23. Chapter

The agreements were quickly hashed out, FRIDAY checking for loopholes and adding suggestions where she could.

Paramexor complained about the amount of work it would be to send all the data he had collected to Tony, expressing a sort of disbelief when Tony mentioned that he would have to go back to Alderaan immediately after the meeting. Tony reassured him that thing would work out, but Paramexor remained unconvinced until Tony admitted he had a couple factories on Alderaan and needed to rework them to make gear for bounty hunters.

In the end, Paramexor would have full control over the bounty hunters until Tony's shipments began arriving. Meanwhile, Tony would be reading over Paramexor's data and how to run an organization. Tony neglected to tell Paramexor that he had been the head of a company with hundreds of thousands of people. No need to give the man insecurity issues.

Because that was the gist of it. Paramexor did not know who he was. He was not familiar with the raw destruction that was sitting across the table from him. Tony may have been known on earth as the Da Vinci of their time, but there was a reason one of his titles was the Merchant of Death.

Let Paramexor hold onto his misconceptions. As much as he appreciated the man, it would be Tony who would be calling the shots. Paramexor could hold the reins, the Pepper to his SI, but House Paramexor would know who was really leading them.

As much as he tried to hide it, something of his more vicious weapon-maker days must have slipped through, because Paramexor had a baffled air about him as they shook hands and left the room.

Right outside the door, there was something of a Mexican standoff, with Paramexor's men on one side, Tony's crew on the other, and Fett as his own team, looking darkly amused at the entire situation. Tony gave the expert bounty hunter an unamused look as he herded his crew away.

"He-he called you a-" Kristoff stuttered in anger, pointing at Kal-tan-shi or whatever-his-name-was as Suffee grasped his wrist and pulled him along.

"I'm probably calling him worse things inside my head," Tony said. "Chances are, I've probably been called worse things on my very own homeplanet. What can I say? I've had a wild past."

"He has," Friday agreed.

"And what's up with her?" Kristoff asked, jerking his arm away from Suffee, turning his finger on Friday, who poked it. Kristoff jolted back when he made contact with Friday, who grinned at him. He gave Friday an unimpressed look.

"Yeah, that's Friday," Tony said. "Not here," he snapped, noticing some bounty hunters in a loose knot around the corner. "Call everyone onto the ship. We're heading to Alderaan. Crew meeting on the bridge fifteen minutes after hyperspace."

"Everyone's already gathered. I said sorry to the government, paid the illegal entry fee, and signed off," Friday chipped in, looking pleased with herself. "We're going through the preflight check right now. We can leave right after you board the ship."

"Good job," Tony said, nodding to Friday.

"So that's really FRIDAY?" Kristoff asked.

-Insert a Freakin' Quote Already-

"Yes, that's really FRIDAY," Tony said, predicting Kristoff's question. Kristoff slowly closed his mouth and pulled his arm down. "It's hard-light technology. Might make some more for SI use, but not going to be mass-produced. Don't touch it. There's an electric current running through it."

Galee poked Friday again. "I can't believe you made solid holograms," she said eyes glittering. "Could you make something like that for me? Quick, inexpensive outfit changes, oh, that'd be a dream."

"You'd have to carry a five-by-five box around with you to emi the holoforms in the first place, so I don't think you'd be interested," Tony said. "Next off… House Paramexor. Half of it now belongs to me, for the low, low price of SI backing!"

He was met with silence.

"Okay, so, like, I get that you're not leaving us for a bigger, badder group of bounty hunters, so what the heck?" Galee asked.

"We're the better group," Kristoff said darkly.

"She didn't say that!" Greer said.

"Galee has merely professed that they are more numerically advanced and commit more crimes than us due to being active for longer," Kovlo cut in. Galee stuck her tongue at Kristoff. "Enough. If you provoke each other, I will put you both in time-out." As the two spluttered, Kovlo looked at Suffee, who gave him an awkward thumbs-up.

"Did I do the 'thumbs-up' correctly?" Suffee asked Tony.

"...Yeah." Tony said.

