"
"Shadow Wroth" Zakroti said, shifting a little in place as he settled. It was an unusual name, he had to admit, but no more unusual than those the Oshwel gave to their own. Whether the Drakken or the Gemminites had named it such first he knew not, but it was enough that the name had stuck. Their own names in the west marchlands had not dissimilar meanings when translated, but he suspected it was deliberately intimidating, forboding. A move designed to continue to coerce conformity from the kingdom that bordered Drakka. This was the Great Drakken's favoured form of conquest and control over them, after all, a constant reminded that their kingdom was at their mercy, for it they withdrew either from the southern border or sought to take it by force, they could do so in a heartbeat. The Great Drakken, far from the brutish beasts their behaviour odten seemed to convey, were possessed of great cunning and such strategies were deliberate and careful.
"Then what do you make of it? There's more culinary variety here than some would have you believe, I'm sure. That of my homeland and beyond will hopefully prove pleasing enough."
"They make poor neighbours, that much is true and sure." Zakroti said with a shrug of his shoulders as he took a mouthful of the soup, chewing and swallowing. The Drakken were prone to infighting, whether individually or collectively. The large variety of Drakken kind only made this all the more apparent, and the split between the West Drakken and the Great Drakken as they were known in the common tongue was one of the more fierce and filled with conflict and violence. Religious and cultural differences hardly helped here, and the relations between the two had been strained since time immemorial.
Zakroti was snapped back to the present when, in the midst of signing about trade with the Great Drakken, Miry almost dropped her bowl to the ground. There was a silence for a few moments as the soldiers peered at her and the young Gem shrunk away.
Zakroti slipped over closer to her, sitting beside her and giving her a reassuring smile as he lifted her bowl back up from the ground and offered it to her
"Since...?" He asked gently, intrigued by what she had to say. He listened - or watched rather, he supposed - intently as she signed to him. Zakroti paused and sat back, thinking to himself for a moment
"I know several languages, my Drakken is somewhat rusty, my Gemminite speech and handsign is, I imagine, even worse." Zakroti said with a light shrug of his shoulders as he said back and took another spoonful of soup, thinking back.
Most languages had been taught to him by Xarxlosar, though such physical languages weren't. That would have been a tad difficult on account of her not having hands. Still, it had long been considered important for a noble of Osh Edehame to be something of a polymath, though naturally few actually lived up to it. The expectations of what the 'perfect' noble should be and the reality of what the nobility was rarely seemed to match up very well, in his eyes.
"I learnt it from my sister in my youth, who learnt it from our mother." Zakroti explained, sitting back a little and taking up another spoonful of the soup, placing a piece of the tough reabak meat into his mouth and consuming it as he thought. All Drakken co-opted and conquered that around them, and the Oshwel particularly had a reputation for co-opting. Until the rise of the Kingdom of Askalan, the Great Plague and the partition of Kalderas, their domain had stretched wide and far to the great southern wastes. Bit by bit, they had come apart, but for the loss of their imperial might and prestige, their spirit and romanticism had lost none of its potency; It was sometines joked that no map of their territories was ever complete without reference to the boundaries of their former glories, a reference to the habit of referring to the various new kingdoms and princeships as 'the lost territories.'
"There's an old joke that our conquests are driven solely by such appreciation for foreign things and such disdain for our own." Zakroti chimed in again, taking another bite of the tough and hard meat. That was certainly true, by his reckoning. For all their pretences of being different to their kindred, the Oshwel had surely been among the most prolific of plunderers in times of war. He alone had added countless new oddities and treasures to the collection that his father had built upon, that each proprietor of Mu'Jupostat had over the years built up. Although shorter than both their kindred, they had lost not aj ounce of their capacity for war, and if anything the conflict between the subgroups of the Kingdom of Drakka kept in check the imperial ambitions for both.
Zakroti peered off over the horizon, the rocky and semi-barren land. He would be glad when this was behind them, and doubly glad once they reached the west marchlands and his home, a comparative bread basket by contrast to this hell scape. This was most of what the Gems knew or saw of Drakka, though; A desolate, brutish, unforgiving place. Even he would defend the Great Drakken from such slander, their lands had their own beauty in parts, and their ways their own merits.
Zakroti wrapped an arm around Miry protectively, taking up the reins in his other hand as the Ganaut began to rise from the ground to its standing height. The creatures were somewhat bigger than the horses the Gems were accustomed too in the east, though Zakroti wagered even Drakken horses would be a significant step up in size.
"It's okay, I've got you." Zakroti whispered to he reassuringly, keeping a firm grip around her so that she could be sure she wouldn't fall. He felt Nenra's hands at his waist and peered back to her for a moment before facing forwards again as the group fell in.
The men at arms were similarly mounted, mostly, an entire trains worth of them with spare horses. They were dressed fairly lightly, in gambesons with swords hanging from their belt in scabbards rather than geared up for war, though a few of the sturdier men stills wore haubergeons. Armour was kept upon the baggage mounts rather than on their person; There was far too mich travelling through far too temperamental weather conditions to wear their full armour. In total there must have numbered 20 or more of them. Nastaki was remaining with his own Zuthi for now, and for that Zakroti was grateful, for Miry and his grandfather had started off extremely poorly.
Those men who rode closes to Zakroti were those whom he trusted most closely. A handpicked body guard of men personally loyal to him. Having chosen men and champions was not an uncommon custom in either the west or east, the names, cultural connotations and legal standing differed from duchy to duchy, but typically a lord having a handful of particularly loyal and honoured retainers who acted as both his personal guards and his most trusted servants - or thugs, as the case may be - was commonplace, and Zakroti used it to its fullest extent to protect himself. He had learnt long ago how dangerous life could be when one is involved in political and strategic wrangling with Drakken. Amongst the Great Drakken especially, by his reckoning, right or wrong. He has taken care to find and earn the loyalty of a number of highly skilled and exceptional individuals, though the one who stood out most obviously to the naked eye was Kzaar, who was tall even by Drakken standards. In fact, he seemed positively like a giant, standing a head above even the next tallest Drakken man at arms, who was already impressive in stature
"As far as we can get by evening, stopping for food along the way. We will wish to reach Kazark as swiftly as we can, from there the journey gets easier along the steppes and eventually to the proper roads." Zakroti replied to Nenra as the the column of travellers began to set off forwards.
**
The train rode hard throughout the morning and into the afternoon, stopping at about two hours past midday atop a small and rocky hill. An underground aquifer here had caused a small spring that had given rise to a relative abundance of plant life by comparison to elsewhere, and the group would use this for shade.
The crags and jagged rocky terrain that punctuated their descend from the mountains and the begining of their journey towards the steppes had been easy going thanks to the Ganaut mounts, but Zakroti knew that the Gems would find the horses less objectionable, and the softer travel on the road system that lay around the Drakken capital and particularly further west would do them well also.
For miles around, as they could see from their elevated position, rocky bluffs and ravines could be seen, outgrowths of red blood glass and tough, wirey plants sprouting from between rocks. Occasionally too, all manner of creatures, herbivores and carnivorous, could be glimpsed stalking across these relatively desolate lands. These most furthest east parts of Drakka had not done well for themselves, folklore would have it told that they were cursed by the gods themselves, scholars had speculated that it was a result of weather conditions caused by the structure of the surrounding mountains and lands. Whatever the case, it was apparent that this was a harsh land.
They had started a fire for cooking, and pots had soon been produced. They had soon begun to produce a stew using vegetables and mushrooms such as fae stools, with diced salted Reabak meat in with the mixture. Herbs and seasoning was added and before long the simple dish was served up with a small amount of bread, composed of more than a few ingredients which were likely somewhat unfamiliar or exotic to the Gems.
"I should hope you've had the opportunity to try some of our cuisine before, travel and trade across the mountain can hardly be that bad." Zakroti commented as he took a chunk of the Reabak meat upon his fork and lifted it to his mouth.
"Even if it is with the easterners." Aurien added with a slightly dismissive chuckle, as all too often the Oshwel were of the Great Drakken given their conflicting history.
Zakroti gave a brief glance to Miry and Nen again as Nenra tried to pronounce the name and Miry referred to them as Dragons. The Warlord chuckled to himself weakly for a moment and gently wrapped an arm around the young Gem almost protectively as she clung to him, turning her slowly to get a good view of it.
"No, not Dragons. These are no beasts of legend who come to burn down villages or eat children, Dragons would make this look like a mouse I have no doubt. No, you can think of it almost like a Horse. It's Ganaut. Gaar Nort" Zakrroti said as he nodded to the handler who backed away to leave them. He watched as Nenra approached the creature and lay her hand upon it, raising a brow at the bold move but making no move to stop her. She seemed to understand and pet it quickly enough, a result of Gemmenite magic he imagined, for they were often put to work handling animals and those Drakken who had blood lineage to such gems often exhibited a great affinity with nature than those without. Ot had long been the primary strength of the Drakken species that it was not only compatible with many of the other species upon the continent, but they were also capable of absorbing various traits and elements from these partners. It was no secret that the difference in stature between the Great Drakken and the West Drakken had been in no small part a product of this, Zakroti's own eyes betrayed Kalderan lineage in his bloodline. The Gaunt Drakken, or Ghost Drakken, who lived in Aylhami a Vorguli, an isle upon the ocean east of Kalderas, had supposedly mingled with people of far off lands which gave them a distinct appearance too from their landbound cousins.
Zakroti heard Nen's question and smiled to himself again. He rubbed the beast under its chin carefully, continuing to pet it for a few moments before removing his hand and speaking to it clearly and resolutely, a single word command to the powerful beast-mount. "Postat."
No sooner had the word been uttered than the creature lowered itself down to rest its belly on the ground, bringing it down to a level on which one would easily mount it and set themselves upon the saddle it bore. The being let out another unusual vocalisation, a chittering noise followed by it hitting its tail off the ground several times, causing a rhythmic thumping nose. The young lord motioned for the two women to climb on up with a reassuring smile across his face
"They don't bite. Unless you threaten them. Or you poke their eyes." Zakroti said reassuringly - or perhaps rather in an attempt to be reassuring, his choice of words left something to be desired, there was no doubt about that. He didn't suspect Nenra would have much trouble, she certainly seemed the bolder of the pair, having already made contact with it. It was Miry whom he worried would be too scared to dare mount Valyatonzstar.
The wind shrieked and howled around the old fortress as the sun slowly crept its way up into the sky above the peaks of the mountains that rose up like colossal pillars. There was much commotion and ado from the Oshweli party as the small column prepared to undertake its journey.
The large and foreboding doors upon the ancient fortress creaked open as the servants turned the cranks in the gatehouse; The doors of this mountain fortress were covered in the harsh carvings and markings, intimidating and menacing.
A diminutive figure emerged from the candlelit hallway within, wearing a thick gambeson and fur wrapped around his shoulders to help combat the cold. A pair of brilliant green eyes starred out at the world, more catlike or reptilian than they were human, piercing in their gaze. His black hair was cut short around the tiny horns that stood out from him, giving him an almost impish appearance. Notably, he was short even by the standards of the Western Drakken by a good six inches, themselves generally shorter than the Great Drakken of the eastern provinces, something which was often a hotly debated point in the common bizarre and all too often xenophobic criticisms the cultures of the west and east of Drakka projected onto each other - when they weren't too busy turning on their own subcultures or mocking the non-Drakken cultures. A critique had once been made of an Astalonian scholar that "the only thing the Drakken agree on is that they hate everyone else more than they hate each other" and, in fairness, it was not often far from true.
This was Zakroti Unalim, one of the Great Lords of the West and heir apparent of its dominions. Or perhaps rather, what was left of its dominion after it had lost its imperial possessions and been brought to heel by the Great Drakken. He had few friends in east or north Drakka, but back in the west he had reputation enough to command respect despite his runtish stature. To his right stood another figure, somewhat taller and clad in a hauberk with a large spear, similar reptile like eyes sat upon his face, but his features were softer and more rounded, and a long scar that ran from above his brow down across his face marred his features, and behind the both of them was a small collection of warriors and bodyguards, a handpicked honour guard.
Zakroti nodded to Aurien as the pair exited the building together, peering towards the mounts as they were prepared for riding by the serjeant-at-arms. It was not an easy road ahead by anyone's reckoning, to ride from the furthest east parts if drakka to near enough the further west, not far from the border with Kalderas. They would undoubtedly have to stop multiple timed along the way, although the young lord was want to linger far from the familiar lands of the west for very long.
Zakroti placed a hand upon Miry's shoulder gently and gave her a light nod and reassuring smile as he peered up towards the mount, a hardy and overgrown lizard. It was a Ganaut, a species of large domesticated quadrupedal reptiles native to the eastern lands of Drakka. Tough, sharp claws protruded out, clearly able to rend flesh with ease if it had wanted to. They were hardy and tough, well suited for riding over the rocky terrain that stretched out for many miles from the Shadow Wroth, down from the mountains. The creature turned its green scaled head to regard them, eyes blinking a few times as its tongue licked at the air to smell their approach.
These beasts of the east were often used as mounts in times of war or in hunts as well, for they were swift and excellent at tracking, intelligent and multiskilled creatures. They were adapt at climbing, even with their masters atop them if they were light enough, and so the Oshwel had long made use of lightly armoured warriors atop Ganauts as skirmishers in battle. Their sharp claws and large teeth made them terrifying enemies to behold as well, which added to shock they could deliver to enemy morale. They were also surprisingly low upkeep animals in times of peace; The rocky regions they initially came from were relatively desolate compared to the rest of Drakka, and these beasts led a rather sedentary lifestyle. They would kill and consume prey nearly whole, then rest themselves on a rock by a spring or watering hole and spend months digesting their prey. The Drakken took full advantage of this once they had begun taming them, and alongside the Horses that had long since been transplanted into Drakka, the Ganaut had seen widespread use as mounts by nobles and commoners alike.
"I doubt you've ever seem one of these, let alone ridden one." Zakroti said, stepping forward and running a hand along his mounts head softly, causing it to let out a strange noise, a rhythmic clicking roughly analogous to a purr. "His name is Valyatonzstar, he is a Ganaut. Don't worry, he looks more terrifying than he is. This ones soft at heart."
Zakroti looked back to the brides, well aware that this was likely fat from a comfortable experience for them to have not only been plucked and dropped into this foreign land, but now to be face to face which was undoubtedly a nightmarish creature compared to the more idyllic and familiar ones of their homeland - A creature they were expected to ride, at that. Still, it was what it was, they would change mounts at the City of Kazark once they reached the Steppes some 25 leagues to the west, and from there would take the road westwards over the hills and dales.
Clu drew his armourweave cloak around him to keep out the cold of Anchorage, consciously altering the rates of his secondary and tertiary heart in order to better cope with the cold. He took a sip from the mug in his hand and sighed weakly.
This planet reminded him almost of a cheap Muun's Mygeeto. He'd hated that world too but at least it had wealth to make up for its natural dreariness, they were both nothing like Muunilinst with its flowing fields and lush forests, and the warm oceans heated by thousands upon thousands of 'smokers' and other underwater geothermal vents. But the real glory of Muunilinst - something that no where else in the entire galaxy had been able to beat during his travels - was the sky itself. It was said to be the most beautiful in all the galaxy both at day and at night, and Clu could very much believe that claim.
Many nights spent gazing up at the beautiful and glistening sky of Muunilinst had fueled his wanderlust - a very peculiar trait for a Muun and one which had never earned him much adulation among his peers, not until his days with the InterGalactic Banking Clan in the Clone Wars when it came to be a major boon for his allies - and driven him to see beyond it.
When he had been taken across the galaxy to Coruscant by his mother, he had seen the stars from another perspective and it had done little to sap him of his desire to travel beyond Muunilinst further. Yet the rotting under city of Coruscant and the many dangers that lay amidst it had left him with no illusions as to how dangerous and terrifying the galaxy could be, nor did his Mother and Father's downright criminal and unconscionable plans to cause a drug epidemic just to profit off the treatments leave him with any illusions that business with the galaxy at large was a clean and pretty affair. If you wanted to make real money, you had to be willing to crush a few people and go to a few dark places to get it.
This planet was not quite like that; The city that they were in was dangerous, certainly, but it didn't even bother with the veneer of shine that Coruscant lay over its lower levels. It was seedy, reeking of criminality and, to use less flowery language, an absolute shit hole. The planet was almost entirely covered in ice with but a few scattered settlements beneath it and a space port or two dotting the surface of the world; indigenous life was a rare thing indeed in such an inhospitable environment, and watching out the window as they came in to land it looked as though life had simply abandoned the planet entirely.
This comparison held in almost every respect; Unlike Muunilinst where the sky seemed to revel in the wealth and natural beauty of the world, as if in direct competition for your attention, the sky on Anchorage seemed to be as desperate to get away from it as everything else; It was almost pitch black with only a slim band of stars left to mark that it was anywhere in the known galaxy. As adrift in space and time on a course to its own inevitable destruction as most of its patrons, who were adrift and wasting away on a diet of death sticks and alcohol.
In short, Anchorage was Mygeeto with none of the wealth or mineral resources that made it even slightly tolerable. You quite literally couldn't have paid him enough to live here, it was that dreary and rancid of a place, but it had good business and you couldn't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
At least there was never a dull moment when you're in a cantina of criminals, scum and drug addicts; Clu's attention was drawn across the room for a moment as some poor bastard picked a fight with a KX-Series security droid and promptly got his bones pulverised into dust under the droids blows, a sickening crunch marking the impact of the droids metal fists and the man's cry of torment and agony piercing through the Cantina music. What an idiot.
The new KX Series really was something, though.. Clu had always had a thing for battle droids - or security droids as they were now called to skirt around imperial regulations - and he had been thinking perhaps he'd have to look into acquiring some of the KX Series the next time they made port somewhere with an Arakyd Industries subsidiary. Maybe he would have takenna look over the HoloNet or Shadowfeed with the hypereave transponder, with the proper reprogramming one might make a handy addition to the crew... If a very pricey one at that, having been designed for the imperial military. They were hardened against hacking and other such counter measures, making their acquisition difficult. But if there was someone inside Arakyd itself who might be willing to make an agreement, perhaps they'd be able to have one.
But in the end he'd decided that it probably wasn't worth it. There were enough Clone Wars era droids rusting away all over the place (including in their own shop, since they'd finally gotten a crew to help them manage the whole thing) that risking life and limb to get a KX series wasn't really a worthwhile investment, however much he'd have loved to own the shiny new security droids. Someday perhaps... Someday the Empire kgijt fall apart or even lift the restriction in battle droids, then he could finally see about getting more up to date ones or redesigning some of them. If only the C-B3 Cortosis Batle Droid could be realistically reverse engineered, but that required top of the line equipment which wasn't easily attained under the Empire.
Clu was a little concerned by the presence of such an enforcer droid here on Anchorage, however; Usually, wherever and enforcer droid was, the Imperials weren't far behind, and if there was a crackdown coming he'd rather not be caught at the table with an small band of rogues and wanted criminals. But the Empire wouldn't be this far out. Perhaps it was a rogue? On the one hand perhaps they could get it to join the crew, in the other hand if its programming was unstable it might be more dangerous to them than an assistance. Either way, the crew probably wouldn't take well to an Imperial droid running around the shop but their abilities made them quite the prize for anyone who could them. Perhaps he'd ask Solace about this particular droid once they were done here.
Clu remained quiet as Solace and the Rodian spoke of Viron Jek listening in the conversation. They may as well have been talking past each other, the Rodian was concerned about Viron Jek, and with good reason as far as Clu was concerned. Solace on the other hand... Solace was Solace, and some pirate running around with an edgy name wasn't enough to scare her, he knew that by now.
Now, Viron Jek... Viron Jek had entered back onto the scene recently, making trouble for the Empire and being a general pest for them. The Imperials didn't take kindly to being messed with, and a general rule of business was that you left the Empire alone and the Empire left you alone. Admittedly it wasn't a rule he always followed himself, but anyone brave enough and powerful enough to openly fuck with them and get away with it was a formidable adversary indeed.
As Solace finished and asked the crew if she was right that they'd add Viron Jek to the score, Clu couldn't help but grimace. Some of them crew might chest pound in agreement, he wouldn't be surprised by that, but he was going to take a more tempered approach. That was, after all, what he was here for, to provide the information to the crew. That included information they didn't want to hear, like how Jek was not some two bit pirate but a cold hearted killer who gave the Republic a run for their money.
The crew might stand a chance of killing Viron Jek, but having 'a chance' wasn't the sort of thing that pleased Clu. From what little he knew about Jek and his crew Jek was a veteran reaver with hundreds of raids under his belt, many men had tried to take him and those many men were dead. The Noreaster and her crew were a solid team on a solid ship, there was no doubt about that, but Viron Jek was just as solid and it could go either way.
Indeed, he knew some very respected Brokers who'd already started backing the other side, and that didn't exactly raise Clu's hopes. That he himself had started to shift towards betting on both parties in this equation made his mind even less at ease. If push came to shove, he'd find a way out of the Noreaster and benefit from this- he always did, that was what he did best and it was all just good business. But he did genuinely like this crew and, even if he hadn't, they were still a damn sight better than Viron Jek was.
"Viron Jek should not be underestimated." Clu said as he placed the Holocom down and pressed a button on it, showing an old wanted post from the Clone Wars era as he clasped his hands together, interlacing his fingers and furrowing his brow; His voice was somewhat nasally as all Muun's were, and it cut through the cantina music harshly. Yet it carried with it the undertone of certainty and finality, as if the statement itself were true by design rather than being a matter of opinion.
It was important that the crew know what they were up against, and if they weren't going to listen to the Rodian, perhaps at least they'd listen to him. If they wouldn't, then perhaps it would be best to have an exit strategy for if Viron Jek showed up to play, the best way to lose a fight was to walk into it half cocked and certain you were going to win regardless, especially when you're dealing with a cunning and proven foe.
"Your exaggerated description of Viron Jek may be closer to the truth than we realise; from what I hear of his personal combat skills if he were to attack us now, some of us would be dead before we'd even drawn our blasters. His penchant for ridiculously edgy names aside, Jek is a dangerous monster with a list of war crimes that would make Grand Moff Tarkin blush. He comes from a family of reavers and pirates which had been pillaging and looting the Republic since day one, some of them have been quite successful but I'm personally not sure if any have quite rivalled the brutality and destructiveness of Viron Jek." Clu continued, pausing for a moment to think. Viron Jek was definitely not a man to be underestimated; He remembered the Confederacy having contracted him during the Clone Wars, it was one of the few times that the Confederacy itself had dismissed a commander for being too harsh... And given that the Confederacy had fielded General Grevious, that was saying something. Now if Viron Jek had been messing with the empire without suitable recompense, that made him even more dangerous. The Imperials were not easily trifles with, and any pirate with enough ships or big enough ships to take on the Imperials had enough firepower to turn the Noreaster into a pile of scrap without breaking a sweat.
And if Jek did blast their ship to pieces, they'd have gotten off easy. He didn't even want to know what the man might do if took some of them prisoner. Probably something akin to The Burning. That didn't even bear thinking about. He didn't exactly have a track record for being a kind and merciful man.
Clu lifted his mug and took a long and refreshing drink from it as he let what he said and the holo image sink in for a moment, thinking back to Solace mocking the name of Viron Jeks ship. She was right about one thing; It was a stupidly edgy name, and he understood her discounting him based on that. Names of ships didn't mean Jack shit, you could call your ship the Sun Crusher and it be a useless pile of junk or you could encounter the Rainbow and get smashed by its Turbolasers before you'd even fired off a warning shot. Dangerous sounding names did not a dangerous ship make.
Still, he thought as he placed his mug back down, it was wrong to discount Viron Jek on his poor choice of names alone. The pirate had more than proven himself worthy of taking edgy names here and there, whatever the crew might think of them.
"During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems contracted Jek to raid and pillage a number of Republic border worlds near the outer rim. It was the belief of the Confederacy that he would send a clear message to the Republic borders that they were not protected, that the Republic did not care for them and that it was better to secede and join the confederacy than face its wrath in the coming storm. Viron Jek excelled at this task... but the sheer brutality with which he did it gave even the Separatist leadership pause for concern and he was eventually let go by the very men who had suggested his services, who thought that his actions were ultimately doing more harm to the confederacy than good." Clu shook his head lightly, the holographic poster floating in circle slowly, listing several of the many dozens, if not hundreds of various war crimes Viron Jek had managed to accrue just in his short time raiding republic planets, let alone his wider career. It contained a smattering of details the republic had on the man, but in truth the list itself was what Clu was hoping to catch their eyes; putting aside the list of atrocities, there were some impressive accomplishments mixed in there, this man had proven himself a deadly opponent against the Republics navy.
And this was just the stuff people knew about Viron Jek, who even knows what he had gotten up to that nobody knew about. Solace was being too laissez-faire about this beast and it out him on edge. Brokers knew what they were on about, and with the way the underworld was swinging, the Noreaster and her crew would have their work cut out for them if Viron Jek decided to start infringing on their business.
"You see, everything was a fair target for Viron Jek; Refugee camps, Hospital ships, civilian offices, prisoners of war. He would bombard his own positions from orbit to deny them to the enemy and whatever you might think of CIS battle droids and whatever pirates he'd have working with his crew at the time, it's needless to say its a rather cold act to blow up your own forces. Jek also wiped entire cities off planets in seething orbital strikes and made little distinction between civilian and military targets and infrastructure. Whereas many separatist generals at least made an effort not to gun down random civilians, Jek didn't care for how much collateral damage he caused, if he could destroy or steal it, he would. No amount of attempts to bring in rules and restrictions on his and other mercenaries conducts from the Confederacy of Independent Systems could bring Jek to heel, he simply did what he pleased as he pleased... and more often than not what he pleased was a bloodthirsty rampage that could hardly have been rivaled by a Rancor high on Spice. That should tell you about the kind of person we are dealing with; He is a man seemingly without a conscience, cold as this planet's glaciers and sharper than an Echani Vibroblade." Clu said with some finality, changing the holoprojector with a click of a button to show one of the scenes from the clone wars that had been captured on the holonet by republic reporters, a single scene from a village by Jek's order; In the centre of the image stood one of Jek's mercenaries with a deathstick in one hand and his weapon clutched tightly in the other, stomping the head of an old woman into the curb as a couple of his comrades passed by talking to each other with almost bored and disinterested expressions on their face, as if the slaughter around them was utterly banal. A single battle droid stood guard over the scene, blaster in hand and making the connection between Jek's wrath and the Confederacy of Independent Systems quite clear- indeed this had been one of many ways in which the hiring of Jek had backfired on the confederacy. Lying beside the old woman on either side were two other people, an older gentle man and another woman. The woman had her hands on her head still with her face obscured from view by the body of the old woman- but a small pool of blood surrounded the mans head, making it clear that he had already met his fate. Clu leant back again, letting the crew take in the grisly scene of the massacre.
"To summarise... Please don't underestimate him, I am rather attached to my head and am not in a hurry to lose it." Clu finished at last, setting himself back in the seat and bringing one of his hands up to his chin, rubbing it lightly as he regarded the Rodian Solace was in contact with. He left the holocomm on the table, the image still displaying the brutal killing for all to see.
If this Rodians reaction was anything to go by, Viron Jek really was as dangerous as he had sounded. He didn't at all seem at ease from Solace's responses, if anything he seemed more worried. Clu glanced over the other present crew members for a moment, furrowing his brow in consideration before looking towards B-22.
The C-B3 Battle Droid had served him well for many years and he had no reason to doubt its durability or its competence. Perhaps even Viron Jek would be unable to best his robotic bodyguard, but he wasn't particularly open to the idea of trying it out. He had lost too many of the C-B3's in the Clone Wars, he wasn't about to lose the last of his batch now because people weren't taking Viron Jek of all people seriously.
Visually, he is far from the most striking person you'll ever see, especially amongst the crew of the Noreaster. At just shy of two meters tall and a hundred and sixty pounds, the lean figure of Clu Zanith does not particularly stand out from the usual muun Physique. That said, his skin tone is considerably darker than most Muun as a result of his more adventerous attitude and his time working out in the field. His elongated skull is somewhat more shapely than some of his fellow Muuns and his chin is angular and sharp, and two keen golden eyes peer out from their sunken eye sockets; They say that the eyes are the window into the soul, and in Clu Zanith's case that certainly appears to be true because the greed in his eyes is practically omnipresent whenever a potential deal presents itself.
Despite this obvious avarice, however, he retains the classic Muun disdain for wasteful spending; His clothing is fairly plain, consisting only of dull brown-grey garments with an armour weave cloak to drape himself in to protect from both the cold and from, heavens forbid, any danger he might find himself encountering.
Never far from his side is the towering gray-silver form of B-22, a customised C-B3 Battle Droid turned Bodyguard. With a single red sensor shining upon anyone who dares so much as look at its Muun master the wrong way and with two arms that end with ball jointed blaster cannons, B-22 serves Clu well in intimidation as much as it does in straight up protection.
| {Equipment and Personal Belongings} |
Holdout Blaster Pistol: A small blaster that Clu hasn't used in over six months now, it is easily concealed and thus always on hand in a pinch. He rarely uses it, even in battle, preferring not to fight directly and to allow others to do that. It is not particularly powerful either, being a holdout blaster, and mostly exists as a last resort.
Vibroblade: A short vibroblade in the echani style carried beneath his armour weave cloak, Clu has some training with the weapon but is by no means skilled. When activated, the ultrasonic vibrations turn even the lightest cut into a deep and deadly wound, making it a surprisingly effective weapon in a pinch; Still, it exists as one of Clu's last gasp efforts and while it might be effective if someone is caught off guard, it seems unlikely that he'd be able to put up a long fight, particularly with a weapon that's ultimately so short.
Credit Stick: This one is linked to one of Clu's many bank accounts, containing a large slush fund for business and necessary purposes.
Credit Chips: Keeping some loose credit chips is always handy for when you need to operate machines, place some bets or deal with small purchases and charity.
Datapad with message from Nima Diakiyo: "I don't want to talk about it."
Datacron: For storing vast amounts of data, information and necessary details.
Holocom: For all your galactic communication needs, Clu uses both his datapad and Holocom to remain in contact with his Network across the galaxy, taking contracts and trading information from a distance and often times anonymously.
Armourweave Cloak: A cloak, or perhaps capenisna more accurately term for it, that is held over his shoulder by a clasp. The material has some resistance to energy and ballistics, and is also adept at keeping out the elements should such become necessary. Indeed, its the only part of his clothing that instantly jumps out as being worth much, as Muun are not usually known for displays of extravagant or wasteful spending.
Bacta Vials: These medical vials are carried around as a backup in case something goes wrong.
Separatist Combat Speeder: An old Separatist combat speeder kept in good condition by a Pit Droid, Clu 'recovered' it from one of the old battlefields after the Clone Wars and had it fixed up. After the separatist insignia and identifies were removed from it, Clu began to sue it as a personal transport, particularly when away on more risky business.
