Company
A soft knock on the door quietly echoed in the expansive room, only slightly overpowered by the distinct tick tock of the archaic analog chronometer resting on the elaborate greel wood desk at the room's center. The ticking of the chronometer masked the slight hum of the terminals built into a black doomium frame in the desk's center. The doonium frame was expensive, as was the greel wood surrounding it and the room in which it sat. The expansive room was sparsely but purposively decorated, each piece of furniture or art placed just so. The room gave the impression of a small hangar, longer than it was wide with tall ceilings. Around the ceiling's edges bright light flooded down from some unseen fixture, illuminating the room with indirect light so as to further the cavernous feel about it. Along the walls on either side elaborate tapestries hung, a set of four mirroring each other with deep red and black threading, highlighted with white accents that depicted the fall of the former Republic, and the rise of the Empire. The floor and walls were durasteel, painted with a matte black coating so as to appear endless like the void. Covering most of the floor was a large rug, an antique of Alderaanian make that hid the black void of the floor behind cool gray and copper tones, with turquoise and green highlights that melded at its center to remind the view of the temperate planet. The desk sat at the room's center, a monolith that appeared to be built into the floor rather than placed, acting as the control station of the cavernous, hangar-like office. The desk was illuminated by small, unobtrusive spotlights at either corner of the room behind it, creating a warm glow on the desk that appeared to come from nowhere. Behind the desk sat an older man, his gray hair keenly swept back to clearly show the creased and wrinkled face, and gold-rimmed glasses far down on his noise. His robes, a Chandrillian affair made of black cloth with a white outer sash that was trimmed in gold, accentuated his appearance to form that of a dignified, authoritative figure. He did not notice the knocking on the door, too engrossed in the holographic charts and ordered lists in front of him. The chronometer tick tocked quietly next to him, adjacent to an electronic picture frame that slowly changed images showing the older man with his wife and daughter. Both the frame and the chronometer were the only items on the desk, otherwise spotless and unburdened.
The room stayed still for a moment, before the knock came again through the doorway, this time louder. The sharper echo broke the man's concentration for a moment. He glanced the door without stopping his work, calling aloud "Come in".
The door slid aside into the wall with soft hiss of air as a sharply dressed woman appeared, stack of datapads in one hand as she strode across the room without waiting for an acknowledgement. The man glanced at her as he continued to read through a report on his holoscreen, "More acquisitions for me to stamp, Lyn?" Lyn gently placed the stack of datapads to the empty side of his desk, "Yes sir, I've already reviewed them so you can just stamp them and I'll be off." The man minimized his holoscreen, sliding the stack of datapads to the center of the desk. He reached beneath him, sliding his thumb onto a print scanner. After a few seconds the thumb scanner turned from red to green, and with a soft click the lower right hand drawer unlocked and slid open to reveal a single code cylinder, nestled in its own foam receptacle. He pulled the cylinder from its hidden safe, sliding it into the bottom of a pad as he glanced at the report on its face and chuckled at the appearance of the digitally secured stamp on the screen, a red square filled with intricate rings surrounding the company logo, Kiharaphor Engineering, and bordered by his name and actual signature - Cas Radi, CEO.
It was an old custom, stamping the necessary paperwork with the company chop. Nothing in the corporate world moved forward without a signature, and on Chandrila the chop is your signature. Much like the ancient chronometer on his desk, the custom was far older than any living Chandrilan. He knew it came from the days of actual, physical paperwork, when there were stacks and stacks of it in every office on the planet. The stamp represented the signature of the user, and every stamp was unique to the person, or in this instance corporation, that it represented. Back then it had been hand carved and designed stamps, intricately made and difficult or downright impossible to fake a copy. Now of course the old ink and stamp had been replaced much the same way the paper it went with had - now the "stamp" was a unique code produced only once. The old stamps had been secure through its own physical security, but also the incredible detailing and imperfections of hand manufacturing that you couldn't replicate easily. Its modern incarnation was the security code the code cylinder carried, a unique string of data produced by recording the ambient noise of deep space, which would then be run through a series of random number generators. The code cylinder that held the security key would self destruct if you attempted to copy the key it carried, making it impossible for anyone to make a fake of the original. Its physical security then, was paramount. For many corporations, this meant that a single person, usually the CEO, would hold the company chop themselves. Replacing the chop usually took an extreme effort and required the signatures of several people, including a separate legal representative of the company who had the sole authority to approve the replacement of the chop.