"Why do you want to be the co-leader, though?" Greer asked.

"Being the leader of an organization of that size… that would take up a lot of time. I'm not sure you can run that, SI, and still hunt with us," Suffee said reasonably. "Will you be taking an active role in running it, or will it be in name only?"

"Why in the galaxy would you make that deal?" Bai-Gon asked bluntly.

Quinton elbowed him. "Because what would be better than having an army under your control?" he joked.

"Because he is going to take over the Bounty Hunter's Guild," Fett said, speaking up for the first time. "They are the largest, semi-legal institution not under a government's thumb. They are quite possibly the only one at this time with a chance of standing against the Jedi."

There was an awkward pause as all eyes turned to Fett. Then, Suffee slowly turned to Tony to look him in the eyes.

"Hey, man, that was a joke,' Quinton said after a moment, breaking the silence. Almost immediately, everyone let their thoughts on that out.

"I get that you don't like Jedi, but really?" Bai-Gon said sceptically. "Quit it."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Guys, he just doesn't like Jedi, okay? Just let it go," Kristoff said awkwardly.

"Like they stand a chance. The Jedi are invincible," someone else scoffed.

Under the clamor, Suffee asked quietly, "You aren't planning that, are you? You can't."

Tony shook his head, eyes on the crew. He had not been expecting such defenses. "I'm not attacking the Jedi, I'm just limiting them." He considered the crew. "Do you guys know any Jedi?"

"We know of some Jedi. The Aleenas are apparently related to one or something. It's not surprising; they have big families."

Tony nodded thoughtfully.

FRIDAY made the alarms blare for one heart-stopping moment, making everyone panic and turn to the terminal, expecting some emergency. The alarms stopped a moment later. "Thank you for behaving in an orderly manner," Friday informed them primly.

"Right," Tony said. "Okay, we're not attacking the Jedi. Killing government agents… well, that's generally a bad thing, so we're not doing that. We're just setting up something different. The Jedi, they need some checks and balances. They can't just go into people's minds and make them do things. They need hard limits."

He noticed the Aleenas open their mouths to protest, angered looks on their faces and realized he could not just list their wrongdoings and expect everyone to agree. He needed to go the softer route, too.

"They're stretched out, too. There's not enough Jedi, and too many things a Jedi can do. What are they, peacekeepers? Healers? Guards? Crime investigators? Philosophers and monks? Diplomats? One-man armies? 'Guardians against the dark side?' Collectors of ancient art? What are they?"

Tony watched as they paused, thoughtful. The Aleena looked like they were reluctantly listening, but at least they were listening at all. Tony counted it as a win

"Furthermore, why them? Forget all the rumors you know about them. Really, who are they? As far as I can tell, they're a religious institution, sort of a cult. Why should they be the ones who determine what's right and what's not? There's not enough of them for the power they supposedly hold."

"There's at least ten thousand of them. I think that's plenty," Kristoff said irritably.

"And how many millions of systems are there?" Friday asked icily. "Don't interrupt my father."

Tony inclined his head in thanks to Friday. "They received a tip-off about Mandalore, didn't have enough people to send someone in to investigate, and so sent off a unit to slaughter the wrong side. Everyone but one." He nodded to Fett.

Slowly, realization dawned on a few faces. "Sorry, Jango, I didn't know," Charell apologized.

"My condolences for your friends," Kolvo said.

"Sorry."

"I didn't know. I wouldn't have said that if I knew."

Fett sat, face unchanging like a stone, and it occurred to Tony that maybe the man did not want people to know.

"That's not the only time. Friday can list dozens of times in the last century where it was questionable if they were doing the right thing. A group of that amount of power should at least be well-informed. They should at least try to confirm rumors before they rush in, blasters blazing."

There. Enough to convince people that liked the Jedi that the institution was not in danger of attack, yet agreeable enough for the ones that disliked them.

Except for Fett, maybe. Then again, that guy was never happy, and he downright hated the Jedi.

"So, we good?" Without waiting for an answer, Tony barreled on. "Does anyone want to add something to the meeting?"