B-22: A Customised C-B3 Battle droid, B-22 has been with Clu for just under 16 years. Originally part of a squad of eight such droids, B-22s compatriots were destroyed at the end of the Clone Wars when they became some of the only droids not to be shut down by the Mustafar signal during a clone offensive. B-22 has since become Clu's personal body guard and aside from a few times they have been parted, its hulking presence and overwhelming firepower has been enoigu to deter most attacks on Clu's person.
| {Physical Abilities} |
Zanith has connections into all kinds of businesses, conglomerates and political groups, trading and selling favours and secrets like a mafia godfather. His reach is considerable and if a particularly piece of information can be attained, its most likely Clu can attain it. Buying and selling secrets has been his forte for a very long time, as has striking deals with unsavoury sorts.
Indeed, an arguably uncomfortable part about his presence in the ship is that for all but the quietest and most obscure of crewmembers, chances are he already knows a great deal more about them than they might be comfortable with. Some of them he may even have made deals with before, or pointed them in various directions.
These connections extend past the role of being an information broker however, with his fingers the pie of more physical black markets as well. If he is present on a planet, chances are he's already involved in the criminals there somehow; if there's new weapons on a planet, he brought them in, if there's a swoop gang war, he's loaning money to the sides, if there's a new pirate in the sector, he got the captain their ship. If there's something you want, Clu knows a guy who can do that and would be happy to get it for you... For the right price.
Sure, he's not entirely in it for the credits: If someone is in hot water, he hides them, if a planet is blockaded, his "friends" will run in the food. But then, maybe he just does it because they'll owe him after - he isn't sure himself. One part Robin Hood, two parts Al Capone, if you want to call him a Crime Boss, that's your business; He prefers Fixer.
In the troubled days of the Clone Wars, propaganda and HoloNet communications took on a major aspect for both sides. The Republic had seized control over the original and 'legitimate' HoloNet, and censored and removed Separatist content while broadcasting their own propaganda.
Approximately nine months after Geonosis, the Separatists were able to gain access to the HoloNet via hyperwave transceivers and nodes spread through the galaxy with the help of their expert slicers and technicians. With this new found technology and infrastructure, in order to combat the new threat of the Republic and fight the propaganda war, the Separatists established the CIS Shadowfeed, an alternative HoloNet platform for Separatist content, communications and broadcasts. These shadowfeed were used by the Separatist Alliance to spread propaganda in favor of the Separatists or against the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.
Attempts to shut down the Shadowfeed proved fruitless, even after the ruthless and cunning Wilhuff Tarkin, was was made responsible for counterintelligence to shut down his Shadowfeed. Inevitably however, for a time after the fall of Murkhana, the Shadowfeed went mostly silent as the Separatist cause waned and the Clone Wars entered its dying days.
After the rise of the Empire, however, the shadowfeed found new life. The Alliance to the Restore the Republic was among those who came to use the Shadowfeed to communicate under the nose of the Empire. Clu quickly came to realise that the shadowfeed and his unique access to former Separatist personnel presented a powerful opportunity he could exploit.
Through the establishment of Shadowfeed and a network difficult for the Imperials to infiltrate and stop, Clu produced the 'Network'.
The three principles behind Clu's network are fairly simple ones:
Reciprocity; You scratch his back and he'll scratch yours. This is how he built up his connections across the galaxy and became a fairly notorious figure.
Clandestine; Members of the network should keep anonymity where possible, avoiding accidental implications or large sections of the network being busted. The true beauty of the structure of this crime firm and the usage of the shadowfeeds is in insulating himself, and its other members, from liability; it has proven impossible for the Imperials to pin anything on him, and there is a lot they don't realise he's involved in. Likewise, it's difficult for opposing organisations to eliminate the leaders or place bounties on the heads of important people. More often than not, they are reduced to targeting low level employs or associates, while the retribution of the Network can thus be targeted towards their prominent opponents. This makes engaging in confrontation with them difficult and undesirable, despite their comparative weakness on paper.
Cooperate with the big, competition with the small: While its inevitable that the Network would get drawn into competition with similar organisations, and as its operations expanded with smaller smuggling outfits or gangs, the Networks operations on a principle of avoiding infringing on the activities of large and powerful organisations. If the Hutts are running the smuggling in a region, the Network will not compete and rather work through the Hutts and give them a cut. If the Black Sun pirates have started raiding in a system, the Network will sell them the information on targets and depots instead in exchange for credits or else a share of the loot. By avoiding directly competing with larger and dangerous organisations and rather becoming an asset to them, the Network avoids being drawn into fights and disputes it cannot win and conducts business smoothly, while allowing it to compete with the smaller crime syndicates or swoop gangs that existed and slowly muscle them out to expand its territory.
Money is passed along the network, with each member taking their share for the contract or information. Many members of the network do not know the full implications of what they are involved in, or the ultimate identity of their benefactor outside of those they are in direct contact with. Thus the system is set up to be difficult to infiltrate or bring down, with direct communication with the higher ups only afforded to the most trusted. Many working within the network do not know the identies of those above them, nor the identities of other feeds. If a section of the Network is compromised, it is only a matter of cutting off that feed and, thus, section of the Network.
Few written documents or recordings are kept and Clu personally avoids any such thing, giving orders only verbally and in private. Money is laundered and cleared by other parts of the network, including front businesses.
The Network is by no means as powerful as the Hutt Cartel in any kind of direct power, and its main power lies in information gathering. That is not to say it does not have access to substantial assets, however; The knowledge and tjr contacts the organisation had means that the Networks influential figures are ultimately able to contract teams of mercenaries, pirate ships and find and use old Battledroids from the Clone Wars when the need arises, primarily within the outer rim where law enforcement struggles to crack down on such operations.
The number of 'firms' has varied over the years but there are about a dozen such firms active. Each firm has separate business dealings, though sometimes the dealings of the firms intermingle depending on their proximity to one another and the commonality of their ventures. Information is passed between these firms, including contact information for mercenaries and bounty hunters, ensuring lucrative contracts and work for those who have proven themselves. Hence the 'Network'.
The leader of a firm is known as the Director. All major decisions are made by the Director, and money made by the Firm ultimately flows to him. The Directors authority is needed to resolve disputes and keep everyone in line. Collectively, the directors form the Board, headed by the Chairman. The chairman knows the identities of each of the Directors, and some directors know each others identities, though some are very mysterious figures even to other members of the board who keep their distance. Anonymity is a useful tool to many figures in the Network, insulating them both from assassination attempts from their enemies or overly ambitious employs, as well as from potential law enforcement agencies.
Just below the Director is the majordomo, a term taken from Hutt Cartels and Palace staff. The majordomo is the second in command of a Firm, and organises the lieutenants. If a lieutenant breaks the strict operating procedures or code of conduct of the Network, the majordomo will have him eliminated.
Beneath the Majordomo are several lieutenants. The number of lieutenants varies depending on the overall size of the firm. A lieutenant leads his own section of the firm, referred to as a 'feed' as they often control their own Shadowfeed and take contacts, take contracts and pass along information in this manner. They each have a number of soldiers beneath them. If a Lieutenant believes his feed to be compromised, he will kill his feed and either start a new one, or if he believes his own identity is compromised, will go into hiding until he is contacted by the Majordomo. He has specific activities that he operates, most often in the field of information but occasionally lieutenants, particularly on the outer rim, are engaged in more traditional organised crime. The lieutenants territory may be defined geographically in these cases, by the particular business he operates. The lieutenant keeps some of the money he earns, ensures the soldiers are paid, and then passes the rest up to the majordomo and director.
The "dirty work" is done by the employs. An employ is the lowest rank among the Network. They're part of the Firm, but they hold little power and make relatively (though still not insubstantial) little money. The number of employs that belong to any given lieutenant can vary tremendously; On the outer rim, there tend to be far more of these men who are retained as muscle and enforcers, whereas in the core worlds they are fewer and far more clandestine. Employs do not often know the identity of the Lieutenants they work for, and payments and dead drops are handled by these employs, especially junior ones. As a rest, when Network operations or agreements go south, relatively little information can be gleaned from him and the network remains operational. If a feed is compromised, trusted Employs may be recruited into a new feed by the lieutenant. Otherwise, they quickly find themselves cut off from their former network for security purposes (referred to euphemistically as 'laid off', contrasted with the euphemism of 'dismissal' for killing off a member of the network, usually for breaking the code of conduct or being an informant). Some of these former employs may prove their loyalty again and ultimately be brought back into the firm, others will be too suspect and deliberately kept at arms length.
In addition to soldiers, the Firm will use associates. Associates are not actual members of the Firm, but they work with them on various criminal enterprises. An associate is simply someone who works with the firm, including anyone from a burglar, thug, spice and arms dealers, smugglers. More rarely this includes officials, security officers or even imperial military personnel who are paid off or pass information along to soldiers for extra money or favours. Indeed, a few imperials in the outer rim owe their suspiciously effective service records to buying and selling favours and information with the Network. More often than not, especially when they are hired muscle, the associates do not know the full details of who they are working for, in order to avoid infiltration by law enforcement or rival organisations.
The results of all these systems, structures and methods ultimately produces something which, in practice, is akin to the Muun themselves who shied away from physical pursuits and sought economic means, as well as alternative avenues of protection, to defend their planet from being invaded. As one would find fitting for a former Intergalactic Banking Clan employee, the Network uses information, economics and other alternative means such as battle droids and mercenaries to defend themselves from being brought into costly gang wars or losing territory.
Dead body? No problem. Evidence need taken care off? It's never gonna see the light of day again. Political scandal? Say no more. Criminal activity been exposed? He'll have you looking like a saint. Need something moved through customs? It's already there. Need a false ID? He'll have it before you can say 'John Doe'
A favour here or there, some good PR and words in the right places and your problems are gone
Clu Zanith doesn't need to trick you, indeed, he would never cheat on a contract. No, instead he is remarkably persuasive and has an astounding business acumen; transactions are his bread and butter, and he can cut a deal to work his way out of almost any problem. Leave him alone in market for a day with a shopping list, and he'll come back with everything on the list and some pocket change besides. If you need negotiations for the best deal, Zanith will slide in with his snake tongue to make it happen.
The Muun are naturally very intelligent and calculating, and Clu Zanith even more so than most. This has many implications; he's practically a walking prediction maker, his talent with money and people stemming from his species innate ability to process complex mathematical formulas or analyse statistical data with speed and ease. Short of a calculator, Clu is as good as they come and with the capacity for problem solving and quick thinking, he is able to make and pull off many complex plan, even branching across into fields which one might not initially suspect he would be skilled in.
This produces a very adaptable individual, and when he puts his mind to a task he can quickly get the hang of it and begin to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. This is particularly true when it comes to matters which include mathematics, but also holds true of more general learning.
Despite his weak physical condition, he can run remarkably fast. His speed is somewhat above average for a Muun, given he's one of the few Muun who spend a consistent amount of time travelling rather than remaining in doors for long periods of time. Its not shocking or anything, and he's far from being in good physical condition, but his tall height and long legs make for long bounds and his three hearts pump blood around his body more efficiently than the single heart of many other species, helping to keep up his stamina. Fittingly, this means that Clu is very adept at running away from danger and finding somewhere to hdir when everything goes to blast.
| {Force Abilities} |
N/A
| {Limitations} |
Although he would never break a contract, he leaves it entirely obvious that his services are open to the highest bidder. Its difficult to find anything that he won't do if the money is good enough and it doesn't violate an agreement. As incredibly as his people bankrole both the Empire and the Rebellion at the same time, Zanith is more than willing to sell weapons, equipment and information multiple sides simply because it makes a better business prospect, provided doing so would not infringe upon one of his contracts or break faith with them. He'll never cheat you but he is more than willing to take his partners and associates for everything they've got and then some in deals. Use exact words, and you'll be fine. Leave wriggle room, and you might find a certain Muun growing richer even as everyone else grows poorer...
Yet contrariwise to his innately sneaky nature, Clu's word is very much his bond. If he has made an agreement, he will keep that agreement come hell or high water. If you get him to agree to something, he can always be counted on to keep that agreement. He will never sell shoddy goods, nor lie to people about the true value of some thing he's buying or selling; If he agrees to provide quality merchandise, then he will be providing quality merchandise, if he tells you something is worthless or is the best around, then that's what it is. He'll negotiate and haggle hard, but he won't deceive you in order to do it.
Clu Zanith is not at all interested in being loyal to the death and is rather open about this. You can't do business if you're dead, after all. In a fight, he prefers to hide behind B-22 or failing that run away and duck behind something very big and sturdy rather than stand and fight.
Clu Zanith is physically frail, below the human average for certain. His capabilities with a blaster are poor and close combat in particular is far from this bankers expertise, and he is heavily reliant on droids and others to do his dirty work.
| {Personality} |
On the face of it, Clu Zanith fits the stereotype of a Muun almost to the letter; Highly intelligent (The first percentile of Muun test takers for his year, as he's eager to remind anyone who'll listen) and cautious but exceptionally greedy and fixated on finances, one could be forgiven for wondering exactly why this Muun isn't sitting behind a desk back in the IGBC collecting a bankers bonus rather than out among mercenaries.
In truth, he has always had a strong entrepreneurial streak and was always far less shut in than most of his compatriots. He inherited his mother's talents for low cunning, and this served him well over the years. Clu Zanith holds an almost religious respect for contracts, like most Muun- but when it comes to law? Well, he didn't agree to it! It's only a contract if you agree to it, and since didn't sign, he's free to break whichever laws he sees fit to break (except, of course, those he agrees to follow)
This black market dealer and information broker is terrifyingly well connected, and he is unafraid to say so and cloak himself in it; If you have a problem, no matter how big, it's quite likely Clu Zanith can help you... But if Clu Zanith has a problem with you, then you will likely find yourself high and dry fairly quickly. Naturally, this has led to him being arrogant, proud and self-assured, often making him an annoyance that cannot be intimidated into silence despite his inherently cowardly nature.
And it is a very cowardly nature at that; Clu cannot fight to save his life, quite literally. When it comes to combat, he's a walking lump and is under no illusions he's anything but. He's much more inclined to throw his hands up in the air and run away screaming for his droid to save him than he is to actually use his blaster, and the rare occasions he does use his blaster he tends to be a passable shot best and useless melee combatatant. That said, he'll follow his contracts through to the end in spite of himself, even if the difficulty or danger of said contract is ramped up substantially.
Practically a walking calculator, Clu Zanith bases his decisions primarily on what outcomes he judges to be most probable. Like all Muun, he will consider a business agreement very carefully before he agrees to it (Indeed, if he is quick to strike the deal, it probably you've just been horribly ripped off). Your own actions and behaviour is being scrutinised, and if you make a threat, there has best be a decent probability you actually mean it because if he doesn't think it probable, it won't stick.
His primary motive in life, before anything else, is to make money. It doesn't matter how, particularly, and the general morality of it doesn't particular concern him so long as he's doing good business and making good money. He financed and armed both sides of a galactic war simply because it made him money... And he still, to this day, happily sells his arms and services to both Imperial governors and the Rebellion like an unpredictable genie from hell. He isn't entirely immoral, of course, its just that his moral compunctions can almost always be overcome by a decent enough stack of credits. Indeed, his unwavering commitment to making credits is so rampant and uncontrollable that he has even ripped apart his own loving relationships and friendships in pursuit of money. That this behaviour has caused periods of extreme misery to him is not lost on him, but it is never enough to make him stop. If there is one pleasure above all others, it is feeling he gets as he watches the credits in his account jump up after a successful deal.
He can be very charismatic and knows how to project a specific image; He can come across as friendly, amicable, good natured... Yet at the same time despite a rather unassuming figure and being unskilled in combat himself, Clu can project a powerful presence when he wants to. When he walks into a room, trailed by his Battledroid and whatever other bodyguards happen to be with him at the time, one quickly gets the impression that they are dealing with someone who is not to be crossed or angered, an aura of power surrounding him.
Despite all this, he adheres to a strict personal code of ethics (and expects those in his employment to do the same) as a necessary part of business; There are no court sof arbitration in the criminal underworld, the first and last judge, and a very harsh one at times, is reputationget a bad reputation, and you're done for.
| {Place of Origin} |
Clu Zanith was born in an upper class suburbia in Muunilinst to a family with connections to both the IGBC and the Criminal underworld. He had a stable and privileged upbringing, coupled with the best education money can buy and wanting for nothing. This culminated with his taking of the rigorous Muun examinations which ultimately catapulted him even higher into the upper classes of the strict technocratic hierarchy of Muun society.
| {Background} |
Lesson one, my boy; Your conscience won't make you money.
Clu Zanith was burn on Muunilinst to an affluent family connected to the criminal underworld and the IGBC; they were rich financiers who laundered money and funded criminal activities through their banking clan, ensuring vast profits and returns for themselves. Wanting for nothing in life and with a heavy focus on education from his family, Clu Zanith did not have to struggle with the rigors of common life or the pressure most of the galaxy faced. The Muun are not often travelers, and so he spent most of his childhood confined to what was effectively two blocks of a city in Muunilinst.
Indeed, he had very little exposure to the lower classes of society until he was 13, when his mother took him under armed guard down into the undercity of Coruscant, through the old abandoned factory districts. It was the first of several lessons, designed to teach the young Muun the arts of business... And, naturally, the intent was to scare him, to show him what lay at the bottom of society for those who did not work hard and achieve - and it did just that, not a day went by when Clu did not have his head buried in a holocron, studying endlessly.
But it also placed a seed of hunger inside him; He had watched as his mother closed a deal with a very shady looking Rodian, and less than a galactic standard month later, the family possessed a new, top of the range luxury Yacht class that his mother used to host other clients and close agreements, and the rest of the wealth ended up reinvested into ever more lucrative prospects. That the shady looking Rodian had just brought arms to continue his swoop war with a rival gang and thus expand the deathsticks market at the same time as Clu's father was buying up shares in medical treatment centres on Coruscant and charging upwards of 3500 credits for treatment of deathstick addiction was immaterial: If you want to be truly wealthy, you must be willing to overrule your morals. It is difficult to calculate for certain the human cost Clu's mother and father had in that one action alone, but it certainly couldn't have been a pretty one.
After this, Clu was increasingly assisting with the calculations of his families assets and subsequently their business decisions. Everyone knew he was intelligent by now and his assistance was invaluable.
The first rule of business; A contract is a contract.
Like most Muun looking to make a name for themselves in life, it came to pass that Clu took the extremely rigorous tests and examinations Muun society placed upon their children. Scoring in the first percentile, he was fast tracked into the InterGalactic Banking Clan. His exceptional performance caused a rift between him and his older brother when Clu passed him over for employment early in his career working for the IGBC.
The Muun system is extremely technocratic and the results of this examination ultimately determined his class within the social hierarchy. His result was a shock, naturally, even those who are intelligent would rarely dare to venture that they might be within the top one percent of those who take the tests.
With a life path to the upper management of the IGBC effectively ensured so long as he continued on with his diligence, this young up and coming financier soon found himself in the lap of luxury and power; while still early in his career, he had a strong starting wage with great prospects for the future. He ran through a several lovers during this early period as he sought a stable and lasting relationship, but proved unable to balance work and love particularly well.
His power and influence continued to grow and before long a powerful banking clan executive, San Tanuth, took a shining to Clu and became his mentor. They worked long on hard on promising prospects, lending money to many of the galaxies businesses and growing fat off the interest. Deciding on good investment opportunities was key to their operations and many a night was spent drawing up complex predictions and discussing cautiously which businesses deserved their funding.
Indeed, this was as far stretching as involving the backing of entire new currencies, which the IGBC did regularly and recouped massive gains from. Their holdings extended far past Republic space and every new nation which formed, new conglomerate which grew and new species that was encountered needed a currency and access to trade routes... And the IGBC was eager to exploit these new customers for every last drop of wealth they were worth.
It was within this time that the two of them built a strong working relationship with him which lasted past Clu's involvement with the IGBC, the two exchanging favours to this day.
Kuat is a beautiful planet. So much business, so much industry...
It was one of these favours, of sorts, which led to a major romantic entanglement for Clu and one of the most important chapters of his life, simultaneously one of the happiest and ultimately the most tragic.
The Muun detest wasteful spending, however many other races find such extravagance to be important displays of wealth and privilege. This made such engagements important places for finding contacts in the business world, and while bankers can always wait for others to approach them, it was not uncommon for more proactive members of the IBGC such as San Tanuth to send representatives scouting for lucrative new start ups or business partners. So when San Tanuth used his influence to ensure that Clu was invited to a gathering of a rich Coruscantian executive, Clu expected to come away from it with new friends in high places and several new prospective... Instead, he came away from it with his three hearts quite smitten with a human woman he had spoken to at great length. Kalara Knylenn from a wealthy aristocratic Kuati noble family, the two became romantically involved and used each others connections to advance their ends; Kalara established a new subsidiary of the Kuat Drive yards and Clu used his connections within the IGBC to credit it and secure a start up loan.
This subsidiary grew rapidly under Kalara and Clu's joint control and the IGBC continued to credit the start up throughout the period. Clu ensured preferential rates for loans and exploited legal loopholes to allow the two to reduce tax rates on their contracts. Before long, Clu had made his first million.
Disaster struck, however; Unaccustomed to Kuat and with only inoculations to protect him, Clu became stricken with a disease during his time there inspecting the business. Quickly confined to bed and tended to by a large team of doctors, Kalara was left fending for herself. At the same time, representatives of the Republic opened an audit into the business. Fearing the worst was to come of the financial brains behind the operation and worried that Clu's tax avoiding ways would be exposed, the IGBC began to call in some of its loans to make its money back and the business began to buckle.
Fortunately, Clu Zanith recovered from his illness although one of his three hearts was left considerably weakened by the ordeal. Contacting San Tanuth, Clu secured an extension on the loans and Kalara had successfully fabricated evidence that made their tax avoidance seem perfectly legitimate. Against all odds, the two had survived the nightmare and in the next year, the business grew even more.
Clu continued to manage the underbelly of the business as well and before long their products were finding their way into the hands of gangs and criminals. Indeed, Clu took advantage of the gangs of Balmorra to acquire industrial secrets from the companies rival and undermine Balmorran Arms monopoly on the planet, expanding his and Kalara's business into the factories there.
I can't blame them for it. It was just good business. Her, on the other hand... I have never met someone more terrifying or odious in my life.
It was during this foray into the underworld that disaster chose to strike again. One of the Swoop Gang leaders who Clu Zanith had been working with and supplying, Jana Undera, developed a romantic interest in him and made an advance. Clu turned her down... Which angered her deeply. Feeling spurned, she stopped working with him and her behaviour spun entirely in a way that Clu found rather shocking and probably belied some underlying mental instability.
Jana was a large and powerful woman with the physique of a Wookie. She'd clawed her way up the leadership of a gang by a combination of low cunning and brute force, and was a woman seemingly without a conscience. Violent, antisocial, rebellious and with a short fuse, remarkably easy to anger and very slow to calm down. That said, even Clu could not have predicted just how long this woman bore grudges.
Indeed, not only did she physically beat him down and throw him out of her hideout when he attempted to speak with her about unfinished business, she proceeded to inform his competitors in Balmorran arms about one of his plans to acquire the plans to their latest battle droid series.
It did not take Clu long to make the connection, then, when the following year Kalara was found dead under suspicious circumstances. It was difficult to say for sure whether it had been Jana or another rival, but Clu personally believed it was Jana's doing. She had been getting increasingly violent towards him and by now he feared for his own life.
To say losing Kalara devestated him would have been an understatement. It hit him hard, very hard. But Muun do not like to express their emotions publically, or even openly at all; They prefer to think of themselves as reserved and in control of their emotions. Crying then was an unthinkable show of weakness remarkably un-Muun. Despite half of the instincts in his body wanting to lock himself in his room and fall into a sobbing rage, and the other half wanting to throw everything he could at Jana, the Muun ultimately felt compelled to bare it and continue with business as usual.
That said, Clu was never above vengeance and despite himself, he increasingly armed Jana's rivals at discount rates, and before long Jana's swoop gang was losing ground all across Balmorran. At the time, he didn't even consider that in the long run that might make their vendetta even worse. How could he have?
Understandably, House Kynlenn was extremely concerned and sent one of their own to investigate. Kalara's grandmother, with whom Clu had never previously had a particularly strong relationship, took pity on the broken hearted Muun and the two connected over Kalara's memory. Talara Kynlenn's word served to sway the investigation away from Clu who had been a favoured target by some of the more xenophobic members of House Kynlenn despite his obvious devestation over the loss of Kalara. Unfortunately, no concrete evidence was ever found for the identity of Kalara's murderer and officially the case went cold a year later, with no leads. Despite having been rescued from the courts by the intervention of the Kynlenn matriarch, rumours spread by his enemies did not subside and Clu's public image on Kuat, for a time, became smeared and horribly warped.
At the same time, Kalara and Clu's business was now under attack from almost all sides. While the Kynlenn Matriarch had befriended Clu, she did not hold ultimate power over the family and there was little incentive for her to fight her own blood when Kalara's sister, Runa, opened a legal challenge over the inheritance of the business. Under Kuati tradition, she claimed, the ownership of her sisters business which had ultimately been registered in Kalara's name should pass to her, and not to Clu to whom Kalara had never formally married nor had any bond of blood. The lack of a will likewise proved a decisive factor in the case and it became increasingly difficult for Clu to retain control over his late lovers business.
Meanwhile, Balmorran Arms was pushing to reclaim its monopoly on Balmorra. The conglomerate pushed against the smaller industrial subsidiary and with Clu still beside himself with grief, the Kynlenn family now more focused on seizing the assets of the business for themselves and one of his most important contacts in the underworld actively working against him and entirely ablaze in a destructive swoop war that would ultimately claim nearly 900 lives, his actions to defend the business were half hearted and not entirely effectual.
Having by now recognised how emotionally compromised he was and the adverse effect his own lust for vengeance was having on his business, at Clu's request, the IBGC sent an administrator, a fellow Muun known as Urd Galon to help manage the business and ultimately reclaim money for the Banking Clan. Together, they managed to keep the business solvent and establish a weak but ultimately positive growth trajectory for the business, selling off the assets on Balmorra to Balmorran arms and restructuring to focus entirely on their Kuati holdings. Despite Clu's lust for vengeance, Urd made him cut off the arms and funding to Balmorran and although Clu sold all information on Jana and her gang he could to the local police, he was left unable to pursue his own vendetta against her.
Knowing that without the protection and connections of Kalara in Kuati high society the business was ultimately going to be absorbed into the holdings of one of the Kynlenn family in one way or another, Clu and Urd came up with a scheme to recoup at least some of the losses. Seven years after its founding, Clu signed over all his shares and assets of Kalara Industries to Talara Kynlenn specifically, mostly as one final sneer towards Runa and as a gesture of goodwill and thanks towards the Kynlenn matriarch. He was financially reimbursed, of course, but the cost of the shares was no where near as high as they had been several years earlier. Clu left Kuat, which he had ultimately come to regard as his second home, with a heavy heart and deep regret. He returned with Urd to Muunilinst where he repaid his outstanding loans to the IGBC and entered their employment again under his old mentor Sun Tanith.
The Senate? Ordinarily, they are insane, but they have lucid moments where they are only stupid.
Distancing himself from where he and Kalara had spent their time helped a lot with his mental state and he slowly began to move on. He settled back in to the life of the finacier for a short while but before long San Tanith had reassigned him to the distant world of Coruscant to assist the IGBC senator. The Separatist crisis was brewing and it was decided that his the skills he had honed working with Kalara would be better used on Coruscant, helping to manipulate and turn the Galactic Senate into a tool for the IBGC to further its own business interests.
Clu and Urd traveled together to Coruscant where they quickly set about establishing an information network and playing the political game. They made problems disappear for the Senator and ensured that their opponents became embroiled in political scandals, or else used dirt to lean on senators to vote the way the IGBC required. They also build up a powerful connection in the Coruscant Security Force.
As though some kind of personal tradition at this point, he once again found a lover on Coruscant, this time a fellow Muun who was an attache to the Senator named Meerus. During this time, Clu began to invest his wealth in lending to arms businesses, the Techno-Union and many other assorted businesses that would undoubtedly profit from the war that was now in its infancy.
It seemed that with a new lover, his increasing political prominence on Coruscant, the trust the IGBC put in him and the potential to launch a new, successful business that would profit from the inevitable fighting, Clu Zanith had his future set for him.
Like a horrible spectre from his past, however, Jana Undera had made her way to Coruscant. That this "psychotic bitch" had made her way across half the galaxy after him scared him deeply and he stepped up security around himself and his lover, fearing a repeat of events on Kuat.
Though this move ultimately came from a good place, it caused romantic problems between them, as Meerus felt that Clu was overreacting and felt increasingly caged in the CSF and Clu's private guards. Jana was able to contact Meerus and convince her that Clu had been the one in the wrong and had scorned her after cheating on Kalara, that Clu could not be trusted and was intensely jealous. Portraying herself as a friend seeking only to protect tother from Clu's avarice, Jana convinced Meerus to leave Clu and publically call him out for his behaviour.
As Jana had undoubtedly intended, this sudden betrayal caused a horrible scandal and wounded Clu deeply. The Senator dismissed his attache, though found Clu's services far too valuable to dismiss. Instead, he instructed Clu to do what Clu did best and make the scandal disappear into smoke.
Fighting a war is bad. But financing a war is just good business.
As the scandalous results of Jana's medelling died down, it was decided that it would be best for Clu to sink into the background for a while and begin to work behind the scenes. He continued to work for the senator and as the war began to heat up, his work took on an ever more martial aspect and began to increasingly involve communications with the Separatist cause. On several occasions, he even commanded battle droids or mercenaries for the Separatists, and on one occasion even advised a Republic officer. During this time, he even ended up becoming the close friend of the leader of a Trandoshan Hunting Guild, the Rockscale Clan, who sold their services as mercenaries.
He ordered in his own battle droids, and had them seperated from the CIS network of control, not trusting the Neimoidians or the Techno Union with his own security. By the time of the battle of Geonosis, Clu Zanith already had his own private army of B1 Battle droids, Trandoshan Mercenaries and even droidekas, and happily rented them out to any and every side in the conflict that proved willing to pay: Republic worlds, CIS worlds, Hutts, private corporate interests. All that mattered was that one would pay.
The introduction of the GAR closed one door and opened another; the Republic worlds no longer required such widespread assistance of mercenaries and while some on the edges of space continued to contract him for initial defence against CIS incursions, the contracts began to dry up as Clone Troopers were rushed to the front and began to garrison planets. The battle lines were drawn and it became increasingly clear that war was inevitable
But as some doors close, others began to open; armies require vast amounts of fuel and ships to carry them around, they require food and ammunition. And clones are expensive. So while this was occurring, he and the IGBC were playing banker to both the CIS and the Galactic Republic. Indeed, Clu Zanith was one of the many figures working in the background to pursuade, bribe and blackmail senators into voting for the deregulation of the Banking clans and loans, allowing the IGBC to hike the interest rates on loans to both factions up from 10% to an extortionate 25%. On the night that the Republic ordered another five million clone troopers, Clu Zanith was positively drunk on greed and in it for every credit he could squeeze out of the war.