For Kiharaphor Engineering, a series corporate restructurings had meant that Cas Radi was both the holder of the company chop and the sole legal representative with the responsibility of approving a replacement chop should he lose it. An unusual case, but a temporary one while a new representative was identified and established. A temporary situation he hoped would soon be corrected. The company had suffered several setbacks, a string of market failures and misjudgments had forced the closure of one of their primary facilities. Bad luck, he thought to himself. Not that the board saw it that way of course. They blamed him for the failures, but as long as they got through the rough patch, he thought to himself, everything would work out fine. Cas slowly stamped the datapads one by one absentmindedly, glancing at their titles as he did so without registering much of the content. Acquisition request. Stamped. Quarterly Earnings report, middling. Stamped. Strategy Meeting minutes. Stamped. Termination of Cas Radi Effective Immediately. Stam-
Cas stopped himself before plugging in the code cylinder. He reread the title of the datapad document. "Termination of Cas Radi, Effective Immediately." He scanned through the document, reading through the notes. Termination for Cause, at behest of the board members and stamped by Muxal Mudo, Board President. Bastard. Shit. They did blame him for the downturn.
"Is everything ok, Mr. Radi?" Lyn asked. Cas jerked out of his internalization, looking up at the secretary. She looked slightly nervous, glancing down at the datapad in his one hand, company chop in the other. "Uh...yes. Everything is fine. This one needs further review, I think." Cas's mind was racing. He had worked for the company for close to thirty years. He had started in the mail room for god's sake. And they were just going to replace him! All for a poor quarter! He had given his life for this company. He thought of all the time, the long nights and weekends. Time missed with his loved ones. Time he can't get back. He looked down at the company chop in his hand, feeling the weight of it in his hand. He felt the defeat wash over him, sinking down to a pit in his stomach as he looked back at Lyn. She showed a brief flash of pity, before her face hardened back into the professional she was trained to be. "Yes, Lyn, everything's..." He trailed off, his eyes watering. He looked down at the datapad blaring his termination notice, moving slowly to stamp his signature on his own demise. He glanced briefly at the remaining datapad below it, catching its title. "Authorization for transfer of legal authority." He moved the first pad aside, reading further into the second. It was authorizing the change of legal representative and authority for the company chop from him to another executive.
The realization dawned on Cas Radi with a sudden flash. They couldn't fire him without the company's- no, his, stamp. And they couldn't get a new company chop without a new representative. And they couldn't get a new representative without his stamp of approval. They couldn't fire him, not so long as he held the chop. Lyn looked down at Cas, slightly wide eyed as she knew what thought had just occurred in the CEO's head. Cas smiled at Lyn, handing back the stack of datapads to her, the last two on top and unstamped. "Thank you Lyn, please return these." Lyn fumbled with the datapads as he shoved them into her arms, stuttering for a moment, "b-but sir, I need your stamp on- "
"I'm aware. Please return the datapads. And let Mr. Mudo know that I do not appreciate him using you in his dirty work." Lyn tried to protest, but Cas rose from his desk and began shooing her out of the ornate office. As he pushed out of her of the doorway, Lyn turned to stutter one more protest with "Mr. Radi- " before the doorway slide shut with a hiss in her face. Cas locked the door, shoving the company chop into his inner breast pocket. He knew he wouldn't be able to leave it here, Emperor knows who had the ability to open it beside himself. His thoughts raced, preparations in his head now for the next few days...