"Can you make me a suit like the Red… er, Iron Man?" Kristoff asked, eyes on Friday. Friday smiled in satisfaction as he corrected himself.

-Insert a Freakin' Quote AlreadyIron Man liberates Denevar

Breaking News: Iron Man Appears for Most Destructive Debut Yet!

IRON MAN ATTACKS DENEVAR

Iron Man Comes to the Defense of Paramexor

Paramexor Speaks - SI an Ally

30% off discount at Dex's Diner!

Stark and Iron Man - Any Connection?

Price drop on the latest comlink upgrades - Buy now!

Jedi Settles Dispute on Midrim Territory - Read Now!

-Insert a Freakin' Quote AlreadyOn the edge of a distant, rarely traveled asteroid field in a barren area of the galaxy, a ship called The Black Fist suddenly jumped out of hyperspace. An Iron Man suit and an Iron Maiden flew out, carrying unidentifiable parts before returning for more. As soon as the last items were settled safely on a large asteroid, the spaceship entered hyperspace. The entire process took less than one minute.

Iron Man held different pieces in place, as Iron Maiden's more dexterous digits fluttered over the screws and bolts and wielded whatever needed to be. Most of the pieces were already finished, though, and by the end of an hour, two drones stood at ready on the asteroid.

The first to move was the automated mining drone, cutting into the asteroid and processing the raw materials. Less than half an hour later, the second drone went active, taking the refined metal and began doing its job as an automated manufacturing drone.

Three hours later, there were two mining drones and two manufacturing drones. Six hours since the start, there were four of each. A whole day later saw two hundred and fifty six of them, all toiling away. And from there, the numbers exploded.

Iron Man brought herded more asteroids over and Iron Maiden began carting drones to nearby asteroid fields.

In forty-eight hours, there were over sixty-five thousand of the things. They hit a million before the day was out and surpassed it without fanfare. By seventy-two hours, there were four billion.

By this point, the two armors sent out a signal to all the manufacturing drones, which started crafting other materials. A few started making parts for transport crates. Some began crafting rough droids that used clumsy servos to put the crates together. Others began crafting parts for StarkPhones and StarkTerminals. A few, damaged by astroids that Iron Man and Iron Maiden were unable to protect them from, continued create mining droids.

By the time a train of shuttles came almost two weeks later, there would be enough cargo to make the pilots faint.

-Insert a Freakin' Quote AlreadyThey finally met in the empty rec room, by the portholes. Suffee was quiet as Tony approached, not looking away from the window. Tony waited, but Suffee seemed content to just watch the galaxy move.

"So what happens now?" Tony asked, breaking the silence.

Suffee stared at him with those large, bulbous eyes for a long moment before looking away. "Does it matter?" the Rodian asked bitterly, eyes fixed on the distant stars as they shot past, almost too quick to see. "No matter what I say, no matter what I tell you… it's not going to convince you. You're not going to stop."

Tony opened his mouth, but then their eyes met in the reflection of the glass.

For a moment, Tony saw an odd imposition of two redheads he knew - Pepper and her need to protect, the disapproval of Iron Man, along with Natasha and her insistence of bending under pressure because 'they weren't going to stop.' It was an odd mixture of standing firm, yet giving in.

"Yeah," Tony admitted after a long moment, "I'm not going to stop."

"I won't stand in your way, but don't expect me to agree." Suffee turned from him and walked away.

Tony took two steps after the Rodian, then stopped, deciding to give his second-in-command a break. Instead, he went to the workshop, passing through several open doors. He passed the rec room, where Gis and Kristoff were huddled, snickering over something that they immediately hid.

A few doors later, he heard the females of the ship in Galee's commandeered room through the open door.

"I have also added… automatic physical responses to emotional stimuli," Friday admitted.

"Like?"

"Once certain thresholds are reached or overcome, human reactions will be followed. The end results included for certain operational parameters include blushing, shedding tears, or frowning." He finally reached the doorway and walked pass, Friday seamlessly raising a hand in greeting the split second he appeared in eyesight before disappearing.