While Mak Plain worked to secure the new rate with the Republic on Coruscant, Clu was sent to meet with the Sepatatists. Fear mongering about the Republics jingoism in the senate following the false flag attack on Coruscant infrastructure, Clu was able to force enough of those Separatists who were holding out on the hopes of peace to begrudgingly accept the new loans and order in millions more battle droids. Remarkably, the Inter Galactic Banking Clan was now bankrupting both the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic, intending to try and slave these two entities into a near perpetual stay eof debt and playing off of their fears of each other to prolong the conflict and encourage more borrowing.
Of course, publically he decried the war and found it a distasteful waste of sentient life. He even funded and attempted to head negotiations between the two sides. Deep inside, however, there was a black part of him that was glad the war was going on, and while one half of him was upset whenever peace talks fell through, the other half of him leapt for joy. War is a great time for business, not least because it is the time for the money lenders to sow seeds but also because the best time to buy new assets cheap is when there is blood flowing through the streets. Indeed, no sooner had a siege begin upon a planet than Clu Zanith would swoop in and buy up vast tracts of land, assets and real estate at discount prices from refugees, who could then afford to pay his transports to get them off world to safety. Then, once the war left the planet and moved elsewhere, property prices would rise quickly again and whatever survived the war would more than make back the cost of those which didn't.
As long as everyone was at war, everyone had to keep lending. As long as everyone was at war, everyone had to keep buying arms. As long as everyone was at war, they could be kept in debt in perpetuity. The sad thing about the banking trade was that the IGBC never wanted anyone to actually pay off their debt. Keeping the Republic and the CIS laden in debt was what kept them rich and powerful.
"25 percent is obscene, Muun!" The Neimoidian spat as Clu Zanith clasped his hands gently together, peering to the other members of the small Separatist Committee with a small smile. The Neimoidian was practically pink with fury, it didn't help that the large windows behind Clu cast his tall shadow over the committee. "Your previous rates sat at 10%."
"Ah, but that was before the galactic deregulation my friend. The old rates don't apply. The Republic are being presented with the exact same rate increase - and as you know, they are currently in a frenzy about that terrorist attack. They will accept it, and fund 5 million more clone troopers." Clu spoke calmly with a hypnotic voice and an amicable smile, placing the emphasis so as to accentuate the Republic threat. He could see the sudden wave of worry that overtook the Separatists at the thought of even more clone troopers coming for them. There was a murmuring from one of the delegates, before his friend next to him spoken up.
"That attack was not our doing! We have offered peace and assured the Republic that we had nothing to do with it!" A human senator protested. Clu looked at him with false sympathy, taking a step towards him and laying a hand gently on the man's shoulder
"My friend, they voted for the deregulation in a fit of nationalist rage so they could secure more credit. I have no doubt that the attack was a false flag, most likely by the highest echelons of the Republic Grand Army, or else by the Jedi Knights themselves, but the consequences stand. The Republic is sending more clone troopers for you." He said in a sympathetic tone, leaning in towards the Separatists and looking to them each in turn. His finality had clearly managed to convince them that the Republic were indeed coming. Good, their fear would allow him to push this through, even if right now they were not entirely forthcoming.
"We have been on time with all our debt payments to the Banking Clan, we have acquiesced to all your demands and deregulated you within our holdings as well, and now you present us with this outrageous ultimatum or else you will throw us to the Rancors?" A Gossam representative said, almost in disbelief as he shook his head from side to side, clasping a hand to his face.
"Don't look at it that way, this is just good business. If it were up to me, I'd give you a lower interest rate, but I'm afraid this is just out of my hands. The Republic is already preparing to sign this bill into law, you really don't have the time to delay." Clu said as he clasped his hands together before him, eyeing the Gossam up and down. The Banking Clan did only what it had agreed to, at the end of the day this was just good business.
"Blast you, Clu Zanith, blast you and your blasted Banking Clan. We accept your terms." The Lyakian said at last, seizing the stylus from the desk and scribbingly the signature onto the touch screen. of the data pad. Clu grinned eagerly as he did, brushing off the insuly and reaching for his holoterminal
"It is a pleasure to do business. Have a nice day, Senator Kaluss." Clu said with a poisoned sweetness, watching as several of the other delegates added their signatures to the bill and filled out the room one by one, wearing disgusted looks on their faces.
Clu grinned greedily as they did, this had been easier than he expected. The Republic and the Confederacy were so terrified of each other that it was child's play to convince them of the necessity of more soldiers and more equipment.
No soon had they left than Clu turned away from the door, clicked on the holoterminal and contacted San Tanuth. The ghostly blue figure flickered into existence on the holo terminal, sitting behind a large desk with his hands wrapped around a datapad.
"Have the Separatists accepted the new rate, Zanith?" The hologram of his mentor asked over the HoloNet, the distortion of the HoloNet compounding the nasaly voice. Clu adjusted the volume slightly to make it quieter as the Muun spoke, and when he finished, Clu nodded lightly, interlacing his fingers and leaning forwards towards his mentors hologram
"Indeed they have." Clu replied, pride rippling through his voice.
"Good, good... I will inform the others, we can use this to leverage the Republic into accepting the rate increase." San Tanuth's hologram moved to tap something into a data pad
"And the droids you said you'd secure for me?" Clu pushed with a small grin on his face; He knew that securing this rate hike would more than pay for the cost of the Cortosis weave battle droids, the true difficulty in acquiring them had been their exclusivity, with only one factory currently capable of producing these 'Jedi Killers' as they had become labeled.
"I promised you a squad, and you shall have a squad, unslaved from the CIS network as your requested. The Techno Union was unsettled by that request. It may take me a few weeks to get them to acquiesce. If they will not, I shall acquire the droids and explore alternates methods of decoupling them." San Tanuth said slowly, peering back at his close friend and ally.
They would make an excellent addition to his private army...
Its the nature of Empire's that they're built upon ashes and bone, and it's the nature of time that the new always ends the old.
He was present in the command room of a Separatist force during the events of Order 66, as its main commander had been sent to Mustafar instead. The sudden deactivation of most of the Separatist Droid army under that command took Clu and the organic separatists offguard and threw the other Separatists with him into a panic. His own personal battle droids, which included an expensive squadron of C-B3 battle droids that served as his body guards, remained active and he begrudgingly took command of what remained of the Separatist forces and tries to carve a path forwards.
All but one of the C-B3s was was destroyed in the ensuing battle as Clu held off an overwhelming horde of Imperial Clone Troopers while evacuating the planet. Amongst the evacuees he counted Nima Diakoyi, Padawan Learner to the missing and presumed dead Master Zaruc Kan. Having escapes from the troopers who had turned during Order 66, Nima Diakoyi formed an uneasy alliance with Clu and his small detachment of droids to get themselves and the remaining civilian personnel of both the Republic and the Separatists off of the planet and away from the Clone Troopers.
The ensuing battle had been notably swift. Dramatically outnumbered, the small force of battle droids didn't stand a chance against the overwhelming might of the Empire. The C-B3s faired better but without heavy support it was only a matter of time before the Imperial armour rolled over them. Still, with some clever planning and Nima's insights into the Clones plans and thinking, they were able to hold back the tide for long enough that they were able to evacuate. It was a desperate plan and its success was not entirely expected and not smooth (indeed, at one point Clu himself had to use a blaster rifle to help ward off a fireteam of Clone troopers who had somehow broke in through the outer ring of defences and tried to attack the transports directly)
Some of the transports were shot down by imperial fighters and the mostly inert Separatist fleet in orbit was no longer able to mount an effective resistance or provide strong fire support to the escaping ships. It did provide a screen for those ships once they made it close enough, however, allowing them cover for long enough to make the necessary calculations to escape from the system
Clu Zanith placed his fingers together lightly as he peered over the tactical screen from behind the chair, sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Why, oh why, had they left the Banker and some Neimoidian grubs in charge while they ran off to their little meeting on Mustafar? Insanity!
Still, the battle seemed to have come to standstill for now. It had been for some time, in fact, his job mostly comprised of sitting here watching a screen where nothing happened for vast periods of time, occasionally shuffling around a few droids. The enemy general, Jedi Master Zaruc Kan, had been content to allow the Separatists to smash up against the Republic positions like water upon Rock. Clu had not intent of bleeding droids in a pointless offensive like that, instead he had chosen to establish more defensive positions and hold the line. The Republic had made one counter offensive, that had been repulsed fairly quickly and hadn't attempted a new move since.
"Zanith, we've a transmission coming through from Mustafar." A Neimodian said as he peered away from the comms console. Probably the expected announcement of victory. Clu sat back and folded his arms, shrugging his shoulders to the Neimodian across the room.
"Let it play." Clu said, and the grub like alien danced it's fingers over the terminal with the grave and deliberation of a sleepwalker. Clu turned his attention towards the holoterminal, expecting a message to play.
Instead, he heard a series of sudden clanks beside him, a dreadful, echoing racket. Clu shot up out of his seat like a bullet, turning to see most of the droids in the room had simply doubled over and collapsed.
"It's - the shutdown signal." The Neimodian said with wide eyes, standing from his seat. Clu glared at him out of the corner of his vision.
"Congratulations, General Obvious. Bring them back on line, we're not done here." Clu clenched his fists tightly as he advanced towards the large window of the spire, peering down to the rows of deactivated droids below, frantic tapping coming from behind him.
"I can't! It's the master signal!"
"Whose bright idea was that?!" Clu said in exasperation, reaching for his holocommunicator and activating it.
A droid appeared on the other end, scratching its metal head with one hand. OOM A-75, one of the droids from his own personnel contingent. It was fortunate to see, at least, that his demand they have all CIS controls stripped out of them had been complied with.
"Master, the CIS droids appeared to have shut down. The Clones haven't made a move yet but we've got confirmed reports of rifle fire."
"I Know, '75. Fall all your droids back to the citadel, I'll be sending you defensive positions."
"Roger Roger." The Droid said as the ghostly blue hologram disappeared. Clu turned back towards the Neimodian, glowering at him.
"Can you contact Mustafar?" The Muun demanded
"I'm trying, they're not responding, I-"
"Incoming targets!" Another voice called from across the room and Clu turned his attention towards the window again, seeing a pair of LAAT gunships flying directly towards them. He widened his eyes.
"Downstairs! Now!" He yelled as he turned and sprinted towards the turbo lift at the back of the room, throwing himself inside it and hitting the button swiftly. The doors closed behind him and a pair of Neimoidians, and the foundations of the building shook with explosions as they descended.
"We should have taken the stairs!" Insisted one of the Neimoidians. Clu knew he was right, but he wasn't about to admit it right now, just hope that the damn elevator held.
The rumbling stopped although there was the defeating sound of explosions, and as the door flew open Clu darted out from it as quickly as he could, skidding to a halt in the courtyard. The smouldering ruin of an LAAT lay some ten meters away, and the other gunships appeared to be backing off.
"They are retreating?" One of the trio asked in surprised. They had more than enough firepower to wipe out the citadel, clearly the loss of one of their LAATs had spooked them. Clu's eyes widened slightly in sudden realisation
"They weren't expecting us to have any droids active. They knew what had happened almost as quickly as we did. That's not possible unless... The Separatist Council is dead. Get the shuttles prepped for take off. We are not dying on this forsaken rock." He concluded with a disbelieving shake of his head, ripping out his holocron again...
***
Clu stood upon the parapet beside A-75, looking through the binoculars into the distance. There was definitely the sound of blaster fire, and flashes of light from within the Republic camp.
He furrowed his brow in confusion - then narrowed them again as he saw a mass make its way onto the road. He immediately feared clone troopers, but as he watched the blob make its way forward, he realised that it was a mass mostly of civilians and locla resistance fighters. They were heavily armed... And they were making their way towards the citadel.
"A-75, do we have any artillery left?"
"I have two droids manning a CIS AAT we spliced into."
"An AAT... Have it brought up to the gate, if that mob makes it to our gates, they're going to overrun with numbers alo- Wait" Clu paused and adjusted the settings on the binoculars as he saw a flash of blaster fire; Suddenly the column broke into a panic, rushing out alone the road as the resistance traded fire with Clone scout troopers. He saw the flash of a lightsabre. "Get out AAT out there now, and whatever STAPs we have."
"Uh, sir, even with an AAT we don't have the numbers to take all that in an offensive."
"We're not. We're going to help them with those speeders." Clu said as he lowered his binoculars and turned his attention towards A-75 "Deploy the strike force, lend what assistance you can. Help them get to our gets.
"Rodger Rodger." The OOM droid reported as it clamboured down from the parapet and signalled to the forces.
"This is a not a good idea." The Neimoidian objected again.
"We need time to get those transports fueled. That means we need to hold the line. Since most of our army has decided to take a nap, that means we need people. They either help or kill us, given our alternative, if you can call it that, is to be overrun with clone troopers, I'm willing to take that chance." Clu explained irritably, raising the binoculars again and peering out as he watched a Republic TX-130 roll into position and begin to open fire onto the ground.
The AAT went forth, supported by half a squadron of STAPs. It was a pathetic response, but fortunately the Clones didn't seem to have a full force chasing down this mob. Yet. There was the sight of more blaster fire as the CIS forces joined the freu on the side of the Mob, and with the heavy fire power to take down the TX-130, the tide began to change. The mob made its way down the road quickly towards the gate and Clu signalled for his droids to take up defensive positions along the wall, ready to fight if the mob tried to break its way in.
"Open this gate! We've got civilians, we need to get out of here now." A soft and effeminate voice called up to him from the head of the mob. He peered down to a Twi'lek who looked up to him with a stern face. It was an understandable reaction considering that just hours before they'd have been blasting each other on sight
"And just who are you?" Clu asked with a raised brow.
"Nima Diakoyi, Padawan to Master Zaruc Kan." The Jedi replied in a somewhat irritated tone. Again understandable givnw that his tone had been rather short as well.
"Jedi! This must be some kind of trick." The Neimoidian insisted. Clu looked up to the bodies strewn on the road for a moment and immediately dismissed that idea.
"I'll let you in, but our ships aren't fuelled. Most of our army is out of commission... We need to hold the line here. A-75, open the gate." Clu instructed. The Jedi nodded and turned back towards the crowd
"Everyone inside, now!"
***
The Clones had backed off temporarily after they'd been struck at the road, and it became apparent that it was a small force sent to harass the mob. He wasn't sure how much respite they had.
"I need to get back out there." Nima said to him as he stood atop the parapet again, watching the horizon.
"If you do, you're dead." Clu stated matter of factly, turning his vision towards her "Your master stayed behind, didn't he? That's what the clones are dealing with?"
Nima nodded simply, clutching her light sabre tightly in her hand
"He told me to get these people to safety. Off the planet. The only way left to do that now the Clones torched our ships was your shipyards." The Jedi explained somewhat absent mindedly, it was clear her thoughts were elsewhere.
"I don't suppose he thought we might not be inclined to share..." Clu commented wryly
"If I go now-" The Jedi began
"They'll kill you. Even if your master survives, he expected you to protect these people. They're not safe yet. We're going to need every hand we get on station to hold this place." Clu cut her off almost immediately with a firm shake of his head, turning towards her
"Master Zaruc will keep them busy for a now... How long do we need?" She asked weakly, still looking out over the horizon.
"Six hours. The clones will start their offensive soon, whether they've dealt with your master or not. They know every second they wait is another second we've got to prepare." Clu explained as he looked out towards the horizon "Are your people in defensive positions?"
"We only have a few fighters, four dozen maybe, but yes." The Jedi said with a heavy sigh, reaching up and grasping the bridge of her nose between two fingers.
"There were hundreds of people in that column." Clu murmered as he peered back into the citadel courtyard, seeing the huddled mass of refugees. There grown men and women among them.
"Most are civilians." Nima objected almost immediately, turning to face him. "We can't ask them to fight."
"They'll be dead civilians if they don't help us fight back." Clu replied as he clasped his hands in front of him. "We have hundreds of E-5 blasters lying around now. Arm everyone you can."
"Maybe they can help with the transports instead... The young at least." The Jedi replied after a moments consideration, sighing heavily.
"Of course. Now I won't lie to you; in all probability, many of the people here will not survive." Clu said, looking to the courtyard again. He guessed at least a quarter would die in the ensuing fighting
"I know. I've-" She suddenly stopped and her face grew dark for a moment as she bowed her head lightly. "I think my master..."
"I am sorry for your loss." Clu said, allowing her but a moment before he continued to speak "We will mourn the dead later, for now that-"
"That means they'll be coming." The Jedi looked up to him, a determined look on her face. Clu gave a weak nod of agreement and raised the binoculars again to the horizon. "We'll be ready."
***
Sure enough, less than half an hour the first wave of Clone troopers arrived. Clu and Nima had devised a plan to hold down the fortress consisting of three layers of defenses that they would slowly abandon over the course of several hours. At the Jedi's insistence, Clu's Battle Droids would always be the last to fall back, after the organics.
Given that he valued his own skin more than his droids, Clu complied.
The information the resistance refugees and the Jedi Padawan had brought about the GAR composition was useful for plotting the defence. Clu had his droids set mines along main road and they'd done what they could to bring as many AATs online, knowing they'd need the fire power to fight back the Republic TX-130s
The LAAT gunships were another matter all together. Clu's Cortosis battle droids, given they were armed with powerful and accurate double laser cannons, assisted by two manned Anti-Aircraft emplacements, became tasked with shooting them down.
He looked over the makeshift tactical module with the Jedi beside him, rubbing at his chin. Everything seemed to be holding, for now, but the first wave of clones was but a fraction of their main force. They were probing the defences, and Clu knew it.
"They want to know what we have." He murmered.
"Then we can't show them. Have your Cortosis droids hold their fire." Nima said as she folded her arms and looked at him. He furrowed his brow for a moment.
"No, we should out on a display of overwhelming force... It might delay their next attack." Clu countered as he linked his hands together "We can't hope to beat them, just hold off long enough to get out transport into the air."
"But the LAATs are going to be our main problem. They can bypass our defences, and even worse, they can take our transports down in the air. If we bait them in now and then shoot them down..." Nima explained as she pulled back the cloth of the tent and pointed to the horizon, blasters hopelessly engaging an LAAT.
"We might clip their wings and force them to withdraw. Not bad, Jedi." Clu replied as he reaches for his data pad and hit a series of commands into it. He paused for a moment and grinned, hitting another command and causing the C-B3s to enter a dormant state temporarily.
"What happened?"
"I've made them go dormant. I cna awaken them again quick enough, this will hide their presence from the Clones." Clu replied with a triumphant smile on his face. "Now we wait and hope they take the bait..."
"And that our people don't panic. I should amongst them, I can keep them steady." Nima replied a she grabbed her Lightsabre form her side. Clu looked at he mf hesitantly, realising that he was personally at his safest whole she was here in the command tent, but that the front really might crumble from morale problems if she didn't turn up.
"Watch for Sharpshooters." He warned, she gave a brief nod and disappeared out towards the walls, quickly sprinting across the courtyard faster than he would have deemed possible.
"This is getting out hand, now we are working with Jedi."
Clu ignored the comment and circled the command terminal, waiting for the LAATs to show up and keeping his hand wrapped firmly around his data pad.
Come on...
Come on...
There!
A dozen LAAT gunships diverged in their location suddenly, opening fire upon the droids and resistance fighters on the walls. Clu hit several buttons on the data pad, awakening the dormant C-B3s to join the fray. Sure enough, the sudden addition of powerful laser cannons firing upon the LAATs brought several down in flames. Clu watched as two crashed into each other as they desperately tried to avoid the sudden influx of enemy fire.
The remaining LAATs pivoted and beg a acquiring targets, trying to return fire. Clu watched in pain as he saw tow of his Cortosis battle droids be wiped out by heavy blaster cannons, but took pride in the focused fire of the remaining droids. Another pair of LAATs fell from the sky, and the gunships began to withdraw from the battle.
Clu watched the tactical display with interest; The gunships had withdrawn and suffered heavy losses, but not before one of the AA guns and two of the three AATs they had managed to get online had been wiped out. Trading fire with the TX-130s was going to become a losing with just the Cortosis droids for heavy weapons support.
***
By the third hour, they had fallen back to second line of defences, set up around the damaged citadel spire. Mines had been lain down within the courtyard, enough in number to make it difficult for any of the TX-130s to enter. This evened the field somewhat, but the Clone infantry were both numerous and ultimately superior.
That said, while they could scale the walls from the far side, far more would be forced to enter through the gate. To make matters worse the citadel had been designed for exactly this eventually; there was very little on the inner side of the walls, which meant that clone trooper would have to push into the courtyard to secure good cover amongst the ruins of the LAATs and the AATs. The watch towers on the wall had been detonated when they fell back to deny them to the Clone troopers.
"Sep!" The Jedi's voice came thundering towards him, and Clu turned from the holo terminal to peer towards her. "I thought we agreed the civilians could be evacuated first?!"
"What are you talking about?" Clu asked in confusion, looking back towards the holoterminal.
"Nute Gamander and the other Neimoidian, they have taken the first transport loaded up with themselves and what few droids they still had, and most of the fuel too..." Nima clarified and Clu blinked for a moment in disbelief.
"They did what?! Greedy Womp Rats!" Clu bellowed; all pretense of Muun reservedness had now gone out the window under the stress of battle and the unexpected double cross
"You're honestly telling me you had no idea about this?" Nima asked, her lightsabre still thrumming dangerously in her hand. Clu didn't expect the Jedi would use it on him, that wasn't the Jedi was after all, but right now it certainly didn't make him feel anymore comfortable.
"I don't break my agreements. How much fuel do we have left?" Clu said with a heavy sigh, his voice laced with frustration and shaking his head in annoyance
"We can fuel maybe half the transports..." Nima began, looking back out to the battle and then back to him.
"That's not going to be enough now..." Clu paused fot a moment, having a sudden realisation of where this conversation was about to go.
"Your droids are going to have to stay behind." The Jedi replied. Clu felt like he had been punched in the gut; He'd been hoping to make it off world with at least some of his droids, maybe even manage to snatch one of the CIS AATs whole they were at it. Now that seemed impossible.
But- some of these droids are very expensive... Oh if I ever see those Neimoidian slimes again... This time I will see to it personally. " Clu clenched his fist and slammed it down into the holoterminal
"Oh no you don't. You're staying here, and one of the resistance officers is handling the refuelling." The Jedi knight thrust a blaster rifle into Clu's hand impatiently.
"But- I'm a civilian!" Clu stammered as he fumbled aimlessly with the rifle. Was she intending to make him fight?! He was a banker, not a soldier! By all rights, he shouldn't even be here!
"No buts, your people just put us in this men and changed out agreement, you and me aren't leaving until everyone else has, so you're going to need that before we're done." The Jedi's tone, and the fact that they left the tent immediately after, made it quite clear that this was not open to debate.
Clu swallowed and turned his attention back towards the holo terminal, trying to keep his mind focused and push the fact that he was now going to be one of the last ones out.
Why did nobody in this galaxy keep their contracts?!
***
"Last one out, get the lights!" One of the fighters called back as they dashed towards the ship and scrambled on board. Clu hurried towards the landing pads as the remaining transports began to take off, running halfway up the lamp and turning to face over the battle field.
There remained only droids and clones now, the resistance had fled onto the ships and taken to the skies. Clu gave a pained luck to his droids as he despaired at the thought of leaving them all behind.
Well, all except the two droids who still flanked him: B-22 and B-27, the two surviving Cortosis weave Battle Droids. Those two he wasn't going to let be squandered.
"Where the blast is that Jedi?" One of the resistance soldiers asked, receiving a shushing from his officer who reached up to his commlink and spoke into it..
"General Diakoyi, where are you? Very good ma'am. We're ready to take off."
No more than a minute later, the Jedi's Lightsabre emerged again, a flash of turquoise in the crowd as she rushed around the corner towards the landing pad.
In hot pursuit however was a squad of four clone troopers... His Cortosis battle droids opened fire upon them, forcing them into cover, but Nima was forced to turn and defend herself, backing away and deflecting a rush of bullets.
With a blast of force energy, Nima sent two of the clones flying back into the frey, but Clu could already see his compatriots preparing to fire. The Jedi ducked down behind a block of concrete, pinned by the blaster fire as another trio of clones arrived to support their comrades.
There was no way she was going to be able to make it under that much pressure. Clu could hear the argument over the comms net as she told the ship to take off, only for the resistance to delay and trade fire. There was no way they were going to abandon her, and this wasn't going anywhere.
Clu raised his own blaster and took several shots, most of them went horribly wide from his complete lack of combat training and experience. He advanced down from the platform with a shaky resolve, still flanked by his powerful C-B3, B-27, which began to push ahead as B-22 remained stationary aboard the ship, firing off blast after blast of laser cannons to devestating effect: one of the walls that sectioned off the courtyard from the landing pads was blasted out of existence, a pair of clone troopers flying several meters before landing dead on the floor.
The explosion revealed more of the fighting between the droids and clones, however, and another squadron of clones broke off to push towards the landing pad.
The C-B3 and Clu Zanith pushed out from the landing pad, covered by the Rebel militia who took defensive positions, and lay fire down upon the Imperial Clone Troopers.
"Jedi! Come on!" Clu called out as he fired off a burst of blaster rounds at one of the Clone troopers, who ducked his head back down behind what was left of the wall
The Jedi didn't need to be told twice; She elapt over the barrier and bounded towards the starships with a speed and grace Clu would have considered impossible for her build.
Clu's amazement was cut short, however, for an anti-tank rocket flew through the air and smashed into B-27 who was just a few feet away, causing a defeating explosion.
His life flashed before his eyes as the fiery explosion threw him through the air like a ragdoll, sending him smashing to the ground two meters away. Every part of his body screamed with pain and his ears rang from the explosion. He tried to stand, but he was too dizzy and collapsed back down before he'd even made it to his knees.
Then he felt himself ripped violently through the air again suddenly, screaming out and clattering in a heap on the metallic floor, coughing up a small amount of blood and peering up.
He couldn't hear a word that was being said, but could tell the Jedi was trying to speak to him from the movement of her lips. If he wasn't seeing six of her, he might even had been able to make out what she was saying.
He opened his mouth and told her that he could not hear her, that his ears were still ringing. At least, that's what he tried to tell her. He couldn't even tell if that's what came out. She nodded and gave him a reassuringly smile, so he got the feeling that she at least somewhat understood what he meant.
Nima and one of the resistance militia helped him sit up, propping him in one of the seats and kneeling to examine him...
It was then that Clu finally realised that the ship had already taken off...
***
"Okay there. Can you hear me, Sep?" Clu heard Nima's voice at last, and the sensation of suddenly being able to hear what was going on after thirty minutes of quite literally deafening silence overwhelmed him a little.
"I can..." He managed, giving a weak smile and breathing heavily. "The clones, they-?"
"They're following us, yes. We lost some of the other freighters. We've managed to give their Arc-170s the slip for now by going dark in the half disabled remains of your fleet. We'll have hyperspace coordinates locked in soon. Without an astromech, we've been struggling with the calculations but we're almost there-"
"Help me get to the cockpit." Clu said suddenly, standing up-and almost immediately falling over as pain shot through his leg again.
He lurched over, collapsing against Nima and clutching his leg as he let out a very unmanly scream of pain. Broken. He'd forgotten about that.
"You're not gonna tell me you're part droid now, right?" Nima said jokingly, helping him along the ship. He appreciated her not calling attention to his injury.
"I wish. My heads still ringing but... I've always been good with maths. I can't do it as fast as an astromech but I think I can help finalise them."
"I'm sure the help of a Muun will speed things along." Nima said as the door slid open; She helped Clu towards one of the seats, and he slipped down on it and peered to the pilot and copilot, before looking to the formula on the screen with a heavy sigh
"Alright... Let's see what we can do." Clu said, causing one of the Pilots to sigh as he handed a datapad to Clu.
"We're trying to-" The Pilot began, then suddenly got cut off as an explosion caught their vision out the cockpit window and the ship lurched with recoil.
There was a moment of uncertain chattering, before there was the distant site of a turbo laser smacking into another ship, ripping it in two.
One of the blue holograms fizzled out.
"They're done searching, they're just going to start shooting everything here..." One of the holograms said, causing the co-pilot next to Clu to throw his datapad aside in frustration, the plasteel casing splitting in two as it bounced off the wall.
"That's going to be it then. Game over. We lose." He growled, gnashing his teeth together so hard Clu thought they were going to break.
"It's not over yet, everyone calm down and stay focused. " Nima said in a reassuring tone. If there was one thing Clu did have to say for the Jedi, it was that they weren't lacking for leadership abilities.
Clu leant forward and peered over the console, his eyes dancing over the digits and symbols. His head was still aching and he had to keep double checking everything he did - he must have gotten a concussion when the explosion went off. With some difficulty, he kept trying to process the numbers, tapping information down on the datapad as the ships tried to collaborate to work out a solution.
"Is there anything we can do with these ships, Sep?" The Jedi asked him, peering out over the deactivated Droid fleet. Clu gave a forlorn smile; If there was, he'd have done it already.
"I have a name, you know. And I don't think so; the master signal has shut down everything and we don't have local overrides, we can't even activate the hanger doors to get ourselves in, let alone make them dor anything useful." Clu replied with a weary shake of his head, looking back to the figures in the screen.
"A master shutdown signal? Whose bright idea was that?" Nima asked dryly. Clu noted the irony of having his own words echoed back to him. He wished he had the answer. He'd have B-22 wring their neck.
By the time they had worked the hyperspace calculations out, several more of the blue holograms had gone out. Their own ship had gotten a close call, when the Clone fleet had targeted an abandoned freighter nearby to them.
"When we go warm, we're going to stand out like a sore thumb." One of the pilots commented as he began to enter the finished calculations into the ship and prepared to turn its engines back online
"I estimate we'll lose another four of our remaining 17 to Republic fire before we leap out of the system." Clu commented with a weak smile.
"So we've got about, what a, quarter chance of being shot down? That's not so bad." The Pilot said optimistically, finishing entering the coordinates and nodding to the co-pilot
"Twenty three point five percent. But those are not our odds specifically; Given our position and that we're one of the closer ships to that clone cruiser, I am guessing we've got more along the lines of a forty eight percent chance of being blasted." Clu commented with a weak smile. He found some dark humour in the correction here, even th ough he realised it wasn't going to be appreciated.
"Gee, thanks." The co-pilot replied, flipping several switches. They were going to divert all power to the engines - this ships shields wouldn't have taken a turbo laser hit from the Cruiser even if they'd put all power to it.
"It's better odds than we had a minute ago." Nima quipped as the engines came back on line, simultaneously with many of the other transports.
The ship lurched forwards and Clu held his breath, biting down hard on his lip.
As predicted, the guns opened fire almost immediately. Dead ahead of them, one of the transports was gutted through by a turbo laser battery, explosions rippling along its surface. A shot went just wide of their own transport, flying past in front of them and making Clu's heart leap into his throat.
The tell tale blue-white light of hyperspace began to appear around the front of the ship. When they finally leapt into the hyperspace tunnel, everyone in the cockpit and quite possibly in the entire freighter let out a collective sigh of relief.
Then they laughed, whooping and hollering with glee. The pilot clapped his copilot on the back and the two of them chuckled to each other. They'd made it out alive, despite all the odds!
Clu paused. Then he grinned.
"So, would anyone like me to work out the probability of a hyperspace collision based on us using such slap dash calculations?"
Clu, sometimes I can't even tell if you're a good guy or a bad guy. Do you help people because you know you should, or just because that means they'll owe you later?
Clu Zanith had sacrificed most of his special C-B3 battle droids in the escape attempts, and much of his private army was destroyed. Nima Diakoyi and Clu Zanith uneasy alliance continued in the immediate aftermath of Order 66 and the Rise of the Empire. Nima initially intended to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but soon it became apparent that the betrayal of the Clone Army was universal and the Rise of the Empire near uncontested.
Separatist holdouts remained across the galaxy for some two years after the rise of the Empire, but none possessed significant enough power to push back against the Imperials. They hoped at best to be dangerous enough opponents to be left alone, a goal Nima and Clu both agreed was ultimately hopeless after much discussion.
With Clu's assistance and contacts, and in a very uneasy alliance with former Separatists and the scum of the criminal underworld, they acquired false identification for Nima and hid her within the outer rim.
Clu's connections with the IGBC and the Galactic Senate saved him from imperial persecution, and Nima relies on that to help her contact and engage with the fledgling rebellion.
Clu found this to be a beneficial business arrangement; the Rebellion needed information, arms, equipment, false identities, safe houses. They were seemingly endless customers, and although not always the richest, they were good on their word and in the long run he would always get the payment he was promised and protection from danger.
He left the Senate staff for good shortly there after, seeing it as an increasingly neutered and worthless institution. Money follows power, and power now lay with the Moffs. Despite his connections to the Rebellion and the Criminal underworld, Clu defaulted back to his roots of playing both sides. His profiteering ways were kept somewhat in check by Nima, who had now grown very close to him. Ultimately, the information he passed along from the Moffs most likely hurt the Empire more than his assistance aided them during this period, and the contacts he forged within the Empire continued to allow him to act freely in the galaxy.
He was able to slip almost anything he wanted through customs and make all but the most horrendous of bounties disappear through the cracks. Faked deaths and new identities were common bread and butter, sneaking the rebellions operatives through the system and allowing them to continue unabashed. He even smuggled Jedi away to safety, helping them find their way to safe havens such as the planet of Naboo, whom he provided with arms and equipment. Smuggling Jedi and arming a planet proved to be lucrative eon terms of both credits and powerful friends.
To ensure that this operation continued without a hitch, however, it required keeping the Inquisitors and the Empire off of the trail of these Jedi. His most proud moment in this period was sending an Inquisitor running around chasing his own tial for three months straight by planting false information and letting the Inquisitor follow his own scent through the outer rim. He'd found that to be quite the thrill, until eventually he had to have the man ambushed and killed when it was becoming too much of a nuisance to keep ensnaring him in a Web. He chose the place of the assassination well, and had the Inquisitors wasting their time investigating Bothawui for the next few weeks until they finally realised they'd been tricked.
All of this eventually culminated in the first armed rebellion against the Empire on Naboo, which was promptly and expectantly crushed by the 501st legion. Clu, who predicted that the chances of success for the uprising were slim but correctly predicting it was an inevitability, cut all ties in the run up to the rebellion and insulated himself from potential investigation by burying as much evidence of his involvement as he could.
It wouldn't be the first time Clu had been involved in such armed rebellions, and it wouldn't be the last; As regime changes by the Empire became increasingly prevelant across the galaxy, Clu's assistance became increasingly sought after by rich fugitives and by those seeking to arm themselves for defense, and smuggled food into blockaded planets or rescued slaves from the Empire, whether he did so for free or otherwise. On the side he profiteered as he always had. He and Nima found many a holocron together during their travels and acquisitions, and despite her lingering disapproval, he at first sold on great quantities of these to a Hutt collector from Nar Shaddaa. Eventually, she forced him to agree to leave the holocrons to herself and he begrudgingly complied.
Nima and Clu became something of an influence upon each other; she pulled him ever more towards more altruistic deeds, but the devestation of the Order 66 had taken its toll on her bit by bit she was forced to abandon the teachings of the Jedi order in the hopes of survival. Although Clu remained a scoundrel businessman of the most slimey degree, Nima came to see her ally in a more positive light as time drew on. How much of this was truly change within Clu's behaviour and how much was little more than a perception filter is difficult to say for certain.
"A sense a question on your mind. Ask it." Nima said, stopping at the top of the ridge and peering back down to him with a light smile. The sun rose behind her and the warmth of the morning washed over Clu's skin as he came to a halt.
"Can you please stop reading my mind?" Clu asked in exasperation, throwing his hands up for a moment. The very concept of people being able to infer what he was thinking unnerved him, he liked to be reading others and in control, not the other way around.
"I told you, it doesn't work like that. What is your question?" Nima asked again, not dropping it and folding her arms softly in front of her. Clu sighed lightly before replying.
"What is the force, exactly? You said before, it resides in all of us. Why do so few of us have this power if its inside all of us?" Clu asked in a slightly puzzled voice, stepping up a pace towards her. The Jedi had always been mysterious, and their teachings as opaque and cryptic as their order.
"The Force is not a power you have. It's not about lightening or pushing or anything like that. It's the energy field between all things in the galaxy, a field that binds all life together. Using the force is about feeling that bond." Nima explained, her hand waving idly in the air as she spoke. Clu furrowed his brow lightly, shifting un place. That was less cryptic at least, fairly straight forward even, for a Jedi.
"I see... You didn't answer my second question." He noted, causing Nima to pause for a moment and grown.
"Its... Not one I can answer. The way the force works is a mystery even to the Jedi; force sensitivity comes from a high count of midichlorians. You're a Muun, your species have a baseline of about two thousand. I could get your count specifically if I had one of our tools; it might make a fun piece of trivia for you, given you enjoy boasting about your grades so much." Nima teased, giving him a cheeky smirk.
" Very funny, at least you'd beat me in something." Clu retorted with an equally jovial grin.
"I'll beat you in Dejarik yet, you get over confident and you don't hide your emotions even half as you think you do. Whenever I'm making the move you want, I can feel your anticipation... That, and the corner of your mouth twitches ever so slightly." Nima said in amusement as she folded her arms back across her chest again, raising a brow and grinning. Was his tell really that obvious? Or was it her force powers letting her do that? He'd have to work on it either way, or perhaps she really would beat him.
"Yet- I keep beating you, turns out I'm better at predicting things than the Jedi." Clu stated, folding his arms and meeting her eyes
"Oh, but was that gentle quiver in your voice a moment of doubt?" She said, needling him lightly before continuing "As much as it pains me to feed into your hubris, you've got a brain that might as well be a droid processor, so it's not surprising you can calculate the outcomes of a game with finite moves."
Clu chuckled a little bit. They'd both been so full of themselves going into the first game while waiting for the astromech to finish repairs on the engines when they were adrift a few lightyears from Manaan. She had predicted him well- or perhaps foresaw what he had been intending to do, as she put it the force could guide her through it - but Clu had managed to trick her into letting herself get forked and take the upper hand.
"Awh, I'm touched. But yes, I suppose there is a small difference between that and predicting the future. Anyway, that sounds like an answer, though. I don't have enough of these... Midichlorians." Clu said, steering their conversation back into topic. Nima gave a light shake of her head in response to his comment on the Midichlorians.
"Yes. And no. Midichlorians doesn't directly correlate to force power, a Jedi's connection to the force comes from meditation and understanding, so some would say its merely an indicator of your natural attunement. Some would even speculate that anyone could take up the force, that everyone could tap into it if they took the time and worked hard enough and disciplined their mind. Others say Midichlorians dictate the presence, that they generate the energy, and you either had them or you don't." Nima replied with some uncertainty. Evidently the connection between the two was not well understood even by the Jedi, which left him at something of a loss as to how it would work. If the latter was true, which would certainly make sense from a biological perspective, then surely introducing more midichlorians would either induce the capacity to use the force or otherwise enhance the capabilities of a Jedi...
"So what if one was to artificially raise the level of midichlorians?" Clu reached up and stroked his chin lightly, and Nima winced for a moment.
"Leave it to you to jump to the scientific solution and start looking for unnatural loop holes... You're already thinking about it all wrong; The Midichlorians are not the force. And before you get any bright ideas about dosing someone up on midichlorians just to see, without any mental discipline or training, to suddenly sense the force? It would drive the person mad, I think. Imagine being connected to everything, even for a moment, feeling the pain of others, the joy?" Nima said, biting her lip for a moment. Clearly, the very idea of artificially generating force users was troubling to her, and he could arguably see why if her thoughts were correct. The last thing you wanted was for a mad army of force welding maniacs to be running around doing whatever they pleased.
Then again, the Sith were already doing that.
"I'm insulted you think I'd even consider that." Clu tried to make light of the situation, but Nima had apparently become more serious and wasn't having any of it.
"You know that isn't what I meant. You're practically wired up to think of this all as just another mathematical equation or formula that you can manipulate or solve. You're thinking of it as if A equalled B, where A is Midichlorians and B is force power. But it just isn't that simple. It's not even as simple as midichlorians plus training equals force power. Let go of your preconceptions for a moment and just imagine the connection." Nima urged him gently, smiling warmly.
"I don't think I could ever imagine how that feels." Clu admitted. Nima paused for a moment, thinking.
"Do you remember being a child? The first time they tell you other people have feelings too, and you just can’t quite believe it because you can't feel their feelings and you just can't quite think how they think? I can feel it." Nima took a step forward and reached out, gently placing her hand on to Clu's and wrapped her fingers around his. He gasped for a moment as he felt something... Something he couldn't even try to explain. It was like--like he wasn't in his body. He was feeling things that weren't his own.
Nima didn't speak, quite, but her heard her in his head.
Do you feel the flight of the bird? How it feels as it soars overhead, peering down at us?
He did. He felt it, rushing through the air in exhilaration as it dove. He felt something else too, hunger; it 2as searching for a meal.
And somewhere nearby a man dies in an alley, drunk and alone...
He felt that too. The pain. A disturbance. It rippled through the bond like a wave and he could feel the emptiness, the sorrow.
While a baby takes its first breath...
So much potential. His family were gathered, laughing. A woman, coming out of labour, wept tears of joy. Excitement, eagerness, the child a mix of confusion and fear as it took its first steps in a vast galaxy.
A child buries his mother...
The sorrow and the pain again. Cutting through his heart like a knife. But also solemness, a farewell, remembrance.
All of that. We're all connected, our emotions, our lives, all of us hurtling through space, clinging desperately to rocks or ships... every last one of us is connected.
And we can feel it.
They could... And it was beautiful, enlightening and fantastic... And in equal measure crushing, overwhelming, and terrifying.
"That’s the force." Nima said as she released her grasp and took a step away from him. Clu gasped, blinking several times and stumbling backwards down the hill, recoiling in shock but barely managing to keep his footing as that sensation was yanked away from him and everything went back to... Normal. Yes. Normal.
It had felt like- how he imagined seeing for the first time would be like, after a lifetime of living in darkness. The light would no longer be a comfort, it would just be blinding.
Maddening, even.
"How do you take it?" He said at last, looking up to her weakly. It felt like it would be overwhelming, to feel those around you night and day, to sense their emotions and the connections between everything.
"A lifetime has made me used to it, like any other sense, as well as discipline and meditation. Ask yourself, how do you take having a sense of pain? How do people build tolerance for it? How do you understand it?" Nima replied, drawing her hand back and letting it fall to her side. Clu understood well enough her meaning, or at least he thought he understood what she meant. But that was different.
"But that... I don't know whether to pity you or envy you." He said again, regaining his breath and composure and taking a few steps back up the hill.
"Don't." Nima replied simply, a single line but poignant word, as she signalled for the droid to bringing the cart with the two crates attached to it up the hill, turning her back on him and continuing up the hill "Come on, we're almost there. I answered your question, it's my turn to ask..."
Only you could get kidnapped by Hutts and come out richer for it.
This necessitated ever deeper links to the criminal underworld, including to organisations like the Hutt Cartels and the Black Sun Pirates. Rarely getting his hands personally dirty, Clu's network grew more and more complex as the Empire consolidated its power. The IGBC, its capital of Muunilinst devestated by the end of the Clone Wars, required many of its loans to be called in and Clu ended up heading up debt collection operations across the galaxy, hiring teams of mercenaries and sending battle droids to reclaim from less cooperative targets.
The Empire had nationalised many of the former powers within the CIS, included bodies such as the Techno-Union. This resulted in a plethora of unemployed engineers and low ranking employees being released into the market, dramatically lowering labour costs for start ups. He soon became invested in the creation of arms and ships, selling them on to the criminal underworld, to the Rebellion and even the Moffs.
While business boomed in the underworld, it proved an even mroe dangerous section to navigate than right under the Empire's nose. He had sold a Frigate to the Pirate Captain Angos Lightwater, and when that Pirate turned out to have more balls than sense and raided the Hutt Cartel, Ganun the Hutt turned upon his former supplier and sent bounty hunters after Clu.
Abducted and brought to the Palace of the Crime Lord on Saleucami, word soon reached Nima who assembled a small group of Trandoshan Mercenaries from the Rockscale Clan and traveled to Saleucami to rescue Clu Zanith. Having feared that Clu might be tortured into giving up information on the Rebellion or else outright murdered, Nima arrived on Saleucami expecting that she would have to fight her way through half of the Palace to get to him, only to find that instead Clu Zanith was being treated as an honoured guest.
Incredibly, while the Hutt had been intending on killing Clu as an example to those who would sell to his enemies, the Muun had managed to convince him that, not only was he more valuable alive, but that the Hutt would gain a lot more by working with him as an associate rather than by enslaving him. Clu then orchestrated a completely fabricated conspiracy where he conspired with a disgruntled lieutenant to 'expose' a conspiracy to assassinate and replace Ganun by his Rodian Majordomo. In reality, the Majordomo had been absolutely loyal to the core, but so damming were Clu and the Lieutenant able to make their accusation that the Hutt practically executed the majordomo and his 'conspirators' on the spot.
Having won the thanks of the Hutt and the newly ordained Majordomo's favour, Clu was able to have himself moved to more luxurious accommodation and treated as though he were royalty, and had subsequently gone on to secure a shipment of valuable spices for the Hutt from across the galaxly and delivered it to the Hutt in exchange for his freedom. So pleased with this turn of events was the Hutt that he placed a generous down-payment on a second shipment, and so Clu was able to walk out of the Palace with Nima and the Trandoshans clutching a large stack of credits and with a huge, shit eating grin on his face.
That night, on the way back across the Galaxy, Clu and Nima admitted their feelings for each other.
Clu Zanith stepped off from the turbolift in the Tarisian skyscaper, out onto the top floor. A damaged but extravagant corridor lay before him, leading to a closed door at the far end. There were several marks that stained this hallway; the destroyed carcasses of two B1 battle droids and blaster marks near the door where a shot had gone wide, one of the lights nearest the door had been shattered by blaster fire and flickered on and off ominously.
Clu moved down the corridor, C-B3 on one side of him and a B2 Super Battle Droid on the other, their footsteps echoing through the hallway as they approached the door at the far end. He reached out and placed his hand over the terminal by the doorway.
The door cracked open, letting light flow out through the door to illuminate Clu as he stepped into the penthouse, the stars of the night sky shining down through the glass ceiling. In the centre of the room were huddled four Neimoidians, surrounded by watchful BX-Series Commando droids who had already left the few B1s the Neimoidians had been protected by dead. The tension in the room from them was palpable as they looked towards him.
Clu came to a halt just under the skyline, peering around the apartment for a moment. It had been a nice place for these former Separatists to be meeting, no doubt paid for with the money they made from having made off with half the outposts fuel supplies. It was too bad that he'd decided to break up their little meeting and take control for himself. He turned his gaze back towards the four Neimoidians; One of them audibly gulped as they recognised him.
"Did you seriously not think that I would catch up with you, that your little stunt would not have repercussions?" Clu asked as he paced back and forth in front of the Neimoidians his eyes now fixed on both of them as they shrunk away from him and huddled fearfully in the centre of the room.
"Mr Zanith, I- we were only trying to survive, and you had begun working with a Jedi, we did not want to be left behind." The first of the Neimoidians, one who went by the name of Lar Haako, explained as he took a step towards Clu; The battle droids immediately raised their weapons and he backed off into the group with a fearful gasp.
"You would have been among the first off the planet, that was the agreement I made." Clu grunted, folding his arms and facing the Neimoidians.
"But you cannot trust the Jedi, they are cunning foes and we had been fighting for years- and we could not trust the resistance fighters. They could easily have turned on us in retribution for the massacre at-" Another of the Neimoidians, Lott Danak, continued.
"Could have, would have, should have, but they didn't. We had an agreement, they kept their end of the bargain and you compromised that agreement. In doing so, you cost me a small fortune in Battledroids, not to mention the lives you cost and the danger you ended up putting myself and everyone else in." Clu cut him off, a hint of anger seeping into his voice.
"Please, it was not our fault that your droids were left behind, it was not us who commanded that they must be left behind-" Lar Haako begged again.
"The Jedi made that call because you stole half our fuel; Given that you compromised my end of the agreement and made a liar of me, it was very magnanimous of them to continue to honour our contract. Now unless you have something better to offer my than excuses and bluster, I think it is time that I conclude our business together." Clu replied with some finality, waving his hands as the Battledroids primed their weapons.
"Please, do not kill us, we have credits still, lots of credits -" Nute Gamandar begged, his eyes going wide at the noise of the charging blasters
"Go on." Clu asked simply, cocking a brow at them and holding his hand up for a moment to stop the droids firing.
"I will give you a hundred thousand credits, just please do not kill me." Nute Gamandar offered as he took a step towards Clu, hunching over lightly and clasping his hands together.
"Is that how little you think is suitable compensation? How disappointing. Blast him." Clu said coldly.
"No! Please!" Nute cried out, but before the battle droid could comply with the command, another voice cut into the conversation.
"Clu, wait." Nima's voice carried over and Clu sighed lightly, closing his eyes for a moment. Everything in the room paused again, aside from the whimpering of Neimoidians.
"You can think about living for the moment..." Clu said to them, sighing lightly before turning his attention towards Nima.
"Thank you, thank you-" The Neimoidians began, Clu ignored their trifling responses.
"Nima, this is business. You know how it is, they crossed me." Clu began, taking a step towards her. He knew she wasn't about to let him gun them down, however fitting a fate that would be for the womp rats.
"Clu, they betrayed us both. People I'd been working with died too. If it's your business, it's mine as well." Nima replied, looking to the Neimoidians for a moment and then back to him. "Look at them. They're no threat to you anymore."
"Have you forgotten how close they came to getting us both killed? How many people they actually got killed? How much those droids cost me? Think of how useful they'd have been for us. If they and their battledroids had still been fighting, we'd have lost less people. If they hadn't taken the astromech with them, many more of our freighters would have gotten out, we wouldn't nearly been blown apart by a Venator Star Destroyer." Clu protested, waving his hand in the air and pointing towards them "I cannot allow them to get away with that."
"There are other ways, Clu; Other paths that we might take. It is always better to end things peacefully than to resort to violence." Nima urged him as she approached him, smiling warmly to him. "Revenge isn't the answer. What would killing them solve?"
"They deserve no better for what they did. They broke their side of the agreement, and that decision cost us dearly." Clu said with a firm shake of his head. Seven of his eight C-B3 units had been destroyed, if it wasn't for the decision of the Neimoidians more might have made it off the planet. And that was before he got to the value of all the other droids. What of all those who'd lost their lives because of it?
"Not like this. Let go of your anger, enough lives have been lost on their account." Nima counselled him. Clu paused for a moment as he looked into Nima's eyes. Then he returned her smile and gave a gentle nod, looking over towards the Neimoidians. She was right. They weren't any threat to him anymore, and perhaps killing them wouldn't achieve anything but to drive a wedge between himself and Nima. There was a far more peaceful and poetic way to do this.
"You're right. There are other ways." Clu said as he stepped away from Nima and towards the crowd of Neimoidians, clasping his hands together in front of him and looking over each of them in turn. "Let's discuss your impending decision to make a very generous donation to the poor of the Lower City..."
**
"You made the right decision." Nima said as she looked across the turbolift towards him and giving him an encouraging smile. All in all, Clu wasn't so sure; Neimoidians were greedy, selfish and underhanded. He could easily see this going horribly wrong.
"We'll see. You don't know these people like I do; they'll lie and steal and cheat. The minute our back is turned, they'll start sneaking their money back." Clu said with a sigh. He didn't really want to have to send someone back here just to finish he job again if they decided to cross him. Even worse, they'd know someone was coming in advance if they did. If his commando droids hadn't had the element of surprise, this would have been a lot harder.
"I don't know, I think that you made quite the impression." Nima replied as she glanced towards the droids that surrounded them as if to demonstrate what she meant. That was true, perhaps the Neimoidians would have been scared into line now, they were an innately cowardly species who could always be counted on to protect their own skins over anything else, if his dealings with the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars had taught him anything. They probably hadn't expected him to survive, let alone come after them.
"You should have stayed with the ship, like I said. Those Neimoidians know you're a Jedi, if they tell the Empire, the Inquisitorious -" Clu began in a concerned voice, worried for her safety. They had been able to stay out of the Inquisitors gaze for a long time, and even though they were on the outer rim it was possible one might have been on Taris, or that even if the Neimoidians didn't tell the Imperials, someone else could recognise her and report to them. Any security footage alone might be leaving too much of a trail.
"Given you marched some battle droids into their apartment, if they decide to tell the Empire, the Imperials will find me either way." Nima replied, casting a glance to him out of the corner of her eye. She made a good point, perhaps he'd been too reckless as well, but at least he wasn't likely to draw the wrath of the Imperials simply by walking through the street.
The door of the turbllift screeched open before them and the group stepped out onto the launch pad, advancing towards their waiting ship for a few paces before Nima stopped and turned, peering out over the city as the sun rose in the distance, reflecting off the windows and the streets and water fountains that dotted the city. "Taris... Do you know its history Clu?"
"No." Clu replied simply as he stepped up to join her, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked out over it. It was a lot like Coruscant and all other ecumenopolis; shiny and clean on the outside, rotten on the inside.
"It used to be even richer and grander than this. They called the Coruscant of the Outer Rim; It sat along the most profitable hyperspace lanes, for a while." Nima said as she watched several speeders rush by below them.
"I see. What happened?" Clu asked, figuring that Nima was building to some kind of point.
"Then the Sith Empire destroyed it, razed it all to the ground. They slaughtered billions. All over one man's vendetta, his obsession with killing just one person." Nima replied.
"I wasn't going to level a planet, Nima." Clu said with a light laugh, looking back out over the city for a moment.
"I know that, Clu, but it's the principle, that's the point I'm making. You have to know when to let go of the past and let go of your anger; If you let it, vengeance and anger will consume you, twist you. It'll blind you and make you destroy beauty in pursuit of something you hate." Nima explained with a light sigh and shake of her head.
"Thank you for stopping me, Nima." Clu said as he took a step towards her, reaching his hand out from behind his back and taking hers. She glanced up to him as he did, and smiled.
"This planet still reminds of Coruscant." Nima said, changing the subject and peering out over it "I never thought I would when I was a Padawan, but I miss Coruscant. I miss the view from the Temple, I miss the lights, I miss flying over the city. I miss the Temple, the people, the archives... I wish I could go back."
"I admit, I didn't take you for a city girl, Nima." Clu said teasingly with a warm smile.
"Well, homesickness does things to you." Nima replied with a weak chuckle, interlacing her fingers through his. "Maybe one day things will change again. But even then, I don't know if I'd be able to take living in the Temple again after what happened, as much I'd like to. There's too many old memories." Nima said weakly lowering her head for a moment. Clu gently pulled her closer to him
"I'm sorry... One day, something will happen, I know it. No one lives forever, not even Emperor Palpatine. Whether to the slow decay of time or to someone else, he'll die. If we're lucky, his empire will go with him." Clu consoled her, leaning in closer and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. "And then, you can go home to Coruscant. If you can't live in the Temple, I've still got an old apartment on Coruscant. You know you'd be welcome to stay with me."
"I definitely wouldn't mind living in that apartment with you."
"And perhaps more of your order has survived than we think; You got away after all, and there were others we got to Naboo. I'm sure some of the Jedi managed to escape and hide away on some far flung outer rim worlds where the empire can't find them. Maybe even some of your friends." Clu reasoned. He wasn't sure of the odds on that, but some had to have managed it. The galaxy was a big place and the Jedi were used to an ascetic lifestyle, if they went off to live as lone hermits on some sparsely populated outer rim world, it stood to reason they might survive.
"I hope so, but speaking of my old friends, they might not approve of us." Nima said with a light chuckle.
"Well, we'll deal with that if we get there." Clu replied, and the two of them shared a kiss in the sunrise,
"Come on, let's get off this planet before I get anymore homesick and start embarrassing myself with stories from childhood." Nima said as he released her grasp on his hand and set out towards the waiting ship.
"Oh don't worry, I'll coax them out of you yet." Clu called out as he followed after her.
I was stupid enough to think that, just for a moment, perhaps you really had cared about more than the credits
This continued for a great many years and Nima and Clu remained close partners in both love and crime. Although sometimes time together was very brief, they spent it as best they could. Their goals ultimately seemed aligned and Nima had come to trust Clu as having his heart genuinely in the right place, even if he was too easily sidetracked by his greed.
That all changed at Ryloth.
The Rebellion had established a base there had been smuggling refugees and former slaves across the galaxy to safety. The planet was, at its core, poor and of little cultural or economic importance. The prefabricated rebel base lay outside the ruins of what had once been the CIS citadel on the planet and was operated by the Rebellion for quite some time without the notice of the Empire.
The local crime lords, who had long since been in the pocket of Clu Zanith, began to get greedy and the Rebellion began to get increasingly noble. Exporting slave labour to the Hutts and to the Empire had become a valuable trade for them and the Empire was increasingly taking slave labour from Ryloth and the Rebellion increasingly driven underground. Clu was unable to reign in his former allies but also unwilling to act against the due to the contracts he held with several of them, and became caught between the two worlds.
When Nima demanded he go back on his contract with them, Clu grudgingly refused to do so. He wanted to, but a contract is a contract. He didn't renew the contract once he had finished his end of the bargain and broke off contact with them, at Nima's insistence, but his failure to break off the contract had shaken her faith in him and planted doubt in her mind.
The weapons and skiffs that Clu had sold to these crime Lords were now turned to a darker purpose; Entire villages were taken as slaves and sold on to the Empire, which increased its presence above the planet. By the end of that week, a Star Destroyer had arrived.
Realising that the jig was up regardless, Clu Zanith began preparations to leave Ryloth and invited Nima to come with him. Nima, however, was now distraught by the use of the weapons and vehicles Clu had sold on to the Crime Lords. A village worth of such slaves were en route towards the capital where they would be sold on to the Empire, and Nima felt that it was her and Clu's personal responsibility to retrieve them.
The problem was, Clu knew there was no way that could be done without ending up on the Imperial Bounty Board or with a Hutt price on his head. They'd identify him for sure if he went with her, and with only B-22, which would be easily identified and linked back to him by the crime Lords working with the Empire, at his disposable doing so would have turned him into an outlaw.
Even worse, he knew by now which Imperial it was in orbit; Grand Moff Tarkin. Any Moff would have delivered a harsh response if the planet appeared to be fighting back, but Tarkin's reprisals would have been absolute and Clu doubted there was ever any hope of survival for either Nima or the resistance.
So he refused again and tried to convince her it was a lost cause. Once more, Nima stood her ground. At last, Clu relentled and agreed to help free the slaves, but instead told her to let her talk to them. Reluctantly, she agreed and Clu contacted the crime lord.
Three. Hundred. Thousand. Credits.
For three dozen slaves.
Clu balked. He knew *he* was being price gouged now and he didn't like it. He negotiated like he always did and managed to get the price down to two hundred thousand credits but... Then he hesitated.
He knew it was the right thing to do, but two hundred thousand credits was a lot of money to take as a hit to his wallet for so little. And it wasn't even as though he was buying the slaves, he was paying for their freedom. Who even knew how long that would last? If he bought them and freed them only for the Empire to round them up the next day, what good would that do?
In the end, he paid the credits to free the slaves, taking one of the largest single hits to his bank account he had ever dared to take.
The hesitation and the delays had deeply shook Nima's faith in Clu, and despite Clu having paid the money, he had left it too late the Empire had intercepted the returning Skiffs and taken the slaves regardless.
This drive a wedge between their relationship again. They had always had disagreements about his miserly nature in the past, but Nima hadn't seen the face of Clu that would rather doom people to a life of servitude than pay some of his obscene fortune before and it shocked her deeply.
Just a month later, Nima decided to join up with a group of rebels that had decided to take the fight to the Empire. Clu, more a pragmatist than idealist and knowing full well that sustained warfare against the empire was ultimately suicidal, couldn't countenance the idea. They'd worked against the Empire in the past, of course, and had on any occasions supplied rebellions or resistances. But there are difference between selling weapons, smuggling equipment and occasionally helping attack a small outpost and actively taking the fight to the Empire. The latter was, in Clu's opinion, utterly suicidal.
"You're really going then?" Clu asked her with a slightly pained voice, fighting to hold it back.
"It's the right thing to do, Clu. Come with me, I could do with your knowledge if I'm going to stand a chance." Nima held out her hand towards him from the back of the transport, smiling lightly to him.
"This rebellion will not succeed. Nima... I predict a success rate of-" Clu said as he took a single step before her, shaking his head firmly. He felt like begging her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I don't want to hear it, Clu. First the pirates, then the slaves... Do you not even care?" Nima withdrew her hand and advanced forwards herself, starting at him in disbelief and... Anger. She was rarely angry, and the accusation wounded him deeply.
"You know I do Nima." He protested weakly, lowering his head to the floor. Did he care? He wasn't actually sure himself. It certainly hadn't felt like caring.
"I thought I did... But I don't know, Clu. You've got three Hearts, I wanted to hope that one of them was in the right place but - they all beat for your bank account." Nima raises a hand up to her forehead, and Clu could tell she was fighting back tears and fury as well.