The following morning Cas Radi walked out of the turbolift and into the executive atrium - mostly a reception area for the various executive offices. In the brightly lit atrium, waiting for him, was a group of four security guards and Mr. Muxal Mudo himself. Muxal was a large, plump man whose boyish good looks had long failed him. He sported a receding hairline and circle beard that did not fit his overstuffed face, and wore robes that looked gaudy and ostentatious rather than the classy presentation of wealth he thought it was. When the lower classes pictured the upper class and their gluttonous greed, it was this man they saw. The four security guards that flanked him on either side were all tall, brutish figures in sharp black uniforms emblazoned with the red corporate logo, designed to make them appear like jackbooted thugs. They carried no weapons; there wasn't such a need on the executive level. For a moment Cas debated with himself whether or not to acknowledge the party, deciding last second that it would be better if he did. "Mr. Mudo, what a pleasure for you to grace us with your presence. And an entourage! My has Coruscant returned to the criminality of the Republic?" Cas smiled as he walked past the group, passing Lyn at her desk who looked extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation. Muxal's face slowly began to turn red as Cas walked past his unsuccessful display of authority, blustering his words, "Mr. Radi the Board has called for your termination! Stop this instant!" Cas ignored him for the moment, walking confidently into his office. The door had been locked when he left last night, but he was not surprised it was unlocked on his arrival. His office, he found, was a disheveled mess. The grand tapestries had been torn down from the walls, his desk ransacked, and the exquisite carpet rolled up and place to one side. Someone had been looking for something. Cas knew exactly what that was, confirming his suspicions as he sat at his desk and eyed the open safe drawer. It's greel wood face was marred and blackened by some EMP charge. Cas began to reorder his desk, restarting his holoterminal - this took a hard thud with his fist to restart it, probably from the EMP charge - and starting his work day as he had for the last 30 years. Mudo and his band of thugs marched into the office, Muxal carrying a datapad that he slammed down onto the desk in front of Cas. "Mr. Radi! The Board has terminated you. Turn over the corporate chop and pack your things or I will have security...handle. It." Muxal seethed through gritted teeth and a beet red face. His short temper was well known, and he had the authority for it to scare his subordinates. In this case, it only amused Cas. Cas looked down at the datapad that displayed the same termination notice he had not signed last night. Cas leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together in his lap with a faint smile, appearing like some amused professor ready to contradict a colleague they most despised. "Yes, Muxal, I have received your request for my resignation. Unfortunately at this time I have to politely decline your request." Cas said calmly, with almost a reluctant tone to his voice. This only served to upset Muxal more, as intended. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU "DECLINE"!" Muxal roared. He leaned forward on the desk, slamming his grubby hands onto the desktop. "Radi you have been fired. The Board- " Cas waved his hand dismissingly, "Yes yes yes, I'm aware of what "the board" has been bullied into agreeing too by you. And I've opted to decline. Now please, I have work to do." Muxal jumped slightly at the dismissive attitude of Cas like he had been stung. No one talked to him like that. With a look of bewilderment and rage he turned to the security guards, "WELL. Do something idiots!" The security guards looked at each other, and then as one begun to move towards Cas. He was ready for this, however, "I believe you'll find that quite unnecessary Director Pak." he said, raising his hand to stop them. The guards hesitated as Cas opened a file on his holoterminal. "As you can see her Director, Mr. Mudo, and no other Board Member for that matter, has authority over Security. That ultimate authority falls to myself. On an unrelated note, I did approve the pay rise for yourself and your staff last week." The security guards looked at each other, then between Cas and Muxal who seemed to be slowly reaching critical mass. Muxal say there confusion, quickly glancing back and forth between Cas's smiling and relaxed demeanor and the confused Security Director. "He. Has. Been. FIRED. Escort this man off the premises!" Muxal hissed angrily at the Director. "Mr. Mudo, uh, sir, he's right. The org chart is stamped and approved. Mr. Radi has final say." Muxal exploded with rage, "I DON'T BLOODY CARE WHAT IT SAYS. ARREST. HIM." he roared, swinging his left hand widely to gesture at Cas, knocking the photo frame of his family off the desk, shattering it on the ground. Cas stood up abruptly, no longer appearing the friendly older gentleman he was before