Post by norcaler on May 26, 2017 1:44:21 GMT
Ziritas Company Headquarters
First District, Tomobiki City, Theta Zibal II
"...can't say I love what they've done with the place," remarked Xel Raego as he walked through the offices of the company he founded and was only now just returning to after an eight year...absence of sorts. It seemed too corporate for the Zibalian's tastes; true, he was a businessman, but he was more hands on, more willing to get out there and do deals himself. Cubicles arranged in a fashion that was the least considerate towards the employees, offices for executives no where to be found on this floor and presumably akin to luxurious Risian hotel rooms. His time away from Ziritas had humbled him, taught him the value of treating those who worked with you as peers (to a point). This office complex was built to prop up the ego of Raego's "interim" successor upon the shoulders on the hard work of the employees. "...I guess maybe I should make some changes..."
"This way, Mr. Raego," said the shapely staffer (a welcome addition but also another sign of oppressive excess) as she led him towards the board room. He adjusted his jacket, a humble style favored by independent entrepeneurs before standing in front of a pair of Zambean oak doors. Once within range of the door sensors, they parted, revealing a conference table that no one was seated around. Instead, the board of directors and the "interim" CEO, Lev Thagan, were all standing and applauding Raego's return. Even his lovely female guide was politely clapping, suggesting she'd rather be anywhere but here.
"Welcome back, Xel!" Thagan said cheerfully, which Raego responded with a forced smile. The elder, white haired Zibalian gestured for him to stand at his side by a podium at the head of the conference table. He did and the applause kept going; Raego scanned the crowd, recognizing a few faces from the old days but noting that most were new. Thagan certainly had put his stamp on the company. The applause continued until Thagan waved his hands to quiet them. "Please, please, sit. It's quite apparent that we're all greatly relieved that Xel's back after this gross miscarriage of justice..."
"Oh please," he muttered under his breath in exasperation. A few members of the board looked in Raego's direction, having heard the barb, however Thagan continued unabated, perhaps lost in his own ego, thinking that despite Raego standing but a few feet from him, he was still getting away with it.
"...Our founder, our visionary has finally come home. Our reputation restored. Just as we started this company, together once again, we will continue to grow Ziritas Company's brand and market share, to enable the defenseless to defend themselves..." Raego rolled his eyes demonstrably; Thagan even added a slogan! And a terrible slogan at that! The older man put a hand on Raego's shoulder and said, "Now I know nothing we can say or do can give you the last eight years of your life back, but here is a minor token of our esteem and reminder of our long-standing friendship..."
"My job as CEO back?"
"Well, that too," Thagan answered with a chuckle before waving over one of his underlings. Said underling presented a wooden box and opened it, revealing a pair of small pistols. "A pair of the first Krieger Wave pistols, provided to us when we signed the distribution deal with Apgar Industries."
Raego accepted the box and looked it over as the board applauded once more. He checked one of the pistols and had a faint smile. Thagan then interjected, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present our original and returning Chief Executive Officer, Xel Rago!"
He took the lecturn, setting the pistol upon it and let the board clap for a few moments before waving his hand dismissively, saying, "Please, I know, I know. Oh come on, it's not like I just got back from Rura Penthe..." That ellicted a laugh and finally his audience settled down and returned to their chairs. "Having said that, I won't lie: the prison system on Onthas V has a well deserved reputation. I should consider myself fortunate that I survived even a mere eight years. But it taught me a valuable lesson, a lesson about what the most important thing in life is: loyalty."
He tried not to look over his shoulder even though the reaction on Thagan's face was what he had been looking forward to for months now. "Without loyalty in a prison like that, you're dead. Just another animal to be preyed upon by the random tough. Sometimes, though, it's not the big dog that picks a fight with you in the mess hall that should scare you. It's the one who claims they're your friend..."
"Xel..." Thagan warned calmly. "Maybe this isn't the best..."
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Raego growled. He took the pistol off the podium and aimed it at Thagan's head. "I knew it was you who framed me. You were the one who provided the prosecution with the 'evidence!'"
Thagan remained calm. "Xel...relax. You're clearly not yourself. Prison can..."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Aiming the pistol at Thagan's leg, Raego pulled the trigger and much to the former's surprise, it fired. The disruptor bolt hit Thagan in the left flag and he collapsed, screaming in pain. The other members of the board sprang to their feet in horror. "What, surprised your little gift had a charged energy cell?"
"XEL!" Thagan screamed in pain. "Someone call security!"
"Oh, I think you'll find your security's a bit tied up at the moment," Raego said before wincing. "...Gods, that sounded awful. I feel ashamed I even thought to say that! I'm sorry." He then snapped his fingers. "Oh right, security..."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device, tapping a button on top of it. The Zambean oak doors parted again and a gaggle of individuals from species such as Nausicaan, Orion, and one large, hissing Gorn stormed in, all armed with rifle variations of the new Krieger wave disruptor pistol he still had aimed at Thagan. They each stopped behind a board member and pointed their guns at the back of their heads.
"What is the meaning of this?" one of the new targets asked, someone Raego didn't recognize and nonetheless didn't care about.
"Loyalty!" Raego said as he threw his hands up to encompass the room. "You see, these were my prison mates. I did a favor them, they did a favor for me, so on and so forth, and then when I finally got access to my bank accounts back, I paid off the Onthans and they were all too eager to let them go considering the misunderstanding..."
"Xel, please..." Thagan pleaded. "Let me explain..."
In a burst of rage, Raego charged the prone man and started kicking him in the stomach, punctuating each blow with, "STOP! INTERRUPTING! WHEN! I! TALK!"
"You honestly can't believe we all had a part in this," said yet another member of the board in a rather nervous tone, more than likely due to the fact he had a weapon that could disintegrate him in one shot.
"You know, actually I don't!" Raego began circling about the room, keeping his pistol up but not trained on anyone in particular. "That's the funny thing about being cut off from the rest of the universe, about being confined to one's bunk for the night with only your thoughts to keep you company. Your mind really starts to go places, and I've had a good eight years to start wondering just what happened. I mean, I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. That this was a set-up. It wasn't until I got a new lawyer that everything started to fall into place." He stopped long enough to kick Thagan in the head, then continued. "Once my new lawyer started giving me access to company records, law enforcement reports, it all just clicked, you know? I could ask why, Lev, but I really don't give a shit anymore."
"Xel, Xel..." said Thagan. "I was only looking out for our..."
"Oh please!" he said before shooting Thagan again, this time in the shoulder. "Were you looking out for 'our...' whatever the hell you were going to say when you started selling off my collection? Were you looking out for 'us' when you started embezzling from the trust you set aside for me that was supposed to be mine when I got out in twelve to twenty-seven years had this had gone EXACTLY AS YOU PLANNED?!"
"You know what, just be merciful and kill me already! That's what this is all about, isn't it? Kill me and take your company back completely! You'll only ruin it..."
That caused Raego to pause, a pause followed by him aiming his disruptor at his usurper's head. "...what did you say, Lev?"
"Let's face it, Xel," Thagan said through clenched jaw, "you'd be nothing without me. Just a punk smuggler kid with a ship and a cargo hold full of weapons and stupid ideas on how to sell them. I should have been CEO of this company! I was the one who made your little arms dealing side project into one of the most profitable enterprises since Haggath himself! And what did I get in return for all of this?! Chief Financial Officer. Minority stake holder. The deal with Apgar Industries alone should double our value within five years! You would have just kept selling plasma weapons to D'Tan's flotilla until they created the Republic, allied with the Federation and the Klingons, and then watch as our arms trade suddenly dry up. You're not a businessman, Xel; you're just some damn fool who thinks he's smarter than everyone in the galaxy, a smuggler with delusions of grandeur. I didn't spend twenty years helping you to build Ziritas into what it was and what it will be just to watch you throw it away because the only person you ever listen to is yourself!"
Raego sighed and lowered his weapon. "...I see now this is a tad more complex than I thought. But, like you implied, I only listen to me, because I am actually smarter than most people. Miss Hiss?"
"Yess ssir?" asked his trusted female Gorn. Obviously that wasn't her actual name, but it was easier for Raego to pronounce.
"Take this backstabbing son of a bitch's arms off and beat him to death with them," he said before claiming an empty chair at the conference table. "Legs too, while you're at it."
"XEL!" shouted Thagan as the Gorn moved slowly and menacingly towards him, hissing constantly, hence her nickname. "All right, all right, you win! I'll resign, I'll give you all my stake in the company! Whatever you want!"
Raego sighed and snapped his fingers to stop Miss Hiss. "And now you're whining. You're probably going to keep whining, aren't you, even if you're torn limb from limb? Don't think I can tolerate listening to that..."
While still seated, he aimed and fired two shots form his pistol directly into Thagan's forehead. His former friend, former mentor, and former member of the living fell limp. Despite having wanted this moment the second he learned of Thagan's treachery, the actual moment felt greatly unsatisfying. He looked to the horrified members of the board and waved his gun dismissively, "Sooooooo...there we are. Hey, look, in the end, I showed him the mercy he asked for, which is really a lot more than that bastard deserved! Two shots to the face with a disruptor is a HELL of a lot better than getting ripped apart. Now...what shall I do with the rest of you...?"
The board simultaneously offerred their panicked replies that he cut off by firing his gun into the ceiling. "On second thought, never mind. Mr. Whack, please escort the board to the late Mr. Thagan's personal ship. The board's going on a ride to New...Kento...Karthi...wherever Lev set up the distrbution of Apgar's Krieger guns."
"Yes sir," his main Nausicaan (also not his actual name) replied. None of the remaining executives moved, to which Mr. "Whack" roared. "MOOOOOVE!"
Raego's other former fellow prison inmates grabbed the board and started shoving them one by one out of the Zambean doors. His Gorn moved to pick up the body of Thagan to which he tsked tsked, adding, "No, beam him away. No sense carrying his corpse through the entire office."
"And the board, ssir?" she asked.
"Just make sure their ship explodes well outside the trade lanes, Miss Hiss. Shame about the primary phase enducer on Lev's yacht, isn't it?" The old woman Gorn nodded before she slowly shuffled out, hissing and snarling as she did. Raego glanced down to Thagan's corpse and said out loud, "You know you did bring this on yourself, right? Got greedy, thought you could do better than me, then you actually tried to do better than me..."
Of course the corpse didn't respond, not that he'd expect it to. "But, I'm going to suprise you. I'm going to be better than either of us thought I could be..." He glanced over to the entrance and noticed that the young woman who escorted him to the board room was still there, surprisingly unaffected by the slaughter she witnessed. "Something I can help you with?"
"Just wondering what my current state of employment is, sir," she replied calmly.
"Oh, you're still hired. Run along and get me a statement of company assets. If that backstabbing ass Thagan sold off my ship, I'll make sure Miss Hiss does indeed dismember him. And send him to his next of kin piece by piece..."
First District, Tomobiki City, Theta Zibal II
"...can't say I love what they've done with the place," remarked Xel Raego as he walked through the offices of the company he founded and was only now just returning to after an eight year...absence of sorts. It seemed too corporate for the Zibalian's tastes; true, he was a businessman, but he was more hands on, more willing to get out there and do deals himself. Cubicles arranged in a fashion that was the least considerate towards the employees, offices for executives no where to be found on this floor and presumably akin to luxurious Risian hotel rooms. His time away from Ziritas had humbled him, taught him the value of treating those who worked with you as peers (to a point). This office complex was built to prop up the ego of Raego's "interim" successor upon the shoulders on the hard work of the employees. "...I guess maybe I should make some changes..."
"This way, Mr. Raego," said the shapely staffer (a welcome addition but also another sign of oppressive excess) as she led him towards the board room. He adjusted his jacket, a humble style favored by independent entrepeneurs before standing in front of a pair of Zambean oak doors. Once within range of the door sensors, they parted, revealing a conference table that no one was seated around. Instead, the board of directors and the "interim" CEO, Lev Thagan, were all standing and applauding Raego's return. Even his lovely female guide was politely clapping, suggesting she'd rather be anywhere but here.
"Welcome back, Xel!" Thagan said cheerfully, which Raego responded with a forced smile. The elder, white haired Zibalian gestured for him to stand at his side by a podium at the head of the conference table. He did and the applause kept going; Raego scanned the crowd, recognizing a few faces from the old days but noting that most were new. Thagan certainly had put his stamp on the company. The applause continued until Thagan waved his hands to quiet them. "Please, please, sit. It's quite apparent that we're all greatly relieved that Xel's back after this gross miscarriage of justice..."
"Oh please," he muttered under his breath in exasperation. A few members of the board looked in Raego's direction, having heard the barb, however Thagan continued unabated, perhaps lost in his own ego, thinking that despite Raego standing but a few feet from him, he was still getting away with it.
"...Our founder, our visionary has finally come home. Our reputation restored. Just as we started this company, together once again, we will continue to grow Ziritas Company's brand and market share, to enable the defenseless to defend themselves..." Raego rolled his eyes demonstrably; Thagan even added a slogan! And a terrible slogan at that! The older man put a hand on Raego's shoulder and said, "Now I know nothing we can say or do can give you the last eight years of your life back, but here is a minor token of our esteem and reminder of our long-standing friendship..."
"My job as CEO back?"
"Well, that too," Thagan answered with a chuckle before waving over one of his underlings. Said underling presented a wooden box and opened it, revealing a pair of small pistols. "A pair of the first Krieger Wave pistols, provided to us when we signed the distribution deal with Apgar Industries."
Raego accepted the box and looked it over as the board applauded once more. He checked one of the pistols and had a faint smile. Thagan then interjected, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present our original and returning Chief Executive Officer, Xel Rago!"
He took the lecturn, setting the pistol upon it and let the board clap for a few moments before waving his hand dismissively, saying, "Please, I know, I know. Oh come on, it's not like I just got back from Rura Penthe..." That ellicted a laugh and finally his audience settled down and returned to their chairs. "Having said that, I won't lie: the prison system on Onthas V has a well deserved reputation. I should consider myself fortunate that I survived even a mere eight years. But it taught me a valuable lesson, a lesson about what the most important thing in life is: loyalty."
He tried not to look over his shoulder even though the reaction on Thagan's face was what he had been looking forward to for months now. "Without loyalty in a prison like that, you're dead. Just another animal to be preyed upon by the random tough. Sometimes, though, it's not the big dog that picks a fight with you in the mess hall that should scare you. It's the one who claims they're your friend..."
"Xel..." Thagan warned calmly. "Maybe this isn't the best..."
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Raego growled. He took the pistol off the podium and aimed it at Thagan's head. "I knew it was you who framed me. You were the one who provided the prosecution with the 'evidence!'"
Thagan remained calm. "Xel...relax. You're clearly not yourself. Prison can..."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Aiming the pistol at Thagan's leg, Raego pulled the trigger and much to the former's surprise, it fired. The disruptor bolt hit Thagan in the left flag and he collapsed, screaming in pain. The other members of the board sprang to their feet in horror. "What, surprised your little gift had a charged energy cell?"
"XEL!" Thagan screamed in pain. "Someone call security!"
"Oh, I think you'll find your security's a bit tied up at the moment," Raego said before wincing. "...Gods, that sounded awful. I feel ashamed I even thought to say that! I'm sorry." He then snapped his fingers. "Oh right, security..."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device, tapping a button on top of it. The Zambean oak doors parted again and a gaggle of individuals from species such as Nausicaan, Orion, and one large, hissing Gorn stormed in, all armed with rifle variations of the new Krieger wave disruptor pistol he still had aimed at Thagan. They each stopped behind a board member and pointed their guns at the back of their heads.
"What is the meaning of this?" one of the new targets asked, someone Raego didn't recognize and nonetheless didn't care about.
"Loyalty!" Raego said as he threw his hands up to encompass the room. "You see, these were my prison mates. I did a favor them, they did a favor for me, so on and so forth, and then when I finally got access to my bank accounts back, I paid off the Onthans and they were all too eager to let them go considering the misunderstanding..."
"Xel, please..." Thagan pleaded. "Let me explain..."
In a burst of rage, Raego charged the prone man and started kicking him in the stomach, punctuating each blow with, "STOP! INTERRUPTING! WHEN! I! TALK!"
"You honestly can't believe we all had a part in this," said yet another member of the board in a rather nervous tone, more than likely due to the fact he had a weapon that could disintegrate him in one shot.
"You know, actually I don't!" Raego began circling about the room, keeping his pistol up but not trained on anyone in particular. "That's the funny thing about being cut off from the rest of the universe, about being confined to one's bunk for the night with only your thoughts to keep you company. Your mind really starts to go places, and I've had a good eight years to start wondering just what happened. I mean, I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. That this was a set-up. It wasn't until I got a new lawyer that everything started to fall into place." He stopped long enough to kick Thagan in the head, then continued. "Once my new lawyer started giving me access to company records, law enforcement reports, it all just clicked, you know? I could ask why, Lev, but I really don't give a shit anymore."
"Xel, Xel..." said Thagan. "I was only looking out for our..."
"Oh please!" he said before shooting Thagan again, this time in the shoulder. "Were you looking out for 'our...' whatever the hell you were going to say when you started selling off my collection? Were you looking out for 'us' when you started embezzling from the trust you set aside for me that was supposed to be mine when I got out in twelve to twenty-seven years had this had gone EXACTLY AS YOU PLANNED?!"
"You know what, just be merciful and kill me already! That's what this is all about, isn't it? Kill me and take your company back completely! You'll only ruin it..."
That caused Raego to pause, a pause followed by him aiming his disruptor at his usurper's head. "...what did you say, Lev?"
"Let's face it, Xel," Thagan said through clenched jaw, "you'd be nothing without me. Just a punk smuggler kid with a ship and a cargo hold full of weapons and stupid ideas on how to sell them. I should have been CEO of this company! I was the one who made your little arms dealing side project into one of the most profitable enterprises since Haggath himself! And what did I get in return for all of this?! Chief Financial Officer. Minority stake holder. The deal with Apgar Industries alone should double our value within five years! You would have just kept selling plasma weapons to D'Tan's flotilla until they created the Republic, allied with the Federation and the Klingons, and then watch as our arms trade suddenly dry up. You're not a businessman, Xel; you're just some damn fool who thinks he's smarter than everyone in the galaxy, a smuggler with delusions of grandeur. I didn't spend twenty years helping you to build Ziritas into what it was and what it will be just to watch you throw it away because the only person you ever listen to is yourself!"
Raego sighed and lowered his weapon. "...I see now this is a tad more complex than I thought. But, like you implied, I only listen to me, because I am actually smarter than most people. Miss Hiss?"
"Yess ssir?" asked his trusted female Gorn. Obviously that wasn't her actual name, but it was easier for Raego to pronounce.
"Take this backstabbing son of a bitch's arms off and beat him to death with them," he said before claiming an empty chair at the conference table. "Legs too, while you're at it."
"XEL!" shouted Thagan as the Gorn moved slowly and menacingly towards him, hissing constantly, hence her nickname. "All right, all right, you win! I'll resign, I'll give you all my stake in the company! Whatever you want!"
Raego sighed and snapped his fingers to stop Miss Hiss. "And now you're whining. You're probably going to keep whining, aren't you, even if you're torn limb from limb? Don't think I can tolerate listening to that..."
While still seated, he aimed and fired two shots form his pistol directly into Thagan's forehead. His former friend, former mentor, and former member of the living fell limp. Despite having wanted this moment the second he learned of Thagan's treachery, the actual moment felt greatly unsatisfying. He looked to the horrified members of the board and waved his gun dismissively, "Sooooooo...there we are. Hey, look, in the end, I showed him the mercy he asked for, which is really a lot more than that bastard deserved! Two shots to the face with a disruptor is a HELL of a lot better than getting ripped apart. Now...what shall I do with the rest of you...?"
The board simultaneously offerred their panicked replies that he cut off by firing his gun into the ceiling. "On second thought, never mind. Mr. Whack, please escort the board to the late Mr. Thagan's personal ship. The board's going on a ride to New...Kento...Karthi...wherever Lev set up the distrbution of Apgar's Krieger guns."
"Yes sir," his main Nausicaan (also not his actual name) replied. None of the remaining executives moved, to which Mr. "Whack" roared. "MOOOOOVE!"
Raego's other former fellow prison inmates grabbed the board and started shoving them one by one out of the Zambean doors. His Gorn moved to pick up the body of Thagan to which he tsked tsked, adding, "No, beam him away. No sense carrying his corpse through the entire office."
"And the board, ssir?" she asked.
"Just make sure their ship explodes well outside the trade lanes, Miss Hiss. Shame about the primary phase enducer on Lev's yacht, isn't it?" The old woman Gorn nodded before she slowly shuffled out, hissing and snarling as she did. Raego glanced down to Thagan's corpse and said out loud, "You know you did bring this on yourself, right? Got greedy, thought you could do better than me, then you actually tried to do better than me..."
Of course the corpse didn't respond, not that he'd expect it to. "But, I'm going to suprise you. I'm going to be better than either of us thought I could be..." He glanced over to the entrance and noticed that the young woman who escorted him to the board room was still there, surprisingly unaffected by the slaughter she witnessed. "Something I can help you with?"
"Just wondering what my current state of employment is, sir," she replied calmly.
"Oh, you're still hired. Run along and get me a statement of company assets. If that backstabbing ass Thagan sold off my ship, I'll make sure Miss Hiss does indeed dismember him. And send him to his next of kin piece by piece..."