Another Hand Always Helps (Sasseeri)

[Grym Kandle]

It had taken Grym quite some time to work this in. Thanks to an able slicer, Grym had been able to finally reach this point. Even if it had cost him around four hundred thousand credits. Amazingly enough, the slicer had handed the sacred information over to Grym without even knowing. While expanding his enterprise, he had needed information on the market and several other aspects that filed under the drug and illicit material distrubution. He'd asked about a contact to certain business operations under Black Sun but the slicer had backed away from that. Understandably so.

Practically the moment Grym had acted upon the contact information, he had been visited by the... escorts of said contact. The contact ended up being a small time supervisor for a Vigo of Black Sun, Sasseeri Reeouurra. The contact, a Rodian named Beenbrok, had been courteous enough to allow Grym an audience. Grym was an ex-assassin for a mafia group that was long extinct, he had done his best to clear his trail before starting on a new path but little information escaped the network of Black Sun. Beenbrok had offered Grym a job in his retinue which was quietly declined shortly thereafter.

A subtle threat had followed but Grym knew how to talk the talk in this environment. With some conversation, Grym proved himself a more valuable asset in his new line of work than with his old. Grym had established a distribution system, mostly in glitterstim, within the Outer Rim, edging into the core areas but he'd been very careful not to step on any toes so far. Regardless, he had been encroaching on Hutt and Black Sun territory, merging with one or the other was a necessity. And Grym hated the slugs. And Beenbrok had quickly come to see this. Grym had then been delivered to his superior, and another, and one more, until he had finally made it here.

Coruscant. The place was jungle made of durasteel, the traffic in the skies like gnats. But it was much brighter than Nar Shadda. But more light did not mean the shadows had disappeared, merely sunk deeper within.

Grym sat back in the chair and sighed. The pale, white mask on his face was emotionless, the one ruby eye gazing at nothing on the ceiling. His dark, blue cloak concealed his body for the most part. He wore simple black clothing beneath, in the Coruscant style of the season. It wasn't hard to fit in when the styles were everywhere you turned. Any sign of his heavy addiction was well hidden, and he had already taken his dose for the time being. Any weapons he had brought were at the entrance to the building, as was customary. Even with an arsenal though, getting through an army of security would've been a feat even for a force adept.

The environment was comfortable nonetheless, the reception area was lavish and what Grym would've expected of a Vigo of the Black Sun organization. Obviously feminine as well, but aggressive in a taste that Grym was sure many would miss at first glance. The secretary had been quiet and seemed a little displeased that someone had actually shown up to the appointment that was scheduled. Grym had been told, like so many times before, to sit and wait to be called in.

It was also practically customary by this point, making the guest wait outside, letting their thoughts toil and twist them into something anxious. Grym had made it over that issue years ago.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Fjine? No jit jis not fjine!" Sasseeri slammed her hands down on her desk, causing the comm unit to bounce up and down. "Fjind me whoeverrr rrratted on the Ljiqujid Sjilverrr, and fjind them now!"

Disconnecting the call, Sasseeri fumed for a bit before activating the intercom. "Send jin... whoeverrr jit jis." She waved her hand dismissively, but there was no one there to see it.

Sitting back in her chair behind the large desk, Sasseeri picked up a datapad that detailed Grym Kandle and his operations deep in the Outer Rim. With his contacts in Hutt space he would be an invaluable asset against Sorsha Kasajian.

[Grym Kandle]

The doors opened and Grym's mask instantly began to detect the new safety measures that Vigo Reeouurra employed within her office. The count was starting to lag the system. so as Grym stood, he deactivated the most part of the mask's functions. Being prepared for something like a trap by now seemed nearly futile. He was literally in the Lion's Den.

"You may proceed now, Mr. Kandle."

Grym's stoic, white mask nodded slightly to the receptionist before he stepped into the office. The room was expansive, and the man was compelled to digest his surroundings but his full attention was required to study the given social environment between the Vigo and himself. He only had vague clues of this Vigo's temperament, and he'd seen both good and bad results of her given actions in the embodiements of some of her henchmen and then from the rumors of those that had... fallen from her graces.

"Good evening, Vigo Reeouurra. A pleasure to finally speak with the Vigo of Black Sun."

His voice was digitally modified to a crisp accent, and he bowed at the waist once his greeting was complete. Grym was a journeyman of the Echani martial arts and the grace of his training was apparent in his fluid actions. The greeting and the bow were sometimes seen as possibly too flattering by some... authority figures within the shady ranks. But those who could respect the discipline in which Grym presented himself soon learned it meant near nothing to flattery.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

The Vigo. Her ears perked up, literally. Perhaps this appointment wouldn't be a waste of her time. "Yes, well, jI am a busy one, too." She adored flattery.

"jI hearrr you arrre jinterrrested jin worrrkjing forrr my orrrganjizatjion." She scanned the pages of info on the datapad in front of her that had been sent her way from Beenbrok. "Verrry jinterrrested, jit would seem."

Sasseeri steepled her slim fingers underneath her chin, and added, "jI don't usually see assassjins jin my offjice who arrren't attemptjing to kjill me, Mr. Kandle. And therrre jis no such thjing as a forrrmerrr assassjin."

[Grym Kandle]

Grym lifted himself up from his bow and crossed his arms across his chest. Try as he had, his record as an assassin was a futile secret from such a throne as a Vigo of Black Sun. Grym's record had been more or less esteemed, no contract had ever been botched and his participation with the mafia against the Hutts in the Outer Rim was something a lot of now dead people had once respected of Kandle. And he knew better than most that all mob bosses tried to make the most of their men, exploiting every advantage and never wasting an ounce. To do so was a loss in potential profits, and Vigos in Black Sun weren't made from lost profits. His response to her observations came back as a logical agreement.

"More interested than it would seem, even, Vigo. Like a knife, I've passed from hand to hand in the Outer Rim. As of late, I found there were no hands I'd have wield me within my vicinity other than those hands which I would rather have already slit at the wrist.
Seeking the greater oppurtunity, I believe I've found it in your organization."

Grym was not about to argue with her over his status as an assassin. And he wasn't going to elaborate on what he could exactly accomplish within her organization either. When dealing with the heads of such a body as Black Sun, a formality between subordinate and authority was for the subordinate to never assume that the authority was stupid.
Vigo Reeouurra knew what Grym was capable of and what assets he held to her advantage. Yes, a very capable killer that wouldn't refuse to kill again, however Grym had his business in the Outer Rim. Glitterstim trafficking that was outside of Hutt control was nearly unheard in the market. Other illicit drugs and small arms were traded as well but for the most part, glitterstim was the star product in Grym's menu. Quite the market for Black Sun to capatilize on. And of course, Grym had made sure he was the essential connection and overseer with the entirity of the franchise, without him, it would fall apart in a heart beat.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

Sasseeri made a non-committal sound in the back of her throat. The truth was, his operations in glitterstim were tantalizingly under the nose of Sorsha Kasajian's expanding territory. With the takeover of Jabba the Hutt's criminal empire, the rival Vigo had a growing interest in all things Hutt.

"You arrre an upwarrrd cljimberrr, Mr. Kandle, someone wjith ambjitjion. jI admjirrre jit jin a male." She tossed the datapad on her desk, straightening her suit jacket. "Yourrr operrratjions jin the Outerrr Rrrjim arrre what got you herrre, as jI'm surrre you know.

"jI just need to know one thjing. You called me the Vjigo of Black Sun, yet jit jis obvjious that jI am not the only surrrvjivorrr of the brrreak-up of Xizorrr's empjirrre. Why thrrrow jin the chance cube wjith me, and not Vjigo Kasajian?"

[Grym Kandle]

"Statistics, Vigo. Luck and the toss of the die are a much smaller factor in comparison to calculated skill. Between you and the others that claim your title, your business is the most sound in ability."

Grym had files and files on Black Sun transactions he had been watching, information retrieved along his progression to Black Sun. The confidence in his voice was seemingly enhanced by his posture. In much earlier days, people had called him nothing short of arrogant, until his predictions had rarely failed to occur. And this was no force ability but merely diligent vigilance to his surroundings. He liked to refer to it as common sense.
Not to mention, Kandle's sources had been watching the change of hands in ownership in the Outer Rim and had seen what Kasajian did for that business. And Kandle's opinion was that it was more or less the same. Minus the sloppiness of the slugs but now with a brutality to it that seemed no more appealing.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Ah, well put, Mr. Kandle."

Sasseeri indicated the datapad on her desk. "And jI assume you wjish to brrrjing yourrr ljittle operrratjion under the Black Sun umbrrrella, as jit werrre. jI am morrre than wjilljing, but changeoverrrs can be djiffjicult.

"And then therrre jis the underrrstandjing that once you swearrr an oath to me - you cannot take jit back."

[Grym Kandle]

Grym's body still carried faded scars and tattoos, even signature implants that had long since expired. Grym, comfortable in his position as a tool, had always thought loyalty an essential to survival. He found that the background workings of the organizations were more feudal than anything else, and the subordinates needed to have instilled loyalty, unfaltering, in order for the 'noble' figure to operate more efficiently. And Grym knew by now that he was not an expendable commodity and that his loyalty protected him as much as it served his superior.

"I assure you, the changeover won't be a problem, Vigo. My entire enterprise has been anticipating this action since its' founding. And my interests lie nowhere else but what you require. By serving you I accomplish what is necessary."

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Excellent news." She smiled, her teeth white and straight. "jI do have need of someone of yourrr many talents, and yourrr enterrrprrrjise jin the Outerrr Rrrjim jis verrry close to my holdjings along the Sjisarrr Rrrrun. The addjitjion of jit to my own gljitterrrstjim busjiness would be verrry prrrofjitable."

The fact that she couldn't see his face was disconcerting, though she supposed that he might be hideously ugly, in which case it was just as well she couldn't see him. "jI have no furrrtherrr questjions. Yourrr backgrrround check was just as you jindjicated jit would be to Beenbrrrok."

She stood to her full five feet four inches and extended her hand across the desk. "Welcome to Black Sun, Mr. Kandle. Therrre jis paperrrworrrk for you to sjign rrregarrrdjing yourrr annual allowance and lodgjings. Swearrrjing an actual oath jis morrre of a forrrmajilty than anythjing else, but you may pjick whateverrr oath you choose to pledge yourrr loyalty to my leaderrrshjip."

[Grym Kandle]

Very proffitable indeed. Access to the Sisar Run uncontested could produce quite a yield. He gracefully stepped forward, her small feline frame assuming her full height. Grym had replaced most of his physical desire with his addiction to glitterstim and he supposed it was just that she was a throne of nigh unconceivable power that made her more attractive but Grym's line of business went nowhere near that direction. And he had no doubt that it was simply that, the attraction of power.

His thin, cracked lips drew into a tight smile behind his ivory mask. His blood was saturated with glitterstim and his body continued to display his addiction as time went on. Veins, muscles, even skin in places, generally closer to the insertion points for the drug, had taken on a crystalline likeness. It had been painful but by now, did it really matter? And none of it had showed any detriment to his performance.
Her casual sense concerning the contract and oath put Grym at ease. She had no serious need for such traditional things when paperwork did exactly what it was meant to do. A gloved hand extended from the folds of his cloak and grasped her small hand firmly.

"How soon can we start then, Vigo?"

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

His handshake was good, but she retrieved her hand quickly. "As soon as you arrre able. jI wjill send one of my ljieutenants to yourrr operrratjion to jinspect jit by the end of the week.

"Forrr now, jif you have need, jI can arrrange ljivjing quarrrterrrs forrr you and get you sjituated herrre on Corrruscant."