but now the authoritative and shrewd CEO of a megacorporation. "Muxal, that is quite enough." Cas pressed the comlink key on his terminal, Lyn answering on the other side. She could hear them all of course with the shouting, but he wanted to nail his point home. "Lyn, please see Mr. Mudo out. If he gives you any trouble - " he nodded at Director Pak, "please have Security escort him out." Lyn replied with a timid yes sir, Cas releasing the comlink. Muxal was babbling angrily, berating the confused Security Director and Cas. Cas slammed his own hand down on the desktop, getting Muxal's attention. "Muxal that is quite enough. Unless you have any other business to discuss, get out of my office." Cas said, emphasizing that this was his office. He could see the steam blowing out of Muxal's ears, he knew he had hit the nerve. "Fine, Radi, but I will discuss this insubordination with the Board!" he yelled, before being escorted by an uncomfortable Lyn and the four security guards. Cas remained standing until the door shut behind them. He sat down at his desk, looking around at his disheveled office. He would get Lyn to have the housekeepers help him put everything back in place, he thought. Cas looked down at his briefcase - not the usual well worn bantha leather one he carried. This one was new, a burnt umber colored gundark leather case. It weighed nearly double his old one, on account of the heavy Beskar plating inside that formed the incredibly durable safe inside it. Like his desk safe it was equipped with a thumb print scanner, but it also had a mechanical tumbler lock - one made of Cortosis. Anything short of an Imperial Star Destroyer's main turbolaser batteries wouldn't even dent the briefcase - and even then it would possibly take a few shots. He hefted the case onto his desk, opening it carefully. It popped open to reveal the company chop - the small code cylinder that would be his ultimate weapon in this fight. It also contained a small cylinder of credit chips, each one worth hundreds of thousands of imperial credits, a new heavy duty blaster pistol and several power cells, and a small framed picture of his family. He pulled the frame from his case, closing it shut and locking it carefully, before placing the new photo frame on his desk to replace the shattered one. The photo was of his smiling wife and daughter, the picture now several years old. He missed them both terribly. He could never get them back, or the time that he had missed with them. But he wasn't going to let that greedy bastard take what he had left.
The following morning Cas Radi walked out of the turbolift and into the executive atrium - mostly a reception area for the various executive offices. In the brightly lit atrium, waiting for him, was a group of four security guards and Mr. Muxal Mudo himself. Muxal was a large, plump man whose boyish good looks had long failed him. He sported a receding hairline and circle beard that did not fit his overstuffed face, and wore robes that looked gaudy and ostentatious rather than the classy presentation of wealth he thought it was. When the lower classes pictured the upper class and their gluttonous greed, it was this man they saw. The four security guards that flanked him on either side were all tall, brutish figures in sharp black uniforms emblazoned with the red corporate logo, designed to make them appear like jackbooted thugs. They carried no weapons; there wasn't such a need on the executive level. For a moment Cas debated with himself whether or not to acknowledge the party, deciding last second that it would be better if he did. "Mr. Mudo, what a pleasure for you to grace us with your presence. And an entourage! My has Coruscant returned to the criminality of the Republic?" Cas smiled as he walked past the group, passing Lyn at her desk who looked extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation. Muxal's face slowly began to turn red as Cas walked past his unsuccessful display of authority, blustering his words, "Mr. Radi the Board has called for your termination! Stop this instant!" Cas ignored him for the moment, walking confidently into his office. The door had been locked when he left last night, but he was not surprised it was unlocked on his arrival. His office, he found, was a disheveled mess. The grand tapestries had been torn down from the walls, his desk ransacked, and the exquisite carpet rolled up and place to one side. Someone had been looking for something. Cas knew exactly what that was, confirming his suspicions as he sat at his desk and eyed the open safe drawer. It's greel wood face was marred and blackened by some EMP charge. Cas began to reorder his desk, restarting his holoterminal - this took a hard thud with his fist to restart it, probably from the EMP charge - and starting his work day as he had for the last 30 years. Mudo and his band of thugs marched into the office, Muxal carrying a datapad that he slammed down onto the desk in front of Cas. "Mr. Radi! The Board has terminated you. Turn over the corporate chop and pack your things or I will have security...handle. It." Muxal seethed through gritted teeth and a beet red face. His short temper was well known, and he had the authority for it to scare his subordinates. In this case, it only amused Cas. Cas looked down at the datapad that displayed the same termination notice he had not signed last night. Cas leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together in his lap with a faint smile, appearing like some amused professor ready to contradict a colleague they most despised. "Yes, Muxal, I have received your request for my resignation. Unfortunately at this time I have to politely decline your request." Cas said calmly, with almost a reluctant tone to his voice. This only served to upset Muxal more, as intended. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU "DECLINE"!" Muxal roared. He leaned forward on the desk, slamming his grubby hands onto the desktop. "Radi you have been fired. The Board- " Cas waved his hand dismissingly, "Yes yes yes, I'm aware of what "the board" has been bullied into agreeing too by you. And I've opted to decline. Now please, I have work to do." Muxal jumped slightly at the dismissive attitude of Cas like he had been stung. No one talked to him like that. With a look of bewilderment and rage he turned to the security guards, "WELL. Do something idiots!" The security guards looked at each other, and then as one begun to move towards Cas. He was ready for this, however, "I believe you'll find that quite unnecessary Director Pak." he said, raising his hand to stop them. The guards hesitated as Cas opened a file on his holoterminal. "As you can see her Director, Mr. Mudo, and no other Board Member for that matter, has authority over Security. That ultimate authority falls to myself. On an unrelated note, I did approve the pay rise for yourself and your staff last week." The security guards looked at each other, then between Cas and Muxal who seemed to be slowly reaching critical mass. Muxal say there confusion, quickly glancing back and forth between Cas's smiling and relaxed demeanor and the confused Security Director. "He. Has. Been. FIRED. Escort this man off the premises!" Muxal hissed angrily at the Director. "Mr. Mudo, uh, sir, he's right. The org chart is stamped and approved. Mr. Radi has final say." Muxal exploded with rage, "I DON'T BLOODY CARE WHAT IT SAYS. ARREST. HIM." he roared, swinging his left hand widely to gesture at Cas, knocking the photo frame of his family off the desk, shattering it on the ground. Cas stood up abruptly, no longer appearing the friendly older gentleman he was before but now the authoritative and shrewd CEO of a megacorporation. "Muxal, that is quite enough." Cas pressed the comlink key on his terminal, Lyn answering on the other side. She could hear them all of course with the shouting, but he wanted to nail his point home. "Lyn, please see Mr. Mudo out. If he gives you any trouble - " he nodded at Director Pak, "please have Security escort him out." Lyn replied with a timid yes sir, Cas releasing the comlink. Muxal was babbling angrily, berating the confused Security Director and Cas. Cas slammed his own hand down on the desktop, getting Muxal's attention. "Muxal that is quite enough. Unless you have any other business to discuss, get out of my office." Cas said, emphasizing that this was his office. He could see the steam blowing out of Muxal's ears, he knew he had hit the nerve. "Fine, Radi, but I will discuss this insubordination with the Board!" he yelled, before being escorted by an uncomfortable Lyn and the four security guards. Cas remained standing until the door shut behind them. He sat down at his desk, looking around at his disheveled office. He would get Lyn to have the housekeepers help him put everything back in place, he thought. Cas looked down at his briefcase - not the usual well worn bantha leather one he carried. This one was new, a burnt umber colored gundark leather case. It weighed nearly double his old one, on account of the heavy Beskar plating inside that formed the incredibly durable safe inside it. Like his desk safe it was equipped with a thumb print scanner, but it also had a mechanical tumbler lock - one made of Cortosis. Anything short of an Imperial Star Destroyer's main turbolaser batteries wouldn't even dent the briefcase - and even then it would possibly take a few shots. He hefted the case onto his desk, opening it carefully. It popped open to reveal the company chop - the small code cylinder that would be his ultimate weapon in this fight. It also contained a small cylinder of credit chips, each one worth hundreds of thousands of imperial credits, a new heavy duty blaster pistol and several power cells, and a small framed picture of his family. He pulled the frame from his case, closing it shut and locking it carefully, before placing the new photo frame on his desk to replace the shattered one. The photo was of his smiling wife and daughter, the picture now several years old. He missed them both terribly. He could never get them back, or the time that he had missed with them. But he wasn't going to let that greedy bastard take what he had left.