"That's not true, they belong to you." He said as he took a step towards her, reaching out to gently take her hand with a smile.
"If they did, you'd be coming with me." Nima replied acidicly, withdrawing her hand and shaking her head at him. His smile faded as it began to dawn on him that this really was going to be an inexorable issue. She could be stubborn at times, and this was definitely one of their times.
"I'm not going to commit suicide by stormtrooper, you can't-" Clu protested, but was cut off by a short laugh and a sad shake of Nima's head
"Do business if your dead. See? Just more money, Clu, and its never enough for you. You're a millionaire, and that isn't enough. No amount of credits is ever enough for you, because it isn't every credit in existence."
"That's not fair. You know that's not what I meant." Clu replied, but his words sounded increasingly hollow even to himself. She was right, and that made it far worse. Money had always been his weakness, and he had helped the Rebellion mostly because they'd paid well.
"So what is it, Clu? Because I don't see what else is stopping you but cowardice and money. You'd have let that village be enslaved if I hadn't made you spend it... Would you sell me out, if the price was good enough?"
"Never." Clu said defiantly. That he was sure in, there wasn't any amount of credits he'd ever have sold her out to the Empire for.
"I want to believe you. I do. But I can't. And I can't believe I was stupid enough to think that, just for a moment, perhaps you really had cared about more than the credits." The worst blow yet, it stuck in him like a knife. She couldn't have wounded him more deeply if she'd cleaved him in half with a Lightsabre. Nima had always been insisting to him that he really did care, inside, that there was a part of him that genuinely wanted to free the galaxy and that had protected people from the Empire because it was right, not just because it was good for him. Hearing her say otherwise now... Cut very deep.
"I do-" Clu protested fiercely, raising his head again and shaking his head, listing a few examples jsut off the top of his head. He wasn't going to let this go, not now. "I didn't have anything to gain when I hid you, nor when we smuggled the food past the Imperial blockade at Mon Cala, nor when we got those Jedi to Naboo..."
"So prove it to me. Come with me. Put your heart in the right place for once." Nima said, pleadingly as she backed up the ramp of the transport, it's engines whirling up. He stood paralysed. He'd never done good on spur if the moment decisions. That just wasn't how he worked. He was careful, cautious, meticulous. This decision was too big too quickly.
"I don't know..." Clu choked, confused and hurt.
"Goodbye, Clu... I do love you." Nima replied sadly. The two words made his stomach churn and hit him so hard that he barely even registered the final four. He felt like a rock was stuck in his throat and as the ramp onto the transport closed shut and hid her from view, a tear ran down the Muuns face and he choked on his reply.
He fell to his knees in the dirt and knelt there for what felt like an age before he finally dragged his carcass off towards the clearing where their own starship was hidden. He had half a mind to go after her, to follow the ship... But what would he even say? He didn't know if he'd be any closer to making a decision in this then...
No, he'd follow her. This was it, he wasn't going to give up that easy! He threw the switches over the console and ran about the bridge of the star fighter, working quickly to activate it before coming and sitting back down at the pilots seat. He had seen Nima do this a thousand times before, he could do this! All they needed to do was clear atmosphere and the Droid could handle the rest. He nodded to the Droid next to him.
"Alright, this can't be that hard. Let's follow that ship!" He instructed with a triumphant look on his face. He'd have all of the journey to work out what to say, how to make up for this or whether he'd even take her up on her offer. It wasn't like he could stay here anyway!
The ships engines whirled and buzzed and began to take off from the ground. Clu moved the control of the starship carefully, pressing it forwards and-- immediately the starship swooped forwards and crashed down into the ground.
Oh. That wasn't supposed to happen
Fierfek.
Now, Brsk, you know I have a reputation for cunning. I do not intend this to be a fair fight. We are going to fall upon them without warning, we are going to strike at their communications and then we'll be long gone before the Imperials notice something is wrong. Do this right, and this won't be a battle - it'll be a kick in the balls.
Clu Zanith was stuck on that forsaken rock for far too long. When he finally got off it, he realised there wasn't anyway he was going to be able to contact Nima again within the near future. News cropped up on the holonet from time to time, but she was always long gone by the time anyone arrived to follow up.
The bitter Muun turned back to his business. It was all he had left in the end. Perhaps it really was the case that he didn't care, that it was only the credits and the business that really matter to him. Or perhaps that was what he had taken to telling himself in order to make it easier to accept. He wasn't really sure anymore himself.
Either way, he was determined now to prove he wasn't a coward, even if it was to himself. He'd committed to a contract of sorts, and he'd see it through. A warped sense of honour told him that he owed Nima that much. It was perhaps ironic that having refused her offer of joining in a crusade against the Empire would be punctuated by him making a strike against the empire simply to uphold his end of a contract. There was another part of him that intended to do it just to test himself whether it was possible to fight against the empire directly and survive.
But to achieve this, he needed time. So he went on much as he had before, running his own little operation underground, selling a buying favours. Before long, he'd fallen in with a new crowd, befriending the leader of a smuggler ring called Zakaros.
Zakaros would run whatever Clu needed running in the outer rum. Weapons, spice, food, medicine, whatever. Smugglers were always crucial services for Clu but this one was different, because this time he had a personal goal on mind rather than aiming to set up a transactional agreement. He'd paid for those slaves. They didn't belong to the Empire, their fates belonged to him
They tracked the slaves from Ryloth across the galaxy. Some had been sent to work on an Imperial special project run by Grand Moff Tarkin where they'd since been tagged as deceased, and Clu's digging there turned up nothing. Whatever it was, it was big enough that even Clu's omniscient network wasn't touching it. Yet. Given it was filed away under an Imperial weapons project, he didn't even dare thing what had happened to the slaves. Live targets or test subjects, perhaps, or else they'd been worked to death constructing more ships or weapons for Tarkin.
The rest of the slaves, however, were still tagged as alive and working and as it transpired had ended up working on a spice mine in the Midrim world of Mon Gazza, owned by the Galactic Spice Mining Guild, a former Separatist operation that fell under Imperial control after the rise of the Empire. A few of it's former administrative staff were in place and this drew his attention quickly and Clu soon penetrated the mines innerworkings, getting an administrator and some of the guards into his pocket and acquiring plans and blueprints for the facility, as well as a path to snuggle in goods. With plans and an update on the amount of slaves and defences, Clu decided to do what he did best; Fix things.
Zakaros would smuggle arms into the spice mine, aided by the pair of corrupt guards. These weapons would be used to launch a slave uprising in the spice line. At the same time, Trandoshan mercenaries would drop into the command centre through the ventilation system and eliminate the communication, ensuring that the Guards would be unable to call for reinforcements quickly.
It required precise timing and good predictive thinking on his part, but he proved mroe than capable of it and when the date came around, he believed that they would be able to pull it off despite his unease and fear.
They hit hard, and they hit fast.
The prison fell quickly under the unexpected outbreak of armed rebellion and external strikes. Subsection A-12 put down its resistance fairly quickly and began to fight their way to the command centre, which gave Clu and his team limited time to recover the slaves and prisoners from the mines. Likewise, some sections of the prison appeared to consist of rival gang populations and now began to turn on each other in the chaos that ensued.
Despite this, Clu's mercenaries quickly secured nineteen of the twenty three prisoners he'd come there for with the other four having died during the escape attempt or the rioting, and another eight dozen of the slaves besides. Clu paid an extra three thousand credits for each slave the Trandoshan and Smugglers rescued, and they managed to get off the planet before the imperial reinforcements arrived. Over the next few weeks, he and his associated acquired and forged false identifications and backgrounds for each of the slaves they had rescued, so they could travel across the galaxy and start new lives. Originally, he had hoped to return many of them to their home worlds, but particularly in the case of Geonosians, Wookird and Twi'lek whose homeworld were now under direct imperial occupation or else ravaged by imperial weapons projects, this proved completely untenable.
When the Imperial media deeply suppressed the true extent of the Rebellion in the Mon Gazzian mine, Clu came to consider it as a resounding success. Despite imperial censorship, news of the attack leaked out along other channels fairly quickly, of course, but few could be certain as to the true identity of the attackers or any of the details. The presence of the Trandoshans had been recorded which led some to believe that it was a violent and half mad Trandoshan clan who had stolen slaves for their own usage. Others believed it wa a push by the Rebellion to liberate slaves from the mines.
Clu wouldn't spoil this speculation, it was good to keep himself out of the attention of the Empire and off the bounty board. Besides, he'd done what he set out to do and felt vindicated, there was no need to draw unwarranted attention to himself. After all, you do one good deed, and suddenly everyone thinks you're soft and starts leaning on you harder in negotiations. The best way to get favourable terms was to be an unrepentant arsehole.
Imperial commanders would spend months analyzing the attack, hoping to discover the secrets of the covert strategies or anything which might link it back to its mastermind. Heads rolled - sometimes quite literally - at the Imperial Mon Gazzian Command for the attack and the humiliation had been palpable. Within a weak, half the command staff had been replaced, taken away and interrogated on suspicion of working with the attackers. He had helped get all his contacts in Mon Gazza out, feigned their deaths and given them new identification papers, so he knew any attempt to find fault back on Mon Gazza would amount to little more than an Imperial witch hunt. That suited him just fine, the bastrds could tear themselves apart for all he cared.
He knew it wouldn't end well for those slaves left behind, but he'd saved some and that was what he'd set out to do. Whatever had happened, he'd given the Empire a kick in the teeth and although he couldn't boast so publicly, he took private satisfaction in knowing that he'd proven that nobody in the galaxy could mess with Clu Zanith's contracts and get away with it.
And perhaps there was, privately and buried deep, a satisfaction that he had proven that he did care, and that he was not a coward. Perhaps one day he'd meet Nima again, and could tell her that he had in fact rescued those slaves, and that he'd decided to take a stand against the Imperials at Mon Gazza.
He hoped that she'd believe him if that ever came to pass. She'd want to, after all.
That's right, I can negotiate the most lucrative work. And whatever it is you and your crew need, I can get it. For the right price.
After Clu pulled off his great slave heist, the Imperials cracked down on smuggling in the Midrim. Bad for business, you see, and Clu had seen it coming a mile off. The empire was always going to throw its weight around once he'd finished with Mon Gazza, he'd planned ahead for that.
But what he hadn't expected was for Nima to fall off the galactic radar almost completely shortly after the attack on Mon Gazza. Logically, he knew that the result was likely the worst, and was concerned that perhaps his own activities had led to her being caught up in the crackdown or else had driven her underground... privately, he continued to hope that she'd been able to evade capture and had simply become even better at avoiding detection, so good that her motley crew was ducking even under his gaze.
Still, as the crackdown continued he remained one step ahead of the Imperials and slid his way under ground for a while, going mostly dark. Imperial intelligence never made the connection between Clu and Mon Gazza, but a number of his connections within that region were shut down or assassinated in the ensuing months and Clu thought it best to lay low until the Imperial investigations concluded and they loosened their grip around the midrim throat.
Not to mention that at the same time, he managed to get on the bad side of a xenophobic Imperial Naval Lieutenant in a Cantina on a midrim shipbuilding plant. After narrowly escaping a beating at the hands of the Lieutenant and several of his soldiers, Clu was forced to leave the planet for his own safety and burnt fake identities like there was no tommorow as he moves from planet to planet until he was sure that the Imperial had lost his trail. When he wants to disappear, Clu knows how to do exactly that.
Travelling to Anchorage to form new contacts and recoup his losses from Mon Gazza, he quickly made a killing selling on information, weapons, fighters, false identification papers and even some old battle droids to the denizens of the dark harbour.
When a chance presented itself to score a contract with the crew of the Noreaster, Clu met with the Mariner. Clu considered it carefully and negotiated as favourable terms for himself as he could possibly get as a Muun often would. The captain was wise enough to plug as many loopholes as could humanly be plugged as well, which Clu approved of for it's shrewdness. He knew how to sell himself as an invaluable asset and in fairness, he is; he knows how to get the crew linked up with the most lucrative work, and so long as he's working with the crew on a mutually beneficial arrangement, is happy to oblige.
This far he found the rules for working with the crew of the Noreaster to be fairly relaxed even if the crew was not the most amicable lot, and although he doubted he would personally be doing much looting any time soon, it allowed him to pick over choice pieces for his clientele and ensure that he could keep up with the demand. In addition, his ability to both score strong contracts for the crew and serve as a middle man to sell them information and help connect to black market contacts made his eyes water at the thought of the opportunities that might await him and he quickly set about making it clear to everyone that if they wanted or needed anything, he was their man.
Plus, in addition to the money he could make he was well aware that good connections were more important than any amount of money, and when it came to mercenary crews, getting them or their leaders to favour you or even better to be in your debt was a good way of securing valuable allies for the future. The Mariner had built herself a strong reputation, indeed, Clu has watched the rumours spread year earlier - and as a sign of good faith had buried any connections between her Jedi and this new composite identity that he had came across. Perhaps this ultimately played a role in him becoming part of the Noreasters crew, who was to say? That was the way of things, you scratch each others backs when it's appropriate.
And now, here he is. His silver tongue and contacts ensures that the Gray Mariners squeeze every credit they can from the most lucrative jobs in the galaxy, and he ensures that Imperial intelligence and other such nuisances get thrown off their tail at regular intervals.
Mygeeto represents a lucrative new investment opportunity. Succeed here, and you will all be rich enough to retire to a penthouse on the highest rises of Coruscant. About two years before the current day, word reached Clu's ears along the Shadowfeed. On Mygeeto, the Hutt known as Biothem had been slain by one of his slaves, a Lethan Twi'Lek known as Vasani'Brinme. Clu wasn't sure if he remembered her from his brief time there many years ago, but the details did match up. Lethal Twi'lek were fairly rare, and her reported age matched what he remembered.
Clu had been to Mygeeto several times before, during his time with the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and even to the Hutt's palace. After Clu's career change into the Criminal Underworld, Biothem had been an adequate customer but his death still presented an opportunity for Clu and his Network. Mygeeto had a small criminal underworld, but the planets value was immense and it had the potential to generate a lot of wealth; Clu and the Banking Clan remained on good terms, yet the Banking Clan had been increasingly squeezed by the Imperial regulations and oversight. If Clu could seize control of its underworld then perhaps he would be able to help both him and the InterGalactic Banking Clan could scratch each others back, making it easier to skirt under and bypass imperial regulations and raising profits.
The power vacuum left by the fall of the Hutt, not to mention the deaths of other key figures in his palace who had attempted to hinder the escape of this Twi'Lek slave, would throw the underworld into turmoil and a straight up gang war might be brewing. There was the potential for a new power to rise on Mygeeto, or for another power to move in. Mygeeto was a long way from Hutt space, and it would not be on the immediate radar of many Hutt crime lords. This provided a window, then, for Clu to take advantage of the instability and 'acquire' assets within Mygeeto and expand his own influence in Banking Clan space.
Now, this Vasani'Brinme had also attracted his interest. She was sloppy still, of course, but from the reports he had pieced together of the incident, it appeared that she had managed to either sneak a blaster from someone within the palace or lift one from one of her- "patrons" -, then manipulate the palace into breaking down into a gunfight before killing the Hutt and fighting her way out. That showed potential and potential could be honed; He'd rather that potential was on his payroll than in the employ of someone else, let alone being dead in some ice cave beneath the surface of Mygeeto.
With the help of his contacts within the InterGalactic Banking Clan and in the Network, Clu established contact with a few of the existing Crime Bosses on Mygeeto who were now fighting for control of the Hutts former empire. Playing them off against each other and selling arms to all sides, Clu's contacts found several of the smaller groups that were active in the gang war and negotiated a good deal with them; Clu would help them rise to prominence in Mygeeto's criminal underworld, and in exchange they would work for his Network.
With Clu bankrolling these groups and already having established the basic structure of a Network firm, treating each gang leader as lieutenants with the long term plan of bringing them on board, they began to take ground on Mygeeto from the larger two splinter groups.
As the weeks drew on, these two larger groups were heavily damaged and drained whole the smaller groups grew in power from weapons, financial support and defections from the larger blocs.
During this time, he became aware that the Twi'lek who had provided this opportunity had made her way off world, apparently in the company of a Mandalorian bounty hunter and mercenary of the Skirata clan. Rather annoyingly, they'd left a number of dead bodies in the alley of one of Mygeeto's few cities, causing a buzz in law enforcement which hampered his efforts.
Clu figured that she would learn well under this mandalorian and their services might be of use to him in the future. It was almost a shame they had made their way off Mygeeto so soon, or perhaps they would have been useful here. Then again, her relations with some of the former criminals here would likely complicate matters, and he would have hated to lose a potential asset over something like that.
By week three, one of the two large blocs had collapsed entirely and been pushed to the brink. Now was the time to begin his final takeover on Mygeeto.
Finally, Clu organised his Network to have a team of Mandalorian mercenaries hired and sent to Mygeeto; There they linked up with one of the smaller warring elements along with a small amount of "Security Droids" which had mysteriously gone missing from the stores of the Banking Clan on Mygeeto. This alliance proceeded to enter the Hutts former palace and seize control from the remaining bloc which had taken control of it in the aftermath.
With the gang war settled, Clu set about finalising the details of his takeover. Palms had to be greased for the authorities to look the other way, the Imperials had begun to get antsy about the crime and Clu made the Networks new feeds lie low for a while while he orchestrated with his contacts in the Intergalactic Banking Clan. For a while it looked as though the Imperials might swoop in, but his contacts in then planetary administration pulled through and the heat began to die off.
And so with that Clu's people began to exploit their new found prominence on Mygeeto. It had been hard fought in the end and there had been several moments where it seemed likely to fail, but it had been a profitable investment in the end. The opportunity couldn't have come along at a better time.
As for the Twi'lek, Clu had his contacts pass along what information they could on her and the Mandalorian for some time as they made their way around the galaxy, popping in and off of his reader a few times. About a year and half later, she re-emerged as Vasani'Brinme Skirata, apparently having been adopted, and began to seek work as a bounty hunter on her own. Her skills had grown and while she was young, she had clearly begun to make good on that potential.
He would have her watched with interest where he could. Perhaps she might make a useful addition to the crew, or at the least be a good bounty hunter when next he had need of one.
Sure enough, that Twi'lek ended up in anchorage, seeking work and with the hopes to make it big. He watched her for a short while; there was definitely potential there, and she had talents that would make her a fine addition to the crew. Arx might balk a little at having yet another pilot on the ship, but an engineer was always useful and one with a cunning mind and who could hold her own with a blaster was all the better...
Visually, he is far from the most striking Muun you'll ever see. At just shy of two meters tall and a hundred and sixty pounds, the lean figure of Clu Zanith does not particularly stand out from the usual muun Physique. His elongated skull is somewhat more shapely than some of his fellow Muuns, and two golden eyes peer out from their sunken eye sockets; They say that the eyes are the window into the soul, and in Clu Zanith's case that certainly appears to be true because the greed in his eyes is practically omnipresent whenever a potential deal presents itself.
Despite this obvious avarice, however, he retains the classic Muun disdain for wasteful spending; His clothing is fairly plain, consisting only of dull garments with an armour weave cloak to drape himself in to protect from both the cold and from, heavens forbid, any danger he might find himself encountering.
Never far from his side is the towering gray-silver form of B-22, a customised C-B3 Battle Droid turned Bodyguard. With a single red sensor shining upon anyone who dares so much as look at its Muun master the wrong way and with two arms that end with ball jointed blaster cannons, B-22 serves Clu well in intimidation as much as it does in straight up protection.
| {Equipment and Personal Belongings} |
Holdout Blaster Pistol: A small blaster that Clu hasn't used in over six months now, it is easily concealed and thus always on hand in a pinch. He rarely uses it, even in battle, preferring not to fight directly and to allow others to do that. It is not particularly powerful either, being a holdout blaster, and mostly exists as a last resort.
Vibroblade: A short vibroblade in the echani style carried beneath his armour weave cloak, Clu has some training with the weapon but is by no means skilled. When activated, the ultrasonic vibrations turn even the lightest cut into a deep and deadly wound, making it a surprisingly effective weapon in a pinch; Still, it exists as one of Clu's last gasp efforts and while it might be effective if someone is caught off guard, it seems unlikely that he'd be able to put up a long fight, particularly with a weapon that's ultimately so short.
Credit Stick: This one is linked to one of Clu's many bank accounts, containing a large slush fund for business and necessary purposes.
Credit Chips: Keeping some loose credit chips is always handy.
Datapad with message from Nima Diakiyo: "I don't want to talk about it."
Datacron: For storing vast amounts of data, information and necessary details.
Holocom: For all your galactic communication needs.
Armourweave Cloak: A cloak, or perhaps capenisna more accurately term for it, that is held over his shoulder by a clasp. The material has some resistance to energy and ballistics, and is also adept at keeping out the elements should such become necessary. Indeed, its the only part of his clothing that instantly jumps out as being worth much, as Muun are not usually known for displays of extravagant or wasteful spending.
Bacta Vials: Self Explanatory.
Seperatist Combat Speeder: An old Seperatist combat speeder kept in good condition by a Pit Droid, Clu 'recovered' it from one of the old battlefields after the Clone Wars and had it fixed up. After the seperatist insignia and identifies were removed from it, Clu began to sue it as a personal transport, particularly when away on more risky business.
B-22: A Customised C-B3 Battle droid, B-22 has been with Clu for just under 16 years. Originally part of a squad of eight such droids, B-22s compatriots were destroyed at the end of the Clone Wars when they became some of the only droids not to be shut down by the Mustafar signal during a clone offensive. B-22 has since become Clu's personal body guard and aside from a few times they have been parted, its hulking presence and overwhelming firepower has been enoigu to deter most attacks on Clu's person.
| {Physical Abilities} |
Zanith has connections into all kinds of businesses, conglomerates and political groups, trading and selling favours and secrets like a mafia godfather. His reach is considerable and if a particularly piece of information can be attained, its most likely Clu can attain it. Buying and selling secrets has been his forte for a very long time, as has striking deals with unsavoury sorts.
Indeed, an arguably uncomfortable part about his presence in the ship is that for all but the quietest and most obscure of crewmembers, chances are he already knows a great deal more about them than they might be comfortable with. Some of them he may even have made deals with before, or pointed them in various directions.
These connections extend past the role of being an information broker however, with his fingers the pie of more physical black markets as well. If he is present on a planet, chances are he's already involved in the criminals there somehow; if there's new weapons on a planet, he brought them in, if there's a swoop gang war, he's loaning money to the sides, if there's a new pirate in the sector, he got the captain their ship. If there's something you want, Clu knows a guy who can do that and would be happy to get it for you... For the right price.
Sure, he's not entirely in it for the credits: If someone is in hot water, he hides them, if a planet is blockaded, his "friends" will run in the food. But then, maybe he just does it because they'll owe him after - he isn't sure himself. One part Robin Hood, two parts Al Capone, if you want to call him a Crime Boss, that's your business; He prefers Fixer.
In the troubled days of the Clone Wars, propaganda and HoloNet communications took on a major aspect for both sides. The Republic had seized control over the original and 'legitimate' HoloNet, and censored and removed Seperatist content while broadcasting their own propaganda.
Approximately nine months after Geonosis, the Separatists were able to gain access to the HoloNet via hyperwave transceivers and nodes spread through the galaxy with the help of their expert slicers and technicians. With this new found technology and infrastructure, in order to combat the new threat of the Republic and fight the propaganda war, the Seperatists established the CIS Shadowfeed, an alternative HoloNet platform for Seperatist content, communications and broadcasts. These shadowfeed were used by the Separatist Alliance to spread propaganda in favor of the Separatists or against the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.
Attempts to shut down the Shadowfeed proved fruitless, even after the ruthless and cunning Wilhuff Tarkin, was was made responsible for counterintelligence to shut down his Shadowfeed. Inevitably however, for a time after the fall of Murkhana, the Shadowfeed went mostly silent as the Seperatist cause waned and the Clone Wars entered its dying days.
After the rise of the Empire, however, the shadowfeed found new life. The Alliance to the Restore the Republic was among those who came to use the Shadowfeed to communicate under the nose of the Empire. Clu quickly came to realise that the shadowfeed and his unique access to former Seperatist personnel presented a powerful opportunity he could exploit.
Through the establishment of Shadowfeed and a network difficult for the Imperials to infiltrate and stop, Clu produced the 'Network'.
The three principles behind Clu's network are fairly simple ones:
Reciprocity; You scratch his back and he'll scratch yours. This is how he built up his connections across the galaxy and became a fairly notorious figure.
Clandestine; Members of the network should keep anonymity where possible, avoiding accidental implications or large sections of the network being busted. The true beauty of the structure of this crime firm and the usage of the shadowfeeds is in insulating himself, and its other members, from liability; it has proven impossible for the Imperials to pin anything on him, and there is a lot they don't realise he's involved in. Likewise, it's difficult for opposing organisations to eliminate the leaders or place bounties on the heads of important people. More often than not, they are reduced to targeting low level employs or associates, while the retribution of the Network can thus be targeted towards their prominent opponents. This makes engaging in confrontation with them difficult and undesirable, despite their comparative weakness on paper.
Cooperate with the big, competition with the small: While its inevitable that the Network would get drawn into competition with similar organisations, and as its operations expanded with smaller smuggling outfits or gangs, the Networks operations on a principle of avoiding infringing on the activities of large and powerful organisations. If the Hutts are running the smuggling in a region, the Network will not compete and rather work through the Hutts and give them a cut. If the Black Sun pirates have started raiding in a system, the Network will sell them the information on targets and depots instead in exchange for credits or else a share of the loot. By avoiding directly competing with larger and dangerous organisations and rather becoming an asset to them, the Network avoids being drawn into fights and disputes it cannot win and conducts business smoothly, while allowing it to compete with the smaller crime syndicates or swoop gangs that existed and slowly muscle them out to expand its territory.
Money is passed along the network, with each member taking their share for the contract or information. Many members of the network do not know the full implications of what they are involved in, or the ultimate identity of their benefactor outside of those they are in direct contact with. Thus the system is set up to be difficult to infiltrate or bring down, with direct communication with the higher ups only afforded to the most trusted. Many working within the network do not know the identies of those above them, nor the identities of other feeds. If a section of the Network is compromised, it is only a matter of cutting off that feed and, thus, section of the Network.
Few written documents or recordings are kept and Clu personally avoids any such thing, giving orders only verbally and in private. Money is laundered and cleared by other parts of the network, including front businesses.
The Network is by no means as powerful as the Hutt Cartel in any kind of direct power, and its main power lies in information gathering. That is not to say it does not have access to substantial assets, however; The knowledge and tjr contacts the organisation had means that the Networks influential figures are ultimately able to contract teams of mercenaries, pirate ships and find and use old Battledroids from the Clone Wars when the need arises, primarily within the outer rim where law enforcement struggles to crack down on such operations.
The number of 'firms' has varied over the years but there are about a dozen such firms active. Each firm has separate business dealings, though sometimes the dealings of the firms intermingle depending on their proximity to one another and the commonality of their ventures. Information is passed between these firms, including contact information for mercenaries and bounty hunters, ensuring lucrative contracts and work for those who have proven themselves. Hence the 'Network'.
The leader of a firm is known as the Director. All major decisions are made by the Director, and money made by the Firm ultimately flows to him. The Directors authority is needed to resolve disputes and keep everyone in line. Collectively, the directors form the Board, headed by the Chairman. The chairman knows the identities of each of the Directors, and some directors know each others identities, though some are very mysterious figures even to other members of the board who keep their distance. Anonymity is a useful tool to many figures in the Network, insulating them both from assassination attempts from their enemies or overly ambitious employs, as well as from potential law enforcement agencies.
Just below the Director is the majordomo, a term taken from Hutt Cartels and Palace staff. The majordomo is the second in command of a Firm, and organises the lieutenants. If a lieutenant breaks the strict operating procedures or code of conduct of the Network, the majordomo will have him eliminated.
Beneath the Majordomo are several lieutenants. The number of lieutenants varies depending on the overall size of the firm. A lieutenant leads his own section of the firm, referred to as a 'feed' as they often control their own Shadowfeed and take contacts, take contracts and pass along information in this manner. They each have a number of soldiers beneath them. If a Lieutenant believes his feed to be compromised, he will kill his feed and either start a new one, or if he believes his own identity is compromised, will go into hiding until he is contacted by the Majordomo. He has specific activities that he operates, most often in the field of information but occasionally lieutenants, particularly on the outer rim, are engaged in more traditional organised crime. The lieutenants territory may be defined geographically in these cases, by the particular business he operates. The lieutenant keeps some of the money he earns, ensures the soldiers are paid, and then passes the rest up to the majordomo and director.
The "dirty work" is done by the employs. An employ is the lowest rank among the Network. They're part of the Firm, but they hold little power and make relatively (though still not insubstantial) little money. The number of employs that belong to any given lieutenant can vary tremendously; On the outer rim, there tend to be far more of these men who are retained as muscle and enforcers, whereas in the core worlds they are fewer and far more clandestine. Employs do not often know the identity of the Lieutenants they work for, and payments and dead drops are handled by these employs, especially junior ones. As a rest, when Network operations or agreements go south, relatively little information can be gleaned from him and the network remains operational. If a feed is compromised, trusted Employs may be recruited into a new feed by the lieutenant. Otherwise, they quickly find themselves cut off from their former network for security purposes (referred to euphemistically as 'laid off', contrasted with the euphemism of 'dismissal' for killing off a member of the network, usually for breaking the code of conduct or being an informant). Some of these former employs may prove their loyalty again and ultimately be brought back into the firm, others will be too suspect and deliberately kept at arms length.
In addition to soldiers, the Firm will use associates. Associates are not actual members of the Firm, but they work with them on various criminal enterprises. An associate is simply someone who works with the firm, including anyone from a burglar, thug, spice and arms dealers, smugglers. More rarely this includes officials, security officers or even imperial military personnel who are paid off or pass information along to soldiers for extra money or favours. Indeed, a few imperials in the outer rim owe their suspiciously effective service records to buying and selling favours and information with the Network. More often than not, especially when they are hired muscle, the associates do not know the full details of who they are working for, in order to avoid infiltration by law enforcement or rival organisations.
The results of all these systems, structures and methods ultimately produces something which, in practice, is akin to the Muun themselves who shied away from physical pursuits and sought economic means, as well as alternative avenues of protection, to defend their planet from being invaded. As one would find fitting for a former Intergalactic Banking Clan employee, the Network uses information, economics and other alternative means such as battle droids and mercenaries to defend themselves from being brought into costly gang wars or losing territory.
Dead body? No problem. Evidence need taken care off? It's never gonna see the light of day again. Political scandal? Say no more. Criminal activity been exposed? He'll have you looking like a saint. Need something moved through customs? It's already there. Need a false ID? He'll have it before you can say 'John Doe'
A favour here or there, some good PR and words in the right places and your problems are gone
Clu Zanith doesn't need to trick you, indeed, he would never cheat on a contract. No, instead he is remarkably persuasive and has an astounding business acumen; transactions are his bread and butter, and he can cut a deal to work his way out of almost any problem. Leave him alone in market for a day with a shopping list, and he'll come back with everything on the list and some pocket change besides. If you need negotiations for the best deal, Zanith will slide in with his snake tongue to make it happen.
The Muun are naturally very intelligent and calculating, and Clu Zanith even more so than most. This has many implications; he's practically a walking prediction maker, his talent with money and people stemming from his species innate ability to process complex mathematical formulas or analyse statistical data with speed and ease. Short of a calculator, Clu is as good as they come and with the capacity for problem solving and quick thinking, he is able to make and pull off many complex plan, even branching across into fields which one might not initially suspect he would be skilled in.
This produces a very adaptable individual, and when he puts his mind to a task he can quickly get the hang of it and begin to develop a deeper understanding of the subject. This is particularly true when it comes to matters which include mathematics, but also holds true of more general learning.
| {Force Abilities} |
N/A
| {Limitations} |
Although he would never break a contract, he leaves it entirely obvious that his services are open to the highest bidder. As incredibly as his people bankrole both the Empire and the Rebellion at the same time, Zanith is more than willing to play multiple sides and switch to save his own skin or simply because they make a better business prospect. A Muun will never cheat you... But they will take you for everything you've got. Use exact words, and you'll be fine. Leave wriggle room, and you might find a certain Muun growing richer even as everyone else grows poorer...
Clu Zanith is not at all interested in being loyal to the death and is rather open about this. You can't do business if you're dead, after all. In a fight, he prefers to hide behind B-22 or failing that run away and duck behind something very big and sturdy rather than stand and fight.
Clu Zanith is physically frail, below the human average for certain. Close combat in particular is far from this bankers expertise, and he is heavily reliant on droids and others to do his dirty work.
| {Personality} |
On the face of it, Clu Zanith fits the stereotype of a Muun almost to the letter; Highly intelligent (The first percentile of Muun test takers for his year, as he's eager to remind anyone who'll listen) and cautious but exceptionally greedy and fixated on finances, one could be forgiven for wondering exactly why this Muun isn't sitting behind a desk back in the IGBC collecting a bankers bonus rather than out among mercenaries.
In truth, he has always had a strong entrepreneurial streak and was always far less shut in than most of his compatriots. He inherited his mother's talents for low cunning, and this served him well over the years. Clu Zanith holds an almost religious respect for contracts, like most Muun- but when it comes to law? Well, he didn't agree to it! It's only a contract if you agree to it, and since didn't sign, he's free to break whichever laws he sees fit to break (except, of course, those he agrees to follow)
This black market dealer and information broker is terrifyingly well connected, and he is unafraid to say so and cloak himself in it; If you have a problem, no matter how big, it's quite likely Clu Zanith can help you... But if Clu Zanith has a problem with you, then you will likely find yourself high and dry fairly quickly. Naturally, this has led to him being arrogant, proud and self-assured, often making him an annoyance that cannot be intimidated into silence despite his inherently cowardly nature.
And it is a very cowardly nature at that; Clu cannot fight to save his life, quite literally. When it comes to combat, he's a walking lump and is under no illusions he's anything but. He's much more inclined to throw his hands up in the air and run away screaming for his droid to save him than he is to actually use his blaster, and the rare occasions he does use his blaster he tends to be a passable shot best and useless melee combatatant. That said, he'll follow his contracts through to the end in spite of himself, even if the difficulty or danger of said contract is ramped up substantially.
Practically a walking calculator, Clu Zanith bases his decisions primarily on what outcomes he judges to be most probable. Like all Muun, he will consider a business agreement very carefully before he agrees to it (Indeed, if he is quick to strike the deal, it probably you've just been horribly ripped off). Your own actions and behaviour is being scrutinised, and if you make a threat, there has best be a decent probability you actually mean it because if he doesn't think it probable, it won't stick.
His primary motive in life, before anything else, is to make money. It doesn't matter how, particularly, and the general morality of it doesn't particular concern him so long as he's doing good business and making good money. He financed and armed both sides of a galactic war simply because it made him money... And he still, to this day, happily sells his arms and services to both Imperial governors and the Rebellion like an unpredictable genie from hell. He isn't entirely immoral, of course, its just that his moral compunctions can almost always be overcome by a decent enough stack of credits. Indeed, his unwavering commitment to making credits is so rampant and uncontrollable that he has even ripped apart his own loving relationships and friendships in pursuit of money. That this behaviour has caused periods of extreme misery to him is not lost on him, but it is never enough to make him stop. If there is one pleasure above all others, it is feeling he gets as he watches the credits in his account jump up after a successful deal.
He can be very charismatic and knows how to project a specific image; He can come across as friendly, amicable, good natured... Yet at the same time despite a rather unassuming figure and being unskilled in combat himself, Clu can project a powerful presence when he wants to. When he walks into a room, trailed by his Battledroid and whatever other bodyguards happen to be with him at the time, one quickly gets the impression that they are dealing with someone who is not to be crossed or angered, an aura of power surrounding him.
Despite all this, he adheres to a strict personal code of ethics (and expects those in his employment to do the same) as a necessary part of business; There are no court sof arbitration in the criminal underworld, the first and last judge, and a very harsh one at times, is reputationget a bad reputation, and you're done for.
| {Place of Origin} |
Clu Zanith was born in an upper class suburbia in Muunilinst to a family with connections to both the IGBC and the Criminal underworld. He had a stable and privileged upbringing, coupled with the best education money can buy and wanting for nothing. This culminated with his taking of the rigorous Muun examinations which ultimately catapulted him even higher into the upper classes of the strict technocratic hierarchy of Muun society.
| {Background} |
Lesson one, my boy; Your conscience won't make you money.
Clu Zanith was burn on Muunilinst to an affluent family connected to the criminal underworld and the IGBC; they were rich financiers who laundered money and funded criminal activities through their banking clan, ensuring vast profits and returns for themselves. Wanting for nothing in life and with a heavy focus on education from his family, Clu Zanith did not have to struggle with the rigors of common life or the pressure most of the galaxy faced. The Muun are not often travelers, and so he spent most of his childhood confined to what was effectively two blocks of a city in Muunilinst.
Indeed, he had very little exposure to the lower classes of society until he was 13, when his mother took him under armed guard down into the undercity of Coruscant, through the old abandoned factory districts. It was the first of several lessons, designed to teach the young Muun the arts of business... And, naturally, the intent was to scare him, to show him what lay at the bottom of society for those who did not work hard and achieve - and it did just that, not a day went by when Clu did not have his head buried in a holocron, studying endlessly.
But it also placed a seed of hunger inside him; He had watched as his mother closed a deal with a very shady looking Rodian, and less than a galactic standard month later, the family possessed a new, top of the range luxury Yacht class that his mother used to host other clients and close agreements, and the rest of the wealth ended up reinvested into ever more lucrative prospects. That the shady looking Rodian had just brought arms to continue his swoop war with a rival gang and thus expand the deathsticks market at the same time as Clu's father was buying up shares in medical treatment centres on Coruscant and charging upwards of 3500 credits for treatment of deathstick addiction was immaterial: If you want to be truly wealthy, you must be willing to overrule your morals. It is difficult to calculate for certain the human cost Clu's mother and father had in that one action alone, but it certainly couldn't have been a pretty one.
After this, Clu was increasingly assisting with the calculations of his families assets and subsequently their business decisions. Everyone knew he was intelligent by now and his assistance was invaluable.
The first rule of business; A contract is a contract.
Like most Muun looking to make a name for themselves in life, it came to pass that Clu took the extremely rigorous tests and examinations Muun society placed upon their children. Scoring in the first percentile, he was fast tracked into the InterGalactic Banking Clan. His exceptional performance caused a rift between him and his older brother when Clu passed him over for employment early in his career working for the IGBC.
The Muun system is extremely technocratic and the results of this examination ultimately determined his class within the social hierarchy. His result was a shock, naturally, even those who are intelligent would rarely dare to venture that they might be within the top one percent of those who take the tests.
With a life path to the upper management of the IGBC effectively ensured so long as he continued on with his diligence, this young up and coming financier soon found himself in the lap of luxury and power; while still early in his career, he had a strong starting wage with great prospects for the future. He ran through a several lovers during this early period as he sought a stable and lasting relationship, but proved unable to balance work and love particularly well.
His power and influence continued to grow and before long a powerful banking clan executive, San Tanuth, took a shining to Clu and became his mentor. They worked long on hard on promising prospects, lending money to many of the galaxies businesses and growing fat off the interest. Deciding on good investment opportunities was key to their operations and many a night was spent drawing up complex predictions and discussing cautiously which businesses deserved their funding.
Indeed, this was as far stretching as involving the backing of entire new currencies, which the IGBC did regularly and recouped massive gains from. Their holdings extended far past Republic space and every new nation which formed, new conglomerate which grew and new species that was encountered needed a currency and access to trade routes... And the IGBC was eager to exploit these new customers for every last drop of wealth they were worth.
It was within this time that the two of them built a strong working relationship with him which lasted past Clu's involvement with the IGBC, the two exchanging favours to this day.
Kuat is a beautiful planet. So much business, so much industry...
It was one of these favours, of sorts, which led to a major romantic entanglement for Clu and one of the most important chapters of his life, simultaneously one of the happiest and ultimately the most tragic.
The Muun detest wasteful spending, however many other races find such extravagance to be important displays of wealth and privilege. This made such engagements important places for finding contacts in the business world, and while bankers can always wait for others to approach them, it was not uncommon for more proactive members of the IBGC such as San Tanuth to send representatives scouting for lucrative new start ups or business partners. So when San Tanuth used his influence to ensure that Clu was invited to a gathering of a rich Coruscantian executive, Clu expected to come away from it with new friends in high places and several new prospective... Instead, he came away from it with his three hearts quite smitten with a human woman he had spoken to at great length. Kalara Knylenn from a wealthy aristocratic Kuati noble family, the two became romantically involved and used each others connections to advance their ends; Kalara established a new subsidiary of the Kuat Drive yards and Clu used his connections within the IGBC to credit it and secure a start up loan.
This subsidiary grew rapidly under Kalara and Clu's joint control and the IGBC continued to credit the start up throughout the period. Clu ensured preferential rates for loans and exploited legal loopholes to allow the two to reduce tax rates on their contracts. Before long, Clu had made his first million.
Disaster struck, however; Unaccustomed to Kuat and with only inoculations to protect him, Clu became stricken with a disease during his time there inspecting the business. Quickly confined to bed and tended to by a large team of doctors, Kalara was left fending for herself. At the same time, representatives of the Republic opened an audit into the business. Fearing the worst was to come of the financial brains behind the operation and worried that Clu's tax avoiding ways would be exposed, the IGBC began to call in some of its loans to make its money back and the business began to buckle.
Fortunately, Clu Zanith recovered from his illness although one of his three hearts was left considerably weakened by the ordeal. Contacting San Tanuth, Clu secured an extension on the loans and Kalara had successfully fabricated evidence that made their tax avoidance seem perfectly legitimate. Against all odds, the two had survived the nightmare and in the next year, the business grew even more.
Clu continued to manage the underbelly of the business as well and before long their products were finding their way into the hands of gangs and criminals. Indeed, Clu took advantage of the gangs of Balmorra to acquire industrial secrets from the companies rival and undermine Balmorran Arms monopoly on the planet, expanding his and Kalara's business into the factories there.
I can't blame them for it. It was just good business. Her, on the other hand... I have never met someone more terrifying or odious in my life.
It was during this foray into the underworld that disaster chose to strike again. One of the Swoop Gang leaders who Clu Zanith had been working with and supplying, Jana Undera, developed a romantic interest in him and made an advance. Clu turned her down... Which angered her deeply. Feeling spurned, she stopped working with him and her behaviour spun entirely in a way that Clu found rather shocking and probably belied some underlying mental instability.
Jana was a large and powerful woman with the physique of a Wookie. She'd clawed her way up the leadership of a gang by a combination of low cunning and brute force, and was a woman seemingly without a conscience. Violent, antisocial, rebellious and with a short fuse, remarkably easy to anger and very slow to calm down. That said, even Clu could not have predicted just how long this woman bore grudges.
Indeed, not only did she physically beat him down and throw him out of her hideout when he attempted to speak with her about unfinished business, she proceeded to inform his competitors in Balmorran arms about one of his plans to acquire the plans to their latest battle droid series.
It did not take Clu long to make the connection, then, when the following year Kalara was found dead under suspicious circumstances. It was difficult to say for sure whether it had been Jana or another rival, but Clu personally believed it was Jana's doing. She had been getting increasingly violent towards him and by now he feared for his own life.
To say losing Kalara devestated him would have been an understatement. It hit him hard, very hard. But Muun do not like to express their emotions publically, or even openly at all; They prefer to think of themselves as reserved and in control of their emotions. Crying then was an unthinkable show of weakness remarkably un-Muun. Despite half of the instincts in his body wanting to lock himself in his room and fall into a sobbing rage, and the other half wanting to throw everything he could at Jana, the Muun ultimately felt compelled to bare it and continue with business as usual.
That said, Clu was never above vengeance and despite himself, he increasingly armed Jana's rivals at discount rates, and before long Jana's swoop gang was losing ground all across Balmorran. At the time, he didn't even consider that in the long run that might make their vendetta even worse. How could he have?
Understandably, House Kynlenn was extremely concerned and sent one of their own to investigate. Kalara's grandmother, with whom Clu had never previously had a particularly strong relationship, took pity on the broken hearted Muun and the two connected over Kalara's memory. Talara Kynlenn's word served to sway the investigation away from Clu who had been a favoured target by some of the more xenophobic members of House Kynlenn despite his obvious devestation over the loss of Kalara. Unfortunately, no concrete evidence was ever found for the identity of Kalara's murderer and officially the case went cold a year later, with no leads. Despite having been rescued from the courts by the intervention of the Kynlenn matriarch, rumours spread by his enemies did not subside and Clu's public image on Kuat, for a time, became smeared and horribly warped.
At the same time, Kalara and Clu's business was now under attack from almost all sides. While the Kynlenn Matriarch had befriended Clu, she did not hold ultimate power over the family and there was little incentive for her to fight her own blood when Kalara's sister, Runa, opened a legal challenge over the inheritance of the business. Under Kuati tradition, she claimed, the ownership of her sisters business which had ultimately been registered in Kalara's name should pass to her, and not to Clu to whom Kalara had never formally married nor had any bond of blood. The lack of a will likewise proved a decisive factor in the case and it became increasingly difficult for Clu to retain control over his late lovers business.
Meanwhile, Balmorran Arms was pushing to reclaim its monopoly on Balmorra. The conglomerate pushed against the smaller industrial subsidiary and with Clu still beside himself with grief, the Kynlenn family now more focused on seizing the assets of the business for themselves and one of his most important contacts in the underworld actively working against him and entirely ablaze in a destructive swoop war that would ultimately claim nearly 900 lives, his actions to defend the business were half hearted and not entirely effectual.
Having by now recognised how emotionally compromised he was and the adverse effect his own lust for vengeance was having on his business, at Clu's request, the IBGC sent an administrator, a fellow Muun known as Urd Galon to help manage the business and ultimately reclaim money for the Banking Clan. Together, they managed to keep the business solvent and establish a weak but ultimately positive growth trajectory for the business, selling off the assets on Balmorra to Balmorran arms and restructuring to focus entirely on their Kuati holdings. Despite Clu's lust for vengeance, Urd made him cut off the arms and funding to Balmorran and although Clu sold all information on Jana and her gang he could to the local police, he was left unable to pursue his own vendetta against her.
Knowing that without the protection and connections of Kalara in Kuati high society the business was ultimately going to be absorbed into the holdings of one of the Kynlenn family in one way or another, Clu and Urd came up with a scheme to recoup at least some of the losses. Seven years after its founding, Clu signed over all his shares and assets of Kalara Industries to Talara Kynlenn specifically, mostly as one final sneer towards Runa and as a gesture of goodwill and thanks towards the Kynlenn matriarch. He was financially reimbursed, of course, but the cost of the shares was no where near as high as they had been several years earlier. Clu left Kuat, which he had ultimately come to regard as his second home, with a heavy heart and deep regret. He returned with Urd to Muunilinst where he repaid his outstanding loans to the IGBC and entered their employment again under his old mentor Sun Tanith.
The Senate? Ordinarily, they are insane, but they have lucid moments where they are only stupid.
Distancing himself from where he and Kalara had spent their time helped a lot with his mental state and he slowly began to move on. He settled back in to the life of the finacier for a short while but before long San Tanith had reassigned him to the distant world of Coruscant to assist the IGBC senator. The Seperatist crisis was brewing and it was decided that his the skills he had honed working with Kalara would be better used on Coruscant, helping to manipulate and turn the Galactic Senate into a tool for the IBGC to further its own business interests.
Clu and Urd traveled together to Coruscant where they quickly set about establishing an information network and playing the political game. They made problems disappear for the Senator and ensured that their opponents became embroiled in political scandals, or else used dirt to lean on senators to vote the way the IGBC required. They also build up a powerful connection in the Coruscant Security Force.
As though some kind of personal tradition at this point, he once again found a lover on Coruscant, this time a fellow Muun who was an attache to the Senator named Meerus. During this time, Clu began to invest his wealth in lending to arms businesses, the Techno-Union and many other assorted businesses that would undoubtedly profit from the war that was now in its infancy.
It seemed that with a new lover, his increasing political prominence on Coruscant, the trust the IGBC put in him and the potential to launch a new, successful business that would profit from the inevitable fighting, Clu Zanith had his future set for him.
Like a horrible spectre from his past, however, Jana Undera had made her way to Coruscant. That this "psychotic bitch" had made her way across half the galaxy after him scared him deeply and he stepped up security around himself and his lover, fearing a repeat of events on Kuat.
Though this move ultimately came from a good place, it caused romantic problems between them, as Meerus felt that Clu was overreacting and felt increasingly caged in the CSF and Clu's private guards. Jana was able to contact Meerus and convince her that Clu had been the one in the wrong and had scorned her after cheating on Kalara, that Clu could not be trusted and was intensely jealous. Portraying herself as a friend seeking only to protect tother from Clu's avarice, Jana convinced Meerus to leave Clu and publically call him out for his behaviour.
As Jana had undoubtedly intended, this sudden betrayal caused a horrible scandal and wounded Clu deeply. The Senator dismissed his attache, though found Clu's services far too valuable to dismiss. Instead, he instructed Clu to do what Clu did best and make the scandal disappear into smoke.
Fighting a war is bad. But financing a war is just good business.
As the scandalous results of Jana's medelling died down, it was decided that it would be best for Clu to sink into the background for a while and begin to work behind the scenes. He continued to work for the senator and as the war began to heat up, his work took on an ever more martial aspect and began to increasingly involve communications with the Seperstist cause. On several occasions, he even commanded battle droids or mercenaries for the Seperatists, and on one occasion even advised a Republic officer. During this time, he even ended up becoming the close friend of the leader of a Trandoshan Hunting Guild, the Rockscale Clan, who sold their services as mercenaries.
He ordered in his own battle droids, and had them seperated from the CIS network of control, not trusting the Neimoidians or the Techno Union with his own security. By the time of the battle of Geonosis, Clu Zanith already had his own private army of B1 Battle droids, Trandoshan Mercenaries and even droidekas, and happily rented them out to any and every side in the conflict that proved willing to pay: Republic worlds, CIS worlds, Hutts, private corporate interests. All that mattered was that one would pay.
The introduction of the GAR closed one door and opened another; the Republic worlds no longer required such widespread assistance of mercenaries and while some on the edges of space continued to contract him for initial defence against CIS incursions, the contracts began to dry up as Clone Troopers were rushed to the front and began to garrison planets. The battle lines were drawn and it became increasingly clear that war was inevitable
But as some doors close, others began to open; armies require vast amounts of fuel and ships to carry them around, they require food and ammunition. And clones are expensive. So while this was occurring, he and the IGBC were playing banker to both the CIS and the Galactic Republic. Indeed, Clu Zanith was one of the many figures working in the background to pursuade, bribe and blackmail senators into voting for the deregulation of the Banking clans and loans, allowing the IGBC to hike the interest rates on loans to both factions up from 10% to an extortionate 25%. On the night that the Republic ordered another five million clone troopers, Clu Zanith was positively drunk on greed and in it for every credit he could squeeze out of the war.
While Mak Plain worked to secure the new rate with the Republic on Coruscant, Clu was sent to meet with the Seperatists. Fear mongering about the Republics jingoism in the senate following the false flag attack on Coruscant infrastructure, Clu was able to force enough of those Seperatists who were holding out on the hopes of peace to begrudgingly accept the new loans and order in millions more battle droids. Remarkably, the Inter Galactic Banking Clan was now bankrupting both the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic, intending to try and slave these two entities into a near perpetual stay eof debt and playing off of their fears of each other to prolong the conflict and encourage more borrowing.
Of course, publically he decried the war and found it a distasteful waste of sentient life. He even funded and attempted to head negotiations between the two sides. Deep inside, however, there was a black part of him that was glad the war was going on, and while one half of him was upset whenever peace talks fell through, the other half of him leapt for joy. War is a great time for business, not least because it is the time for the money lenders to sow seeds but also because the best time to buy new assets cheap is when there is blood flowing through the streets. Indeed, no sooner had a siege begin upon a planet than Clu Zanith would swoop in and buy up vast tracts of land, assets and real estate at discount prices from refugees, who could then afford to pay his transports to get them off world to safety. Then, once the war left the planet and moved elsewhere, property prices would rise quickly again and whatever survived the war would more than make back the cost of those which didn't.
As long as everyone was at war, everyone had to keep lending. As long as everyone was at war, everyone had to keep buying arms. As long as everyone was at war, they could be kept in debt in perpetuity. The sad thing about the banking trade was that the IGBC never wanted anyone to actually pay off their debt. Keeping the Republic and the CIS laden in debt was what kept them rich and powerful.
"25 percent is obscene, Muun!" The Neimoidian spat as Clu Zanith clasped his hands gently together, peering to the other members of the small Seperatist Committee with a small smile. The Neimoidian was practically pink with fury, it didn't help that the large windows behind Clu cast his tall shadow over the committee. "Your previous rates sat at 10%."
"Ah, but that was before the galactic deregulation my friend. The old rates don't apply. The Republic are being presented with the exact same rate increase - and as you know, they are currently in a frenzy about that terrorist attack. They will accept it, and fund 5 million more clone troopers." Clu spoke calmly with a hypnotic voice and an amicable smile, placing the emphasis so as to accentuate the Republic threat. He could see the sudden wave of worry that overtook the Seperatists at the thought of even more clone troopers coming for them. There was a murmuring from one of the delegates, before his friend next to him spoken up.
"That attack was not our doing! We have offered peace and assured the Republic that we had nothing to do with it!" A human senator protested. Clu looked at him with false sympathy, taking a step towards him and laying a hand gently on the man's shoulder
"My friend, they voted for the deregulation in a fit of nationalist rage so they could secure more credit. I have no doubt that the attack was a false flag, most likely by the highest echelons of the Republic Grand Army, or else by the Jedi Knights themselves, but the consequences stand. The Republic is sending more clone troopers for you." He said in a sympathetic tone, leaning in towards the Seperatists and looking to them each in turn. His finality had clearly managed to convince them that the Republic were indeed coming. Good, their fear would allow him to push this through, even if right now they were not entirely forthcoming.
"We have been on time with all our debt payments to the Banking Clan, we have acquiesced to all your demands and deregulated you within our holdings as well, and now you present us with this outrageous ultimatum or else you will throw us to the Rancors?" A Gossam representative said, almost in disbelief as he shook his head from side to side, clasping a hand to his face.
"Don't look at it that way, this is just good business. If it were up to me, I'd give you a lower interest rate, but I'm afraid this is just out of my hands. The Republic is already preparing to sign this bill into law, you really don't have the time to delay." Clu said as he clasped his hands together before him, eyeing the Gossam up and down. The Banking Clan did only what it had agreed to, at the end of the day this was just good business.
"Blast you, Clu Zanith, blast you and your blasted Banking Clan. We accept your terms." The Lyakian said at last, seizing the stylus from the desk and scribbingly the signature onto the touch screen. of the data pad. Clu grinned eagerly as he did, brushing off the insuly and reaching for his holoterminal
"It is a pleasure to do business. Have a nice day, Senator Kaluss." Clu said with a poisoned sweetness, watching as several of the other delegates added their signatures to the bill and filled out the room one by one, wearing disgusted looks on their faces.
Clu grinned greedily as they did, this had been easier than he expected. The Republic and the Confederacy were so terrified of each other that it was child's play to convince them of the necessity of more soldiers and more equipment.
No soon had they left than Clu turned away from the door, clicked on the holoterminal and contacted San Tanuth. The ghostly blue figure flickered into existence on the holo terminal, sitting behind a large desk with his hands wrapped around a datapad.
"Have the Seperatists accepted the new rate, Zanith?" The hologram of his mentor asked over the HoloNet, the distortion of the HoloNet compounding the nasaly voice. Clu adjusted the volume slightly to make it quieter as the Muun spoke, and when he finished, Clu nodded lightly, interlacing his fingers and leaning forwards towards his mentors hologram
"Indeed they have." Clu replied, pride rippling through his voice.
"Good, good... I will inform the others, we can use this to leverage the Republic into accepting the rate increase." San Tanuth's hologram moved to tap something into a data pad
"And the droids you said you'd secure for me?" Clu pushed with a small grin on his face; He knew that securing this rate hike would more than pay for the cost of the Cortosis weave battle droids, the true difficulty in acquiring them had been their exclusivity, with only one factory currently capable of producing these 'Jedi Killers' as they had become labeled.
"I promised you a squad, and you shall have a squad, unslaved from the CIS network as your requested. The Techno Union was unsettled by that request. It may take me a few weeks to get them to acquiesce. If they will not, I shall acquire the droids and explore alternates methods of decoupling them." San Tanuth said slowly, peering back at his close friend and ally.
They would make an excellent collection to his private army...
He was present in the command room of a Seperatist force during the events of Order 66, as its main commander had been sent to Mustafar instead. The sudden deactivation of most of the Seperstist Droid army under that command took Clu and the organic Seperatistsoff guard and threw the other Seperatists with him into a panic. His own personal battle droids, which included an expensive squadron of C-B3 battle droids that served as his body guards, remained active and he begrudgingly took command of what remained of the Seperatist forces and tries to carve a path forwards.
All but one of the C-B3s was was destroyed in the ensuing battle as Clu held off an overwhelming horde of Imperial Clone Troopers while evacuating the planet. Amongst the evacuees he counted Nima Diakoyi, Padawan Learner to the missing and presumed dead Master Zaruc Kan. Having escapes from the troopers who had turned during Order 66, Nima Diakoyi formed an uneasy alliance with Clu and his small detachment of droids to get themselves and the remaining civilian personnel of both the Republic and the Seperatists off of the planet and away from the Clone Troopers.
The ensuing battle had been notably swift. Dramatically outnumbered, the small force of battle droids didn't stand a chance against the overwhelming might of the Empire. The C-B3s faired better but without heavy support it was only a matter of time before the Imperial armour rolled over them. Still, with some clever planning and Nima's insights into the Clones plans and thinking, they were able to hold back the tide for long enough that they were able to evacuate. It was a desperate plan and its success was not entirely expected and not smooth (indeed, at one point Clu himself had to use a blaster rifle to help ward off a fireteam of Clone troopers who had somehow broke in through the outer ring of defences and tried to attack the transports directly)
Some of the transports were shot down by imperial fighters and the mostly inert Seperatist fleet in orbit was no longer able to mount an effective resistance or provide strong fire support to the escaping ships. It did provide a screen for those ships once they made it close enough, however, allowing them cover for long enough to make the necessary calculations to escape from the system
Clu Zanith placed his fingers together lightly as he peered over the tactical screen from behind the chair, sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Why, oh why, had they left the Banker and some Neimoidian grubs in charge while they ran off to their little meeting on Mustafar? Insanity!
Still, the battle seemed to have come to standstill for now. It had been for some time, in fact, his job mostly comprised of sitting here watching a screen where nothing happened for vast periods of time, occasionally shuffling around a few droids. The enemy general, Jedi Master Zaruc Kan, had been content to allow the Seperatists to smash up against the Republic positions like water upon Rock. Clu had not intent of bleeding droids in a pointless offensive like that, instead he had chosen to establish more defensive positions and hold the line. The Republic had made one counter offensive, that had been repulsed fairly quickly and hadn't attempted a new move since.
"Zanith, we've a transmission coming through from Mustafar." A Neimodian said as he peered away from the comms console. Probably the expected announcement of victory. Clu sat back and folded his arms, shrugging his shoulders to the Neimodian across the room.
"Let it play." Clu said, and the grub like alien danced it's fingers over the terminal with the grave and deliberation of a sleepwalker. Clu turned his attention towards the holoterminal, expecting a message to play.
Instead, he heard a series of sudden clanks beside him, a dreadful, echoing racket. Clu shot up out of his seat like a bullet, turning to see most of the droids in the room had simply doubled over and collapsed.
"It's - the shutdown signal." The Neimodian said with wide eyes, standing from his seat. Clu glared at him out of the corner of his vision.
"Congratulations, General Obvious. Bring them back on line, we're not done here." Clu clenched his fists tightly as he advanced towards the large window of the spire, peering down to the rows of deactivated droids below, frantic tapping coming from behind him.
"I can't! It's the master signal!"
"Whose bright idea was that?!" Clu said in exasperation, reaching for his holocommunicator and activating it.
A droid appeared on the other end, scratching its metal head with one hand. OOM A-75, one of the droids from his own personnel contingent. It was fortunate to see, at least, that his demand they have all CIS controls stripped out of them had been complied with.
"Master, the CIS droids appeared to have shut down. The Clones haven't made a move yet but we've got confirmed reports of rifle fire."
"I Know, '75. Fall all your droids back to the citadel, I'll be sending you defensive positions."
"Roger Roger." The Droid said as the ghostly blue hologram disappeared. Clu turned back towards the Neimodian, glowering at him.
"Can you contact Mustafar?" The Muun demanded
"I'm trying, they're not responding, I-"
"Incoming targets!" Another voice called from across the room and Clu turned his attention towards the window again, seeing a pair of LAAT gunships flying directly towards them. He widened his eyes.
"Downstairs! Now!" He yelled as he turned and sprinted towards the turbo lift at the back of the room, throwing himself inside it and hitting the button swiftly. The doors closed behind him and a pair of Neimoidians, and the foundations of the building shook with explosions as they descended.
"We should have taken the stairs!" Insisted one of the Neimoidians. Clu knew he was right, but he wasn't about to admit it right now, just hope that the damn elevator held.
The rumbling stopped although there was the defeating sound of explosions, and as the door flew open Clu darted out from it as quickly as he could, skidding to a halt in the courtyard. The smouldering ruin of an LAAT lay some ten meters away, and the other gunships appeared to be backing off.
"They are retreating?" One of the trio asked in surprised. They had more than enough firepower to wipe out the citadel, clearly the loss of one of their LAATs had spooked them. Clu's eyes widened slightly in sudden realisation
"They weren't expecting us to have any droids active. They knew what had happened almost as quickly as we did. That's not possible unless... The Seperatist Council is dead. Get the shuttles prepped for take off. We are not dying on this forsaken rock." He concluded with a disbelieving shake of his head, ripping out his holocron again...
***
Clu stood upon the parapet beside A-75, looking through the binoculars into the distance. There was definitely the sound of blaster fire, and flashes of light from within the Republic camp.
He furrowed his brow in confusion - then narrowed them again as he saw a mass make its way onto the road. He immediately feared clone troopers, but as he watched the blob make its way forward, he realised that it was a mass mostly of civilians and locla resistance fighters. They were heavily armed... And they were making their way towards the citadel.
"A-75, do we have any artillery left?"
"I have two droids manning a CIS AAT we spliced into."
"An AAT... Have it brought up to the gate, if that mob makes it to our gates, they're going to overrun with numbers alo- Wait" Clu paused and adjusted the settings on the binoculars as he saw a flash of blaster fire; Suddenly the column broke into a panic, rushing out alone the road as the resistance traded fire with Clone scout troopers. He saw the flash of a lightsabre. "Get out AAT out there now, and whatever STAPs we have."
"Uh, sir, even with an AAT we don't have the numbers to take all that in an offensive."
"We're not. We're going to help them with those speeders." Clu said as he lowered his binoculars and turned his attention towards A-75 "Deploy the strike force, lend what assistance you can. Help them get to our gets.
"Rodger Rodger." The OOM droid reported as it clamboured down from the parapet and signalled to the forces.
"This is a not a good idea." The Neimoidian objected again.
"We need time to get those transports fueled. That means we need to hold the line. Since most of our army has decided to take a nap, that means we need people. They either help or kill us, given our alternative, if you can call it that, is to be overrun with clone troopers, I'm willing to take that chance." Clu explained irritably, raising the binoculars again and peering out as he watched a Republic TX-130 roll into position and begin to open fire onto the ground.
The AAT went forth, supported by half a squadron of STAPs. It was a pathetic response, but fortunately the Clones didn't seem to have a full force chasing down this mob. Yet. There was the sight of more blaster fire as the CIS forces joined the freu on the side of the Mob, and with the heavy fire power to take down the TX-130, the tide began to change. The mob made its way down the road quickly towards the gate and Clu signalled for his droids to take up defensive positions along the wall, ready to fight if the mob tried to break its way in.
"Open this damn gate! We've got civilians, we need to get out of here now." A voice called up to him from the head of the mob. He peered down to a Twi'lek who clenched her fists in frustration, gritting her teeth
"And just who are you?"
"Nima Diakoyi, Padawan to Master Zaruc Kan."
"Jedi! This must be some kind of trick." The Neimoidian insisted. Clu looked up to the bodies strewn on the road for a moment and immediately dismissed that idea.
"I'll let you in, but our ships aren't fuelled. Most of our army is out of commission... We need to hold the line here. A-75, open the gate." Clu instructed. The Jedi nodded and turned back towards the crowd
"Everyone inside, now!"
***
The Clones had backed off temporarily after they'd been struck at the road, and it became apparent that it was a small force sent to harass the mob. He wasn't sure how much respite they had.
"I need to get back out there." Nima said to him as he stood atop the parapet again, watching the horizon.
"If you do, you're dead." Clu stated matter of factly, turning his vision towards her "Your master stayed behind, didn't he? That's what the clones are dealing with?"
Nima nodded simply, clutching her light sabre tightly in her hand
"He told me to get these people to safety. Off the planet. The only way left to do that now the Clones torched our ships was your shipyards."
"I don't suppose he thought we might not be inclined to share..." Clu commented wryly
"If I go now-" The Jedi began
"They'll kill you. Even if your master survives, he expected you to protect these people. They're not safe yet. We're going to need every hand we get on station to hold this place." Clu cut her off almost immediately with a firm shake of his head, turning towards her
"Master Zaruc will keep them at bay... How long do we need?" She asked.
"Six hours. The clones will start their offensive soon, whether they've dealt with your master or not. They know every second they wait is another second we've got to prepare." Clu explained as he looked out towards the horizon "Are your people in defensive positions?"
"We only have a few fighters, four dozen maybe, but yes." The Jedi said with a heavy rich, reaching up and grasping the bridge of her nose.
"There were hundreds of people in that column." Clu murmered as he peered back into the citadel courtyard, seeing the huddled mass of refugees. There grown men and women among them.
"Most are civilians." Nima objected almost immediately "We can't ask them to fight."
"They'll be dead civilians if they don't help us fight back." Clu replied as he clasped his hands in front of him. "We have hundreds of E-5 blasters lying around now. Arm everyone you can."
"Maybe they can help with the transports instead... The young at least."
"Of course. Now I won't lie to you; in all probability, most of the people here will not survive."
"I know. I've-" She paused for a moment and then bowed her head lightly. "I think my master..."
"I am sorry for your loss. We will mourn the dead later, for now-"
"That means they'll be coming." The Jedi looked up to him, a determined look on her face. Clu gave a weak nod of agreement and raised the binoculars again to the horizon.
***
Sure enough, less than half an hour the first wave of Clone troopers arrived. Clu and Nima had devised a plan to hold down the fortress consisting of three layers of defenses that they would slowly abandon over the course of several hours. At the Jedi's insistence, Clu's Battle Droids would always be the last to fall back, after the organics.
Given that he valued his own skin more than his droids, Clu complied.
The information the resistance refugees and the Jedi Padawan had brought about the GAR composition was useful for plotting the defence. Clu had his droids set mines along main road and they'd done what they could to bring as many AATs online, knowing they'd need the fire power to fight back the Republic TX-130s
The LAAT gunships were another matter all together. Clu's Cortosis battle droids, given they were armed with powerful and accurate double laser cannons, assisted by two manned Anti-Aircraft emplacements, became tasked with shooting them down.
He looked over the makeshift tactical module with the Jedi beside him, rubbing at his chin. Everything seemed to be holding, for now, but the first wave of clones was but a fraction of their main force. They were probing the defences, and Clu knew it.
"They want to know what we have." He murmered.
"Then we can't show them. Have your Cortosis droids hold their fire." Nima said as she folded her arms and looked at him. He furrowed his brow for a moment.
"No, we should out on a display of overwhelming force... It might delay their next attack." Clu countered as he linked his hands together "We can't hope to beat them, just hold off long enough to get out transport into the air."
"But the LAATs are going to be our main problem. They can bypass our defences, and even worse, they can take our transports down in the air. If we bait them in now and then shoot them down..." Nima explained as she pulled back the cloth of the tent and pointed to the horizon, blasters hopelessly engaging an LAAT.
"We might clip their wings and force them to withdraw. Not bad, Jedi." Clu replied as he reaches for his data pad and hit a series of commands into it. He paused for a moment and grinned, hitting another command and causing the C-B3s to enter a dormant state temporarily.
"What happened?"
"I've made them go dormant. I cna awaken them again quick enough, this will hide their presence from the Clones." Clu replied with a triumphant smile on his face. "Now we wait and hope they take the bait..."
"And that our people don't panic. I should amongst them, I can keep them steady." Nima replied a she grabbed her Lightsabre form her side. Clu looked at he mf hesitantly, realising that he was personally at his safest whole she was here in the command tent, but that the front really might crumble from morale problems if she didn't turn up.
"Watch for Sharpshooters." He warned, she gave a brief nod and disappeared out towards the walls, quickly sprinting across the courtyard faster than he would have deemed possible.
"This is getting out hand, now we are working with Jedi."
Clu ignored the comment and circled the command terminal, waiting for the LAATs to show up and keeping his hand wrapped firmly around his data pad.
Come on...
Come on...
There!
A dozen LAAT gunships diverged in their location suddenly, opening fire upon the droids and resistance fighters on the walls. Clu hit several buttons on the data pad, awakening the dormant C-B3s to join the fray. Sure enough, the sudden addition of powerful laser cannons firing upon the LAATs brought several down in flames. Clu watched as two crashed into each other as they desperately tried to avoid the sudden influx of enemy fire.
The remaining LAATs pivoted and beg a acquiring targets, trying to return fire. Clu watched in pain as he saw tow of his Cortosis battle droids be wiped out by heavy blaster cannons, but took pride in the focused fire of the remaining droids. Another pair of LAATs fell from the sky, and the gunships began to withdraw from the battle.
Clu watched the tactical display with interest; The gunships had withdrawn and suffered heavy losses, but not before one of the AA guns and two of the three AATs they had managed to get online had been wiped out. Trading fire with the TX-130s was going to become a losing with just the Cortosis droids for heavy weapons support.
***
By the third hour, they had fallen back to second line of defences, set up around the damaged citadel spire. Mines had been lain down within the courtyard, enough in number to make it difficult for any of the TX-130s to enter. This evened the field somewhat, but the Clone infantry were both numerous and ultimately superior.
That said, while they could scale the walls from the far side, far more would be forced to enter through the gate. To make matters worse the citadel had been designed for exactly this eventually; there was very little on the inner side of the walls, which meant that clone trooper would have to push into the courtyard to secure good cover amongst the ruins of the LAATs and the AATs. The watch towers on the wall had been detonated when they fell back to deny them to the Clone troopers.
"Sep!" The Jedi's voice came thundering towards him, and Clu turned from the holo terminal to peer towards her. "I thought we agreed the civilians could be evacuated first?!"
"What are you talking about?" Clu asked in confusion, looking back towards the holoterminal.
"Nute Gamander and the other Neimoidian, they have taken the first transport loaded up with themselves and what few droids they still had, and most of the fuel too..." Nima clarified and Clu blinked for a moment in disbelief.
"They did what?! Greedy Womp Rats!" Clu bellowed; all pretense of Muun reservedness had now gone out the window under the stress of battle and the unexpected double cross
"You're honestly telling me you had no idea about this?" Nima asked, her lightsabre still thrumming dangerously in her hand. Clu didn't expect the Jedi would use it on him, that wasn't the Jedi was after all, but right now it certainly didn't make him feel anymore comfortable.
"I don't break my agreements. How much fuel do we have left?" Clu said with a heavy sigh, his voice laced with frustration and shaking his head in annoyance
"We can fuel maybe half the transports..." Nima began, looking back out to the battle and then back to him.
"That's not going to be enough now..." Clu paused fot a moment, having a sudden realisation of where this conversation was about to go.
"Your droids are going to have to stay behind." The Jedi replied. Clu felt like he had been punched in the gut; He'd been hoping to make it off world with at least some of his droids, maybe even manage to snatch one of the CIS AATs whole they were at it. Now that seemed impossible.
But- some of these droids are very expensive... Oh if I ever see those Neimoidian slimes again... This time I will see to it personally. " Clu clenched his fist and slammed it down into the holoterminal
"Oh no you don't. You're staying here, and one of the resistance officers is handling the refuelling." The Jedi knight thrust a blaster rifle into Clu's hand impatiently.
"But- I'm a civilian!" Clu stammered as he fumbled aimlessly with the rifle. Was she intending to make him fight?! He was a banker, not a soldier! By all rights, he shouldn't even be here!
"No buts, your people just put us in this men and changed out agreement, you and me aren't leaving until everyone else has, so you're going to need that before we're done." The Jedi's tone, and the fact that they left the tent immediately after, made it quite clear that this was not open to debate.
Clu swallowed and turned his attention back towards the holo terminal, trying to keep his mind focused and push the fact that he was now going to be one of the last ones out.
Why did nobody in this galaxy keep their contracts?!
***
"Last one out, get the lights!" One of the fighters called back as they dashed towards the ship and scrambled on board. Clu hurried towards the landing pads as the remaining transports began to take off, running halfway up the lamp and turning to face over the battle field.
There remained only droids and clones now, the resistance had fled onto the ships and taken to the skies. Clu gave a pained luck to his droids as he despaired at the thought of leaving them all behind.
Well, all except the two droids who still flanked him: B-22 and B-27, the two surviving Cortosis weave Battle Droids. Those two he wasn't going to let be squandered.
"Where the blast is that Jedi?" One of the resistance soldiers asked, receiving a shushing from his officer who reached up to his commlink and spoke into it.
No more than a minute later, the Jedi's Lightsabre emerged again, a flash of turquoise in the crowd as she rushed around the corner towards the landing pad.
In hot pursuit however was a squad of four clone troopers... His Cortosis battle droids opened fire upon them, forcing them into cover, but Nima was forced to turn and defend herself, backing away and deflecting a rush of bullets.
With a blast of force energy, Nima sent two of the clones flying back into the frey, but Clu could already see his compatriots preparing to fire. She ducked down behind a block of concrete, pinned by the blaster fire as another trio of clones arrived to support their comrades.
There was no way she was going to be able to make it under that much pressure. Clu could hear the argument over the comms net as she told the ship to take off, only for the resistance to delay and trade fire. There was no way they were going to abandon her.
Clu raised his own blaster and took several shots, most of them went horribly wide. He advanced down from the platform with a shaky resolve, still flanked by his powerful C-B3, B-27, which began to push ahead as B-22 remained stationary aboard the ship, firing off blast after blast of laser cannons to devestating effect: one of the walls that sectioned off the courtyard from the landing pads was blasted out of existence, a pair of clone troopers flying several meters before landing dead on the floor.
The explosion revealed more of the fighting between the droids and clones, however, and another squadron of clones broke off to push towards the landing pad.
The C-B3 and Clu Zanith pushed out from the landing pad, covered by the Rebel militia who took defensive positions, and lay fire down upon the Imperial Clone Troopers.
"Jedi! Come on!" Clu called out as he fired off a burst of blaster rounds at one of the Clone troopers, who ducked his head back down behind what was left of the wall
The Jedi didn't need to be told twice; She elapt over the barrier and bounded towards the starships with a speed and grace Clu would have considered impossible for her build.
Clu's amazement was cut short, however, for an anti-tank rocket flew through the air and smashed into B-27 who was just a few feet away, causing a defeating explosion.
His life flashed before his eyes as the fiery explosion threw him through the air like a ragdoll, sending him smashing to the ground two meters away. Every part of his body screamed with pain and his ears rang from the explosion. He tried to stand, but he was too dizzy and collapsed back down before he'd even made it to his knees.
Then he felt himself ripped violently through the air again suddenly, screaming out and clattering in a heap on the metallic floor, coughing up a small amount of blood and peering up.
He couldn't hear a word that was being said, but could tell the Jedi was trying to speak to him from the movement of her lips. If he wasn't seeing six of her, he might even had been able to make out what she was saying.
He opened his mouth and told her that he could not hear her, that his ears were still ringing. At least, that's what he tried to tell her. He couldn't even tell if that's what came out. She nodded and gave him a reassuringly smile, so he got the feeling that she at least somewhat understood what he meant.
Nima and one of the resistance militia helped him sit up, propping him in one of the seats and kneeling to examine him...
It was then that Clu finally realised that the ship had already taken off...
***
"Okay there. Can you hear me, Sep?" Clu heard Nima's voice at last, and the sensation of suddenly being able to hear what was going on after thirty minutes of quite literally deafening silence overwhelmed him a little.
"I can..." He managed, giving a weak smile and breathing heavily. "The clones, they-?"
"They're following us, yes. We lost some of the other freighters. We've managed to give their Arc-170s the slip for now by going dark in the half disabled remains of your fleet. We'll have hyperspace coordinates locked in soon. Without an astromech, we've been struggling with the calculations but we're almost there-"
"Help me get to the cockpit." Clu said suddenly, standing up-and almost immediately falling over as pain shot through his leg again.
He lurched over, collapsing against Nima and clutching his leg as he let out a very unmanly scream of pain. Broken. He'd forgotten about that.
"You're not gonna tell me you're part droid now, right?" Nima said jokingly, helping him along the ship. He appreciated her not calling attention to his injury.
"I wish. My heads still ringing but... I've always been good with maths. I can't do it as fast as an astromech but I think I can help finalise them."
"I'm sure the help of a Muun will speed things along." Nima said as the door slid open; She helped Clu towards one of the seats, and he slipped down on it and peered to the pilot and copilot, before looking to the formula on the screen with a heavy sigh
"Alright... Let's see what we can do." Clu said, causing one of the Pilots to sigh as he handed a datapad to Clu.
"We're trying to-" The Pilot began, then suddenly got cut off as an explosion caught their vision out the cockpit window and the ship lurched with recoil.
There was a moment of uncertain chattering, before there was the distant site of a turbo laser smacking into another ship, ripping it in two.
One of the blue holograms fizzled out.
"They're done searching, they're just going to start shooting everything here..." One of the holograms said, causing the co-pilot next to Clu to throw his datapad aside in frustration, the plasteel casing splitting in two as it bounced off the wall.
"That's going to be it then. Game over. We lose." He growled, gnashing his teeth together so hard Clu thought they were going to break.
"It's not over yet, everyone calm down and stay focused. " Nima said in a reassuring tone. If there was one thing Clu did have to say for the Jedi, it was that they weren't lacking for leadership abilities.
Clu leant forward and peered over the console, his eyes dancing over the figures. His head was still aching and he had to keep double checking everything he did - he must have gotten a concussion when the explosion went off. With some difficulty, he kept trying to process the numbers, tapping information down on the datapad as the ships tried to collaborate to work out a solution.
"Is there anything we can do wit these ships, Sep?" The Jedi asked him, peering out over the deactivated Droid fleet. Clu gave a forlorn smile.
"I have a name, you know. And I don't think so; the master signal has shut down everything and we don't have local overrides, we can't even activate the hanger doors to get ourselves in, let alone make them dor anything useful." Clu replied with a weary shake of his head, looking back to the figures in the screen.
"A master shutdown signal? Whose bright idea was that?" Nima asked dryly. Clu noted the irony of having his own words echoed back to him. He wished he had the answer. He'd have B-22 wring their neck.
By the time they had worked the hyperspace calculations out, several more of the blue holograms had gone out. Their own ship had gotten a close call, when the Clone fleet had targeted an abandoned freighter nearby to them.
"When we go warm, we're going to stand out like a sore thumb." One of the pilots commented as he began to enter the finished calculations into the ship and prepared to turn its engines back online
"I estimate we'll lose another four of our remaining 17 to Republic fire before we leap out of the system." Clu commented with a weak smile.
"So we've got about, what a, quarter chance of being shot down? That's not so bad." The Pilot said optimistically, finishing entering the coordinates and nodding to the co-pilot
"Twenty three point five percent. But those are not our odds specifically; Given our position and that we're one of the closer ships to that clone cruiser, I am guessing we've got more along the lines of a forty eight percent chance of being blasted." Clu commented with a weak smile. He found some dark humour in the correction here, even th ough he realised it wasn't going to be appreciated.
"Gee, thanks." The co-pilot replied, flipping several switches. They were going to divert all power to the engines - this ships shields wouldn't have taken a turbo laser hit from the Cruiser even if they'd put all power to it.
"It's better odds than we had a minute ago." Nima quipped as the engines came back on line, simultaneously with many of the other transports.
The ship lurched forwards and Clu held his breath, biting down hard on his lip.
As predicted, the guns opened fire almost immediately. Dead ahead of them, one of the transports was gutted through by a turbo laser battery, explosions rippling along its surface. A shot went just wide of their own transport, flying past in front of them and making Clu's heart leap into his throat.
The tell tale blue-white light of hyperspace began to appear around the front of the ship. When they finally leapt into the hyperspace tunnel, everyone in the cockpit and quite possibly in the entire freighter let out a collective sigh of relief.
Then they laughed, whooping and hollering with glee. The pilot clapped his copilot on the back and the two of them chuckled to each other. They'd made it out alive, despite all the odds!
Clu paused. Then he grinned.
"So, would anyone like me to work out the probability of a hyperspace collision based on us using such slap dash calculations?"
Clu, sometimes I can't even tell if you're a good guy or a bad guy. Do you help people because you know you should, or just because that means they'll owe you later?
Clu Zanith had sacrificed most of his special C-B3 battle droids in the escape attempts, and much of his private army was destroyed. Nima Diakoyi and Clu Zanith uneasy alliance continued in the immediate aftermath of Order 66 and the Rise of the Empire. Nima initially intended to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but soon it became apparent that the betrayal of the Clone Army was universal and the Rise of the Empire near uncontested.
Seperatist holdouts remained across the galaxy for some two years after the rise of the Empire, but none possessed significant enough power to push back against the Imperials. They hoped at best to be dangerous enough opponents to be left alone, a goal Nima and Clu both agreed was ultimately hopeless after much discussion.
With Clu's assistance and contacts, and in a very uneasy alliance with former Seperatists and the scum of the criminal underworld, they acquired false identification for Nima and hid her within the outer rim.
Clu's connections with the IGBC and the Galactic Senate saved him from imperial persecution, and Nima relies on that to help her contact and engage with the fledgling rebellion.
Clu found this to be a beneficial business arrangement; the Rebellion needed information, arms, equipment, false identities, safe houses. They were seemingly endless customers, and although not always the richest, they were good on their word and in the long run he would always get the payment he was promised and protection from danger.
He left the Senate staff for good shortly there after, seeing it as an increasingly neutered and worthless institution. Money follows power, and power now lay with the Moffs. Despite his connections to the Rebellion and the Criminal underworld, Clu defaulted back to his roots of playing both sides. His profiteering ways were kept somewhat in check by Nima, who had now grown very close to him. Ultimately, the information he passed along from the Moffs most likely hurt the Empire more than his assistance aided them during this period, and the contacts he forged within the Empire continued to allow him to act freely in the galaxy.
He was able to slip almost anything he wanted through customs and make all but the most horrendous of bounties disappear through the cracks. Faked deaths and new identities were common bread and butter, sneaking the rebellions operatives through the system and allowing them to continue unabashed. He even smuggled Jedi away to safety, helping them find their way to safe havens such as the planet of Naboo, whom he provided with arms and equipment. Smuggling Jedi and arming a planet proved to be lucrative eon terms of both credits and powerful friends.
To ensure that this operation continued without a hitch, however, it required keeping the Inquisitors and the Empire off of the trail of these Jedi. His most proud moment in this period was sending an Inquisitor running around chasing his own tial for three months straight by planting false information and letting the Inquisitor follow his own scent through the outer rim. He'd found that to be quite the thrill, until eventually he had to have the man ambushed and killed when it was becoming too much of a nuisance to keep ensnaring him in a Web. He chose the place of the assassination well, and had the Inquisitors wasting their time investigating Bothawui for the next few weeks until they finally realised they'd been tricked.
All of this eventually culminated in the first armed rebellion against the Empire on Naboo, which was promptly and expectantly crushed by the 501st legion. Clu, who predicted that the chances of success for the uprising were slim but correctly predicting it was an inevitability, cut all ties in the run up to the rebellion and insulated himself from potential investigation by burying as much evidence of his involvement as he could.
It wouldn't be the first time Clu had been involved in such armed rebellions, and it wouldn't be the last; As regime changes by the Empire became increasingly prevelant across the galaxy, Clu's assistance became increasingly sought after by rich fugitives and by those seeking to arm themselves for defense, and smuggled food into blockaded planets or rescued slaves from the Empire, whether he did so for free or otherwise. On the side he profiteered as he always had. He and Nima found many a holocron together during their travels and acquisitions, and despite her lingering disapproval, he at first sold on great quantities of these to a Hutt collector from Nar Shaddaa. Eventually, she forced him to agree to leave the holocrons to herself and he begrudgingly complied.
Nima and Clu became something of an influence upon each other; she pulled him ever more towards more altruistic deeds, but the devestation of the Order 66 had taken its toll on her bit by bit she was forced to abandon the teachings of the Jedi order in the hopes of survival. Although Clu remained a scoundrel businessman of the most slimey degree, Nima came to see her ally in a more positive light as time drew on. How much of this was truly change within Clu's behaviour and how much was little more than a perception filter is difficult to say for certain.
"A sense a question on your mind. Ask it." Nima said, stopping at the top of the ridge and peering back down to him with a light smile. The sun rose behind her and the warmth of the morning washed over Clu's skin as he came to a halt.
"Can you please stop reading my mind?" Clu asked in exasperation, throwing his hands up for a moment. The very concept of people being able to infer what he was thinking unnerved him, he liked to be reading others and in control, not the other way around.
"I told you, it doesn't work like that. What is your question?" Nima asked again, not dropping it and folding her arms softly in front of her. Clu sighed lightly before replying.
"What is the force, exactly? You said before, it resides in all of us. Why do so few of us have this power if its inside all of us?" Clu asked in a slightly puzzled voice, stepping up a pace towards her. The Jedi had always been mysterious, and their teachings as opaque and cryptic as their order.
"The Force is not a power you have. It's not about lightening or pushing or anything like that. It's the energy field between all things in the galaxy, a field that binds all life together. Using the force is about feeling that bond." Nima explained, her hand waving idly in the air as she spoke. Clu furrowed his brow lightly, shifting un place. That was less cryptic at least, fairly straight forward even, for a Jedi.
"I see... You didn't answer my second question." He noted, causing Nima to pause for a moment and grown.
"Its... Not one I can answer. The way the force works is a mystery even to the Jedi; force sensitivity comes from a high count of midichlorians. You're a Muun, your species have a baseline of about two thousand. I could get your count specifically if I had one of our tools; it might make a fun piece of trivia for you, given you enjoy boasting about your grades so much." Nima teased, giving him a cheeky smirk.
" Very funny, at least you'd beat me in something." Clu retorted with an equally jovial grin.
"I'll beat you in Dejarik yet, you get over confident and you don't hide your emotions even half as you think you do. Whenever I'm making the move you want, I can feel your anticipation... That, and the corner of your mouth twitches ever so slightly." Nima said in amusement as she folded her arms back across her chest again, raising a brow and grinning. Was his tell really that obvious? Or was it her force powers letting her do that? He'd have to work on it either way, or perhaps she really would beat him.
"Yet- I keep beating you, turns out I'm better at predicting things than the J3di." Clu stated, folding his arms and meeting her eyes
"Oh, but was that gentle quiver in your voice a moment of doubt?" She said, needling him lightly before continuing "As much as it pains me to feed into your hubris, you've got a brain that might as well be a droid processor, so it's not surprising you can calculate the outcomes of a game with finite moves."
Clu chuckled a little bit. They'd both been so full of themselves going into the first game while waiting for the astromech to finish repairs on the engines when they were adrift a few lightyears from Manaan. She had predicted him well- or perhaps foresaw what he had been intending to do, as she put it the force could guide her through it - but Clu had managed to trick her into letting herself get forked and take the upper hand.
"Awh, I'm touched. But yes, I suppose there is a small difference between that and predicting the future. Anyway, that sounds like an answer, though. I don't have enough of these... Midichlorians." Clu said, steering their conversation back into topic. Nima gave a light shake of her head in response to his comment on the Midichlorians.
"Yes. And no. Midichlorians doesn't directly correlate to force power, a Jedi's connection to the force comes from meditation and understanding, so some would say its merely an indicator of your natural attunement. Some would even speculate that anyone could take up the force, that everyone could tap into it if they took the time and worked hard enough and disciplined their mind. Others say Midichlorians dictate the presence, that they generate the energy, and you either had them or you don't." Nima replied with some uncertainty. Evidently the connection between the two was not well understood even by the Jedi, which left him at something of a loss as to how it would work. If the latter was true, which would certainly make sense from a biological perspective, then surely introducing more midichlorians would either induce the capacity to use the force or otherwise enhance the capabilities of a Jedi...
"So what if one was to artificially raise the level of midichlorians?" Clu reached up and stroked his chin lightly, and Nima winced for a moment.
"Leave it to you to jump to the scientific solution and start looking for unnatural loop holes... You're already thinking about it all wrong; The Midichlorians are not the force. And before you get any bright ideas about dosing someone up on midichlorians just to see, without any mental discipline or training, to suddenly sense the force? It would drive the person mad, I think. Imagine being connected to everything, even for a moment, feeling the pain of others, the joy?" Nima said, biting her lip for a moment. Clearly, the very idea of artificially generating force users was troubling to her, and he could arguably see why if her thoughts were correct. The last thing you wanted was for a mad army of force welding maniacs to be running around doing whatever they pleased.
Then again, the Sith were already doing that.
"I'm insulted you think I'd even consider that." Clu tried to make light of the situation, but Nima had apparently become more serious and wasn't having any of it.
"You know that isn't what I meant. You're practically wired up to think of this all as just another mathematical equation or formula that you can manipulate or solve. You're thinking of it as if A equalled B, where A is Midichlorians and B is force power. But it just isn't that simple. It's not even as simple as midichlorians plus training equals force power. Let go of your preconceptions for a moment and just imagine the connection." Nima urged him gently, smiling warmly.
"I don't think I could ever imagine how that feels." Clu admitted. Nima pauses for a moment, thinking.
"Do you remember being a child? The first time they tell you other people have feelings too, and you just can’t quite believe it because you can't feel their feelings and you just can't quite think how they think? I can feel it." Nima took a step forward and reached out, gently placing her hand on to Clu's and wrapped her fingers around his. He gasped for a moment as he felt something... Something he couldn't even try to explain. It was like--like he wasn't in his body. He was feeling things that weren't his own.
Nima didn't speak, quite, but her heard her in his head.
Do you feel the flight of the bird? How it feels as it soars overhead, peering down at us?
He did. He felt it, rushing through the air in exhilaration as it dove. He felt something else too, hunger; it 2as searching for a meal.
And somewhere nearby a man dies in an alley, drunk and alone...
He felt that too. The pain. A disturbance. It rippled through the bond like a wave and he could feel the emptiness, the sorrow.
While a baby takes its first breath...
So much potential. His family were gathered, laughing. A woman, coming out of labour, wept tears of joy. Excitement, eagerness, the child a mix of confusion and fear as it took its first steps in a vast galaxy.
A child buries his mother...
The sorrow and the pain again. Cutting through his heart like a knife. But also solemness, a farewell, remembrance.
All of that. We're all connected, our emotions, our lives, all of us hurtling through space, clinging desperately to rocks or ships... every last one of us is connected.
And we can feel it.
They could... And it was beautiful, enlightening and fantastic... And in equal measure crushing, overwhelming, and terrifying.
"That’s the force." Nima said as she released her grasp and took a step away from him. Clu gasped, blinking several times and stumbling backwards down the hill, recoiling in shock but barely managing to keep his footing as that sensation was yanked away from him and everything went back to... Normal. Yes. Normal.
It had felt like- how he imagined seeing for the first time would be like, after a lifetime of living in darkness. The light would no longer be a comfort, it would just be blinding.
Maddening, even.
"How do you take it?" He said at last, looking up to her weakly. It felt like it would be overwhelming, to feel those around you night and day, to sense their emotions and the connections between everything.
"A lifetime has made me used to it, like any other sense, as well as discipline and meditation. Ask yourself, how do you take having a sense of pain? How do people build tolerance for it? How do you understand it?" Nima replied, drawing her hand back and letting it fall to her side. Clu understood well enough her meaning, or at least he thought he understood what she meant. But that was different.
"But that... I don't know whether to pity you or envy you." He said again, regaining his breath and composure and taking a few steps back up the hill.
"Don't." Nima replied simply, a single line but poignant word, as she turned and continued up the hill "Come on. I answered your question, it's my turn to ask..."
Only you could get kidnapped by Hutts and come out richer for it.
This necessitated ever deeper links to the criminal underworld, including to organisations like the Hutt Cartels and the Black Sun Pirates. Rarely getting his hands personally dirty, Clu's network grew more and more complex as the Empire consolidated its power. The IGBC, its capital of Muunilinst devestated by the end of the Clone Wars, required many of its loans to be called in and Clu ended up heading up debt collection operations across the galaxy, hiring teams of mercenaries and sending battle droids to reclaim from less cooperative targets.
The Empire had nationalised many of the former powers within the CIS, included bodies such as the Techno-Union. This resulted in a plethora of unemployed engineers and low ranking employees being released into the market, dramatically lowering labour costs for start ups. He soon became invested in the creation of arms and ships, selling them on to the criminal underworld, to the Rebellion and even the Moffs.
While business boomed in the underworld, it proved an even mroe dangerous section to navigate than right under the Empire's nose. He had sold a Frigate to the Pirate Captain Angos Lightwater, and when that Pirate turned out to have more balls than sense and raided the Hutt Cartel, Ganun the Hutt turned upon his former supplier and sent bounty hunters after Clu.
Abducted and brought to the Palace of the Crime Lord on Saleucami, word soon reached Nima who assembled a small group of Trandoshan Mercenaries from the Rockscale Clan and traveled to Saleucami to rescue Clu Zanith. Having feared that Clu might be tortured into giving up information on the Rebellion or else outright murdered, Nima arrived on Saleucami expecting that she would have to fight her way through half of the Palace to get to him, only to find that instead Clu Zanith was being treated as an honoured guest.
Incredibly, while the Hutt had been intending on killing Clu as an example to those who would sell to his enemies, the Muun had managed to convince him that, not only was he more valuable alive, but that the Hutt would gain a lot more by working with him as an associate rather than by enslaving him. Clu then orchestrated a completely fabricated conspiracy where he conspired with a disgruntled lieutenant to 'expose' a conspiracy to assassinate and replace Ganun by his Rodian Majordomo. In reality, the Majordomo had been absolutely loyal to the core, but so damming were Clu and the Lieutenant able to make their accusation that the Hutt practically executed the majordomo and his 'conspirators' on the spot.
Having won the thanks of the Hutt and the newly ordained Majordomo's favour, Clu was able to have himself moved to more luxurious accommodation and treated as though he were royalty, and had subsequently gone on to secure a shipment of valuable spices for the Hutt from across the galaxly and delivered it to the Hutt in exchange for his freedom. So pleased with this turn of events was the Hutt that he placed a generous down-payment on a second shipment, and Clu was able to walk out of the Palace with Nima and the Trandoshans clutching a large stack of credits and with a huge, shit eating grin on his face.
That night, on the way back across the Galaxy, Clu and Nima admitted their feelings for each other.
I was stupid enough to think that, just for a moment, perhaps you really had cared about more than the credits
This continued for a great many years and Nima and Clu remained close partners in both love and crime. Although sometimes time together was very brief, they spent it as best they could. Their goals ultimately seemed aligned and Nima had come to trust Clu as having his heart genuinely in the right place, even if he was too easily sidetracked by his greed.
That all changed at Ryloth.
The Rebellion had established a base there had been smuggling refugees and former slaves across the galaxy to safety. The planet was, at its core, poor and of little cultural or economic importance. The prefabricated rebel base lay outside the ruins of what had once been the CIS citadel on the planet and was operated by the Rebellion for quite some time without the notice of the Empire.
The local crime lords, who had long since been in the pocket of Clu Zanith, began to get greedy and the Rebellion began to get increasingly noble. Exporting slave labour to the Hutts and to the Empire had become a valuable trade for them and the Empire was increasingly taking slave labour from Ryloth and the Rebellion increasingly driven underground. Clu was unable to reign in his former allies but also unwilling to act against the due to the contracts he held with several of them, and became caught between the two worlds.
When Nima demanded he go back on his contract with them, Clu grudgingly refused to do so. He wanted to, but a contract is a contract. He didn't renew the contract once he had finished his end of the bargain and broke off contact with them, at Nima's insistence, but his failure to break off the contract had shaken her faith in him and planted doubt in her mind.
The weapons and skiffs that Clu had sold to these crime Lords were now turned to a darker purpose; Entire villages were taken as slaves and sold on to the Empire, which increased its presence above the planet. By the end of that week, a Star Destroyer had arrived.
Realising that the jig was up regardless, Clu Zanith began preparations to leave Ryloth and invited Nima to come with him. Nima, however, was now distraught by the use of the weapons and vehicles Clu had sold on to the Crime Lords. A village worth of such slaves were en route towards the capital where they would be sold on to the Empire, and Nima felt that it was her and Clu's personal responsibility to retrieve them.
The problem was, Clu knew there was no way that could be done without ending up on the Imperial Bounty Board or with a Hutt price on his head. They'd identify him for sure if he went with her, and with only B-22, which would be easily identified and linked back to him by the crime Lords working with the Empire, at his disposable doing so would have turned him into an outlaw.
Even worse, he knew by now which Imperial it was in orbit; Grand Moff Tarkin. Any Moff would have delivered a harsh response if the planet appeared to be fighting back, but Tarkin's reprisals would have been absolute and Clu doubted there was ever any hope of survival for either Nima or the resistance.
So he refused again and tried to convince her it was a lost cause. Once more, Nima stood her ground. At last, Clu relentled and agreed to help free the slaves, but instead told her to let her talk to them. Reluctantly, she agreed and Clu contacted the crime lord.
Three. Hundred. Thousand. Credits.
For three dozen slaves.
Clu balked. He knew *he* was being price gouged now and he didn't like it. He negotiated like he always did and managed to get the price down to two hundred thousand credits but... Then he hesitated.
He knew it was the right thing to do, but two hundred thousand credits was a lot of money to take as a hit to his wallet for so little. And it wasn't even as though he was buying the slaves, he was paying for their freedom. Who even knew how long that would last? If he bought them and freed them only for the Empire to round them up the next day, what good would that do?
In the end, he paid the credits to free the slaves, taking one of the largest single hits to his bank account he had ever dared to take.
The hesitation and the delays had deeply shook Nima's faith in Clu, and despite Clu having paid the money, he had left it too late the Empire had intercepted the returning Skiffs and taken the slaves regardless.
This drive a wedge between their relationship again. They had always had disagreements about his miserly nature in the past, but Nima hadn't seen the face of Clu that would rather doom people to a life of servitude than pay some of his obscene fortune before and it shocked her deeply.
Just a month later, Nima decided to join up with a group of rebels that had decided to take the fight to the Empire. Clu, more a pragmatist than idealist and knowing full well that sustained warfare against the empire was ultimately suicidal, couldn't countenance the idea. They'd worked against the Empire in the past, of course, and had on any occasions supplied rebellions or resistances. But there are difference between selling weapons, smuggling equipment and occasionally helping attack a small outpost and actively taking the fight to the Empire. The latter was, in Clu's opinion, utterly suicidal.
"You're really going then?" Clu asked her with a slightly pained voice, fighting to hold it back.
"It's the right thing to do, Clu. Come with me, I could do with your knowledge if I'm going to stand a chance." Nima held out her hand towards him from the back of the transport, smiling lightly to him.
"This rebellion will not succeed. Nima... I predict a success rate of-" Clu said as he took a single step before her, shaking his head firmly. He felt like begging her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I don't want to hear it, Clu. First the pirates, then the slaves... Do you not even care?" Nima withdrew her hand and advanced forwards herself, starting at him in disbelief and... Anger. She was rarely angry, and the accusation wounded him deeply.
"You know I do Nima." He protested weakly, lowering his head to the floor. Did he care? He wasn't actually sure himself. It certainly hadn't felt like caring.
"I thought I did... But I don't know, Clu. You've got three Hearts, I wanted to hope that one of them was in the right place but - they all beat for your bank account." Nima raises a hand up to her forehead, and Clu could tell she was fighting back tears and fury as well.
"That's not true, they belong to you." He said as he took a step towards her, reaching out to gently take her hand with a smile.
"If they did, you'd be coming with me." Nima replied acidicly, withdrawing her hand and shaking her head at him. His smile faded as it began to dawn on him that this really was going to be an inexorable issue. She could be stubborn at times, and this was definitely one of their times.
"I'm not going to commit suicide by stormtrooper, you can't-" Clu protested, but was cut off by a short laugh and a sad shake of Nima's head
"Do business if your dead. See? Just more money, Clu, and its never enough for you. You're a millionaire, and that isn't enough. No amount of credits is ever enough for you, because it isn't every credit in existence."
"That's not fair. You know that's not what I meant." Clu replied, but his words sounded increasingly hollow even to himself. She was right, and that made it far worse. Money had always been his weakness, and he had helped the Rebellion mostly because they'd paid well.
"So what is it, Clu? Because I don't see what else is stopping you but cowardice and money. You'd have let that village be enslaved if I hadn't made you spend it... Would you sell me out, if the price was good enough?"
"Never." Clu said defiantly. That he was sure in, there wasn't any amount of credits he'd ever have sold her out to the Empire for.
"I want to believe you. I do. But I can't. And I can't believe I was stupid enough to think that, just for a moment, perhaps you really had cared about more than the credits." The worst blow yet, it stuck in him like a knife. She couldn't have wounded him more deeply if she'd cleaved him in half with a Lightsabre. Nima had always been insisting to him that he really did care, inside, that there was a part of him that genuinely wanted to free the galaxy and that had protected people from the Empire because it was right, not just because it was good for him. Hearing her say otherwise now... Cut very deep.
"I do-" Clu protested fiercely, raising his head again and shaking his head, listing a few examples jsut off the top of his head. He wasn't going to let this go, not now. "I didn't have anything to gain when I hid you, nor when we smuggled the food past the Imperial blockade at Mon Cala, nor when we got those Jedi to Naboo..."
"So prove it to me. Come with me. Put your heart in the right place for once." Nima said, pleadingly as she backed up the ramp of the transport, it's engines whirling up. He stood paralysed. He'd never done good on spur if the moment decisions. That just wasn't how he worked. He was careful, cautious, meticulous. This decision was too big too quickly.
"I don't know..." Clu choked, confused and hurt.
"Goodbye, Clu... I do love you." Nima replied sadly. The two words made his stomach churn, he felt like a rock was stuck in his throat and as the ramp onto the transport closed shut and hid her from view, a tear ran down the Muuns face and he choked on his reply.
He fell to his knees in the dirt and knelt there for what felt like an age before he finally dragged his carcass off towards the clearing where their own starship was hidden. He had half a mind to go after her, to follow the ship... But what would he even say? He didn't know if he'd be any closer to making a decision in this then...
No, he'd follow her. This was it, he wasn't going to give up that easy! He threw the switches over the console and ran about the bridge of the star fighter, working quickly to activate it before coming and sitting back down at the pilots seat. He had seen Nima do this a thousand times before, he could do this! All they needed to do was clear atmosphere and the Droid could handle the rest. He nodded to the Droid next to him.
"Alright, this can't be that hard. Let's follow that ship!" He instructed with a triumphant look on his face. He'd have all of the journey to work out what to say, how to make up for this or whether he'd even take her up on her offer. It wasn't like he could stay here anyway!
The ships engines whirled and buzzed and began to take off from the ground. Clu moved the control of the starship carefully, pressing it forwards and-- immediately the starship swooped forwards and crashed down into the ground.
Oh. That wasn't supposed to happen
Fierfek.
Now, Brsk, you know I have a reputation for cunning. I do not intend this to be a fair fight. We are going to fall upon them without warning, we are going to strike at their communications and then we'll be long gone before the Imperials notice something is wrong. Do this right, and this won't be a battle - it'll be a kick in the balls.
Clu Zanith was stuck on that forsaken rock for far too long. When he finally got off it, he realised there wasn't anyway he was going to be able to contact Nima again within the near future. News cropped up on the holonet from time to time, but she was always long gone by the time anyone arrived to follow up.
The bitter Muun turned back to his business. It was all he had left in the end. Perhaps it really was the case that he didn't care, that it was only the credits and the business that really matter to him. Or perhaps that was what he had taken to telling himself in order to make it easier to accept. He wasn't really sure anymore himself.
Either way, he was determined now to prove he wasn't a coward, even if it was to himself. He'd committed to a contract of sorts, and he'd see it through. A warped sense of honour told him that he owed Nima that much. It was perhaps ironic that having refused her offer of joining in a crusade against the Empire would be punctuated by him making a strike against the empire simply to uphold his end of a contract. There was another part of him that intended to do it just to test himself whether it was possible to fight against the empire directly and survive.
But to achieve this, he needed time. So he went on much as he had before, running his own little operation underground, selling a buying favours. Before long, he'd fallen in with a new crowd, befriending the leader of a smuggler ring called Zakaros.
Zakaros would run whatever Clu needed running in the outer rum. Weapons, spice, food, medicine, whatever. Smugglers were always crucial services for Clu but this one was different, because this time he had a personal goal on mind rather than aiming to set up a transactional agreement. He'd paid for those slaves. They didn't belong to the Empire, their fates belonged to him
They tracked the slaves from Ryloth across the galaxy. Some had been sent to work on an Imperial special project run by Grand Moff Tarkin, and Clu's digging there turned up nothing. Whatever it was, it was big enough that even Clu's omniscient network wasn't touching it. Yet. Given it was filed away under an Imperial weapons project, he didn't even dare thing what would be happening to the slaves. Live targets, perhaps.
The rest of the slaves, however, had ended up working on a spice mine in the Midrim world of Mon Gazza, owned by the Galactic Spice Mining Guild, a former Seperatist operation that fell under Imperial control after the rise of the Empire. A few of ti's former administrative staff were in place and this drew his attention quickly and Clu soon penetrated the mines innerworkings, getting an administrator and some of the guards into his pocket and acquiring plans and blueprints for the facility, as well as a path to snuggle in goods. With plans and an update on the amount of slaves and defences, Clu decided to do what he did best; Fix things.
Zakaros would smuggle arms into the spice mine, aided by the pair of corrupt guards. These weapons would be used to launch a slave uprising in the spice line. At the same time, Trandoshan mercenaries would drop into the command centre through the ventilation system and eliminate the communication, ensuring that the Guards would be unable to call for reinforcements quickly.
It required precise timing and good predictive thinking on his part, but he proved mroe than capable of it and when the date came around, he believed that they would be able to pull it off despite his unease and fear.
They hit hard, and they hit fast.
The prison fell quickly under the unexpected outbreak of armed rebellion and external strikes. Subsection A-12 put down its resistance fairly quickly and began to fight their way to the command centre, which gave Clu and his team limited time to recover the slaves and prisoners from the mines. Likewise, some sections of the prison appeared to consist of rival gang populations and now began to turn on each other in the chaos that ensued.
Despite this, Clu's mercenaries quickly secured nineteen of the twenty three prisoners he'd come there for, and another eight dozen of the slaves besides. Clu paid an extra three thousand credits for each slave the Trandoshan and Smugglers rescued, and they managed to get off the planet before the imperial reinforcements arrived. Over the next few weeks, he and his associated acquired and forged false identifications and backgrounds for each of the slaves they had rescued, so they could travel across the galaxy and start new lives. Originally, he had hoped to return many of them to their home worlds, but particularly in the case of Geonosians, Wookird and Twi'Leks this proved completely untenable.
When the Imperial media deeply suppressed the true extent of the Rebellion in the Mon Gazzian mine, Clu came to consider it as a resounding success. Despite imperial censorship, news of the attack leaked out along other channels fairly quickly, of course, but few could be certain as to the true identity of the attackers or any of the details. The presence of the Trandoshans had been recorded which led some to believe that it was a violent and half mad Trandoshan clan who had stolen slaves for their own usage. Others believed it wa a push by the Rebellion to liberate slaves from the mines.
Clu wouldn't spoil this speculation, it was good to keep himself out of the attention of the Empire and off the bounty board. Besides, he'd done what he set out to do and felt vindicated, there was no need to draw unwarranted attention to himself. After all, you do one good deed, and suddenly everyone thinks you're soft and starts leaning on you harder in negotiations. The best way to get favourable terms was to be an unrepentant arsehole.
Imperial commanders would spend months analyzing the attack, hoping to discover the secrets of the covert strategies or anything which might link it back to its mastermind. Heads rolled - sometimes quite literally - at the Imperial Mon Gazzian Command for the attack and the humiliation had been palpable. Within a weak, half the command staff had been replaced, taken away and interrogated on suspicion of working with the attackers. He had helped get all his contacts in Mon Gazza out, feigned their deaths and given them new identification papers, so he knew any attempt to find fault back on Mon Gazza would amount to little more than an Imperial witch hunt. That suited him just fine, the bastrds could tear themselves apart for all he cared.
He knew it wouldn't end well for those slaves left behind, but he'd saved some and that was what he'd set out to do. Whatever had happened, he'd given the Empire a kick in the teeth and although he couldn't boast so publicly, he took private satisfaction in knowing that he'd proven that nobody in the galaxy could mess with Clu Zanith's contracts and get away with it.
And perhaps there was, privately and buried deep, a satisfaction that he had proven that he did care, and that he was not a coward. Perhaps one day he'd meet Nima again, and could tell her that he had in fact rescued those slaves, and that he'd decided to take a stand against the Imperials at Mon Gazza.
He hoped that she'd believe him if that ever came to pass. She'd want to, after all.
That's right, I can negotiate the most lucrative work. And whatever it is you and your crew need, I can get it. For the right price.
After Clu pulled off his great slave heist, the Imperials cracked down on smuggling in the Midrim. Bad for business, you see, and Clu had seen it coming a mile off. The empire was always going to throw its weight around once he'd finished with Mon Gazza, he'd planned ahead for that.
But what he hadn't expected was for Nima to fall off the galactic radar almost completely shortly after the attack on Mon Gazza. Logically, he knew that the result was likely the worst, and was concerned that perhaps his own activities had led to her being caught up in the crackdown or else had driven her underground... privately, he continued to hope that she'd been able to evade capture and had simply become even better at avoiding detection, so good that her motley crew was ducking even under his gaze.
Still, as the crackdown continued he remained one step ahead of the Imperials and slid his way under ground for a while, going mostly dark. Imperial intelligence never made the connection between Clu and Mon Gazza, but a number of his connections within that region were shut down or assassinated in the ensuing months and Clu thought it best to lay low until the Imperial investigations concluded and they loosened their grip around the midrim throat.
Not to mention that at the same time, he managed to get on the bad side of a xenophobic Imperial Naval Lieutenant in a Cantina on a midrim shipbuilding plant. After narrowly escaping a beating at the hands of the Lieutenant and several of his soldiers, Clu was forced to leave the planet for his own safety and burnt fake identities like there was no tommorow as he moves from planet to planet until he was sure that the Imperial had lost his trail. When he wants to disappear, Clu knows how to do exactly that.
Travelling to Anchorage to form new contacts and recoup his losses from Mon Gazza, he quickly made a killing selling on information, weapons, fighters, false identification papers and even some old battle droids to the denizens of the dark harbour.
When a chance presented itself to score a contract with the crew of the Noreaster, Clu met with the Mariner. Clu considered it carefully and negotiated as favourable terms for himself as he could possibly get as a Muun often would. The captain was wise enough to plug as many loopholes as could humanly be plugged as well, which Clu approved of for it's shrewdness. He knew how to sell himself as an invaluable asset and in fairness, he is; he knows how to get the crew linked up with the most lucrative work, and so long as he's working with the crew on a mutually beneficial arrangement, is happy to oblige.
This far he found the rules for working with the crew of the Noreaster to be fairly relaxed even if the crew was not the most amicable lot, and although he doubted he would personally be doing much looting any time soon, it allowed him to pick over choice pieces for his clientele and ensure that he could keep up with the demand. In addition, his ability to both score strong contracts for the crew and serve as a middle man to sell them information and help connect to black market contacts made his eyes water at the thought of the opportunities that might await him and he quickly set about making it clear to everyone that if they wanted or needed anything, he was their man.
Plus, in addition to the money he could make he was well aware that good connections were more important than any amount of money, and when it came to mercenary crews, getting them or their leaders to favour you or even better to be in your debt was a good way of securing valuable allies for the future. The Mariner had built herself a strong reputation, indeed, Clu has watched the rumours spread year earlier - and as a sign of good faith had buried any connections between her Jedi and this new composite identity that he had came across. Perhaps this ultimately played a role in him becoming part of the Noreasters crew, who was to say? That was the way of things, you scratch each others backs when it's appropriate.
And now, here he is. His silver tongue and contacts ensures that the Gray Mariners squeeze every credit they can from the most lucrative jobs in the galaxy, and he ensures that Imperial intelligence and other such nuisances get thrown off their tail at regular intervals.
Servius gave a small nod as Finn imparted culinary knowledge about the selection go deathclaw steaks. There certainly wasn't a lack of death claws in this city, that was for sure.
"I am not sure how I'd want it done, I'll defer to your greater culinary knowledge and take whatever you recommend." Servius replied, trying to pass off his complete lack of knowledge in a somewhat less embarrassing light. The legion had a fairly one size fits all approach to the way everything was cooked and it hadn't exactly prepared him to even name the different ways it could be cooked.
He turned his attention to Emil as the westerner began to relate a story about a deathclaw.
" A fair kill. Raiders and bandits are not the brightest bulbs in the tanning bed, I wouldn't be surprised if he had been off his head with psycho and jet when he decided to release the deathclaws. ." Servius said, after listening to Emil. What kind of idiot kept a deathclaws as a pet, let alone thought he could control it? Raiders really were beyond belief at times.
So, he wanted to knwo if any of them had fought deathclaws up close...
"I fought several deathclaws in my time, but the only one I have fought in such close proximity was near Caliente. It was a bright day, typical for the area. The town certainly lived up to its name, it couldn't have felt any hotter if it were aflame.." Servius began, reaching for his canteen and taking a long swig. Just thinking about Caliente was reminding him of the sweltering heat and the beating harsh sun.
"I had taken half a Contubernium westwards towards the town on a patrol of our border. Our frumentarii had reported the NCR had moved in and seized control of the town by force, and so we had to be cautious, but little would have made us suspect the presence of a deathclaw." Seized control by force indeed, they'd practically kicked down the doors and shot anyone who disagreed with them. It had been a NCR backed coup against the towns elected government. What a surprise, only pro democracy until it didn't suit them anymore. For a time they were able to gloss over it with propaganda, and had recruited and conscripted a vast number of townsfolk into a militia... But after a while the propaganda began to fall apart, it was clear the NCR didn't have control of the situation and that the Legion weren't going to role over. So Caliente descended into a brothers war with their own, and even more with the NCR. Captain Jay, as it turned out, was able to make people hate the NCR more than the legion. The Legion had turned it to their advantage, of course.
"We stopped short to take cover upon a cliff face, frustrated by what we saw below. An NCR forward position - or what they intended to be a forward base. Two troopers and... Five 'conscripts' I suppose would be the word.. Local towns folk the NCR had pulled into acting as militia. Old men, young farm girls and boys. Not soldiers, and it showed. Their equipment was derisory; Surplus helmets, varmint rifles and nine millimetre pistols. None of them had body armour, a few didn't even have fatigues. The NCR may as well have shot them for us.." Servius shook his head lightly as he fought back to it. He remembered an old man and his grand daughters having been amongst the foes in the militia at one point. Or, rather had heard about it first hand. The Legion had easily killed the old man and one of his kin, and captured the other Granddaughter alive. He had been surprised by what the girl thought of the Legion, she had been convinced they didn't even know how to use guns and were backwards savages whose only hope was to drown the enemy in bodies. He recalled a young man with only a baseball bat... Brave but hopeless, all the same. He should have been born a legionary, he would have gone far.
No, fighting the militia wasn't war, it was slaughter, even more so than with the usual conscripts. At least they were usually able bodies young men who were given rifles and a modicum of training in how to fire then. More meatshields for the rangers to hide behind and hog the glory when it was done he supposed. It had made sense from a strategic perspective, perhaps. The more men on the battlefield had certainly allowed the NCR to get more done while reducing casualties to their actual soldiers (which, as he understood, had become a major problem for the NCR who were losing countless men each year) but ultimately their combat effectiveness was so low that the Legion had tended to steam roll them. Capturing them was one of the worse conundrums of his legion life. They couldn't release them, they had to keep their brutality and show little mercy and pity to these profligates or else the impact of their presence on enemy morale would have been lessened... But knowing that they'd been forced into it and lied to, and left so hopelessly for dead... It had weighed heavily on his conscience to consign them similar fates to the NCR soldiers, and he could tell it weighed on the Centurion Aurelius as well, however little he showed it. He and the Centurion tended to make their deaths quicker where they could, or else send them into slavery or other such decisions. Apollo hadn't cared, of course, he was the same monster to them as he was with everyone. Or perhaps he was simply better at hiding what he felt, it was sometimes difficult to tell. The mask was never meant to slip.
"It seemed too easy, I didn't trust it, so I had us watch and wait for a bit. Sure enough, before long I caught sight of a glint in a distant rock. I brought up my binoculars to look upon it, and thought I saw the movement of a ranger but I could not be certain. A trap.."
"We decided we would return to the fortress and inform the Centurion, collect more men and decimate the forward base. I left a scout to explore the surrounding area, make sure there were no traps waiting for us and to see if it was indeed a ranger, as the rest of us headed back towards the Fort.."
"We had to cross a stretch of no man's land to get there. It was usually fairly safe so close to our borders, Los Coyotes and various Raiders kept away for fear of being captured by us. But we kept our guard up and it was just as well we did, for our came a deathclaws from its den, a deathclaw that had killed Mars knows how many men. ." He paused for a moment as he thought back to it. The Deathclaw must have moved in while he and the men had been out, because they had passed that cave in the way there without any disturbance. Unless it had been out hunting elsewhere at the time.
"When the deathclaws saw my Contubernium, you should have heard it roar. It was a roar which made the bushes shake, hound did tremble and man did quake, it rose up high upon the peak, it would have made a ranger weep.."
"But there was no time for fear or doubt as it leapt down upon us, a shadow of death cast in the blazing light of the sun. We brought out weapons to bear, but before I could fire it was upon me and swung fiercely for me, claws that could rend apart metal walls poised to rip out my heart. I leapt back as quick as I could, barely avoiding the slash of its claw. I brought my rifle to firing position, but then immediately case it aside; I recalled how close we were to the NCRs position and I called out to my men not to fire upon it. ." Servius grimaced at the memory. It had been a difficult call and made in the moment, but it was necessary. The legionaries would have been very vulnerable while fighting the deathclaw, and the NCR were only a couple hundred meters away over the hill and rocks. It was far enough that they wouldn't come hunting a deathclaws roar, but close enough that they would for gunfire.
"So now we had little choice but to fight the beast in melee, for the firing our weapons would undoubtedly alert the NCR to our presence. Whether they would find us, or the scout, who could say, but I was not wanting either outcome. We would strike when we were ready.."
"But that left us dealing with a behemoth of flesh and bone with little more than our blades. Sure enough, as we learnt quickly as we danced with the devil, the deathclaws had a plague hide that could the sharpest of our steels abide. No sword would enter through its skin, which vexed my legionaries and made it grin... or at least, that is how it felt when it looked upon us with its vile fangs. It slashed at me and I dodged and parried, and it seemed to focus in on my to my shock and anger... I suppose due to my height it thought I was the most vulnerable. I lead it on merry chase, ducking and rolling under blows, knocking away its class with the hilt of my blade and occasionally managing to penetrate its scales, though never deep enough to kill it. Marcus and Gaius also threw themselves at it, but they too couldn't cut deep enough."
"And so we changed our tactics; It was at this moment that Marcus threw his spear into the deathclaw; bounced hopelessly of the monsters head, but it drew its attention to him. He quickly retreated backward and it bounded towards him... And I bounded after it.." And it hadn't been a moment too soon, Servius had been tiring of the long dance with the Deathclaw. He had strained his arm fighting back against its powerful blows and twisted his ankle rolling out of the way of a bite, he didn't think he would have made it much longer. For all the endurance and will of a legionary, a mortal body had its limits.
"I leapt upon its back like a possessed tribal, seizing our opportunity to bring about the beasts demise. As I climbed its back, it ceased its chasing of my compatriot and reached around to try and grab at me. But all its efforts would be in vain, for as in choler it did burn, I fetched the deathclaw a great turn, as a roaring it did cry, I thrust my sword into its eye.."
"I drive the blade in as deep as I could, through soft eye and the tough sinew behind it, I worked the blade in deep as the beast flung itself around, trying to buck me. Marcus and Gaius seized the moment and threw themselves into the fray, that we might be victorious that day. "Ad Victoriam", they cried, and that chorus the deathclaw died.."
"For I forced the blade in far enough, that the beasts cries fell short and it collapsed, the blade had pierced into its skull, and cut into the brain itself. We kept stabbing it as it fell, piercing eye and hide and throat, making sure it was dead as it flailed into the ground, death rattles ringing out.." He gave something of a proud grin as he thought back to it. They hadn't lost a single of their number, which had impressed the Centurion greatly. Perhaps it was sheer dumb lucklre than anything, but he preferred to think of it as skill and teamwork. After all, it had been about coordination and baiting the deathclaw so that it was exposed - he had a feeling that if Marcus was not there, he'd be a very dead legionary.
"We dragged its carcass away to the fortress, thst we might use its claws for weapons, its hide and its meat. Once there, we told the Centurion what we had seen at the forward base, and when the scout returned he confirmed to us that the NCR had tried to set up trap using two rangers on a nearby cliff face. These sort of baited traps became one of the NCRs favourite tactics - and so it became our favourite tactic to subvert them. The fools waited a long time, which was good for us because it gave us a long time to set up. We fell upon the NCR later that day, a Contubernium sneaking around a long distance on their bellies to ambush the Rangers from the side while another Contubernium hit the forward post... But that battle is a different story, one without deathclaws. Suffice it to say, my blade had tasted much blood by the fall of night, man and beast alike had shed its lifeblood.."
Servius finished his tale and immediately took another mouthful of stew, downing it with water. It had been quite a long story, he realised, not at all concise. But he thought he had told it well enough, emphasis and more floral prose where appropriate.
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