Tony paused and walked back to make sure he was not seeing things due to his old age. Nope, his eyes did not deceive him. Friday did have purple hair and a mini dress that was styled like a galaxy. And there were definitely star stickers on her shoulder.

"Hi!" Galee said cheerfully as she tried to make yet another sticker adhere to the hard-light. Tony was convinced that it would not work, and tried to figure out how Galee managed to get the ones on Friday's shoulders to stay.

"They're not sticking, just balanced," Friday explained, shrugging her shoulder. True to her word, the stickers fluttered down the moment her shoulder tilted.

"I can fix that," Tony offered.

"Can you fix the fact that I lose motor control for three-fifths of a second whenever someone touches the holoform?" Friday asked.

"Or the fact that if something touches the holoform for more than five minutes, it burns?" Charell held up a blanket, disgruntled.

"Come down to the lab in half an hour and I'll look into it," Tony said, wondering how they managed to do that.

Heading down the stairs to the bottom floor of the ship, Tony wondered about the viability of making stairs that could turn into slides for amusement, if nothing else. From there, it traveled to starships. Starships were expensive, yet they were going through them at an alarming rate. In fact, if Tony had not contacted Prestor, he was sure that the crew of The Black Fist would have been arrested the moment they landed on Alderaan - the ship was listed as a pirate ship and were wanted.

Tony could not expect Fett to show up right on time with a trusty ship or for a very convenient pirate ship to appear whenever he needed one to. Plus, the ships were surprisingly delicate for something capable of space flight. And the prices of fuel? That was almost a crime.

But what about StarkShips? Shielded spacecrafts that could stand more than two direct hits, powered by the arc reactor - no fueling necessary. To protect the reactors, he did not have to sell them, just lease.

Tony recorded a transmission forPrestor. "Hey, Prestar? I just wanted to let you know that I'm going into the starship business. Tell anyone owning a starship to sell all stocks and go look into agriculture or something. I'm going to be revolutionizing space travel."

He sent it and started a timer. Three minutes later, the terminal dinged.

-Insert a Freakin' Quote AlreadyHis StarkPhone dinged, a sound that was quickly becoming commonplace in the Organa's palace.

In a well-practiced move, Bail reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out his Starkphone, not stopping his rapid scroll down a datapad or slowing his walk. Finishing the chapter, Bail switched his gaze to the phone

-TS-

#PersonFound #Stark'sDaughter

BailOrgana Look outside.

-HisGirlFRIDAY

-TSBail stopped, frown on his face. He glanced outside through the long hall of arches, seeing a starship lowering down on their private shipyard. Wondering what it was about, he checked all of his notifications on 'Stark' and 'Friday.' There was nothing he had not seen yet, just the 'Iron' robots - if they were iron, he would kiss a Twi'lek - photos of Denevar, and Stark's latest ship, the latest StarkPhone commercial…

Hold on…

Bail flipped back to the latest starship that Tony Stark had commandeered, holding it up to the starship that was just settling down. It looked like the exact same one, but that did not mean anything - starships were mass-produced.

Still, his heart was beating faster and his mouth was drying up. "Can you handle it on your own?" he blurted out impulsively.

"What?" the advisor asked, surprised.

"The finance meeting, can you handle it alone? Just this once? I… Something came up."

"Do you know how-" The advisor stopped, looking at Bail's face, then to the window. He began smirking. "Of course, sir. Have fun." He winked and pulled out his own StarkPhone as he walked away, no doubt sending the newest gossip down the secret group chat that the Organas just knew their staff had.

Bail could not find it in himself to care. Checking to see that no one else was in the hall, he did something he had not done in years. He hopped into the railing and grabbed the branch of the trusty chinar tree that he used in his childhood years to escape his father's army of tutors. He tested the branch, but it stood firm.

One last glance to make sure the coast was clear, and Bail swung himself onto the branch and climbed down before racing through the gardens towards the shipyard. He checked his robes and saw that there were leaves and a smudge of dirt. Hopefully no one would notice.

He reached the shipyard, only to see his father and his father's head advisor already there. The head advisor that happened to be the one who taught him how to manage finances. He also happened to be the one that suggested Bail head a finance meeting for experience.

Whoops.

Bail gave them a sheepish look. The advisor glared, but Prestor only looked amused, holding out his hand expectantly. The advisor reluctantly handed some credits over.

"Is it them?" Bail asked his father, resolutely ignoring the fact that his father and his teacher were betting on him. Is it her?

"You have to be more specific than that," the head advisor said snidely, still smarting over the lost credits.

"Friday, is she here?" Bail asked, unable to keep his excitement in.

Prestor sighed. "Yes, the Starks have arrived and will most definitely not be causing an economic upheaval in seven days." He handed a few credits back to the advisor.

Bail stared. "Economic upheaval?" He fidgeted. "Should I… be in the meeting?" he asked reluctantly. As much as he wanted to be there when - if - Friday walked off the ship, the planet was more important.

To Bail's relief, Prestor shook his head. "The meet is not due to start until Mr. Stark arrives to the room."

"He is the one who is causing the meeting," the advisor added.

"I'm the one causing Alderaan to land on top of the upheaval."

Bail spun around to see Tony Stark behind him. A Rodian was leading a Trandoshan away and two humans who had to be related were moving crates down. Bail eagerly looked around for a girl his age or the flying orb. To his disappointment, neither were there.

He gave a short bow to the inventor. "Excuse my attire. I will be at the meeting shortly," he said.

He was waved off. "No need," Tony replied. "You'd be otherwise occupied."

"Bail."

Hearing his name from Friday's familiar voice, Bail stopped and turned with a smile, expecting to greet Friday's orb. The words died on his lips as he saw the approaching goddess. Scarlett hair carelessly swept over her left shoulder, fading to gold. Tanned skin that almost glowed. Dark eyes blinking up at him, framed by long lashes. Bail was struck speechless.

But it was Friday. It could not possibly be anyone else but Tony's daughter. He could see the mischievous inventor in the shape of her eyes and the curve of her jaw, the impertinent way she met his gaze squarely, unafraid of tradition and rank and unbound by Alderaanian traditions.

She was a blaze of color, colors that signified… Well, Bail was not sure exactly what, but he knew it was probably bad, judging by the way the head advisor stiffened beside him. Or maybe the stuffy old man was offended by how much skin she was showing, a lot more than the average Alderaanian.

"Friday," Bail breathed. He held his hand out. Blinking, Friday took a moment too long to reach out, but Tony understood - Friday was doing a quick research of Alderaanian traditions to determine actions and intent.

"Cloaking technology?" Prestor whispered to Tony unsurprisingly, eyes on Friday. He had just witnessed a crate suddenly disappear, a girl standing in its place.

"Nothing as fancy as that," Tony said. "Interested?"

Tony watched the younger Organa carefully from the sidelines. This was the moment of truth. Friday placed her palm gently on Bail's hand. Tony knew the moment they made contact - Bail twitched in surprise, no doubt feeling the humming of her 'skin.' The Alderaanian darted from Friday's face to her hand and back again, mouth opening slightly in question.

"I'm a bit different from other girls," Friday said, smiling sadly. She moved to withdraw her hand, but Bail closed his fingers around hers before she could fully remove it. Raising it up, he bowed his head and brushed his lips over the back of her hand.

"That's what makes you beautiful," he told her warmly.

"Smooth," Tony muttered approvingly.

The 'operational parameters' that Friday had talked about must have been reached, because a light blush appeared on her holoform's cheeks. "I… thank you," Friday said. She looked at their joined hands, then at Bail.

She loosened the grip, sliding her hand out, to Bail's confusion. He opened his mouth to ask, but was silenced when Friday threw her arms around him in a hug. "Date me," she demanded in a typical Stark fashion. Tony nodded approvingly.

"Um, I…" Bail stammered, reddening. He knew that the sword was an expensive gift, one that nobles and royalty gave as a courting gift in years past, but he had always imagined asking a girl in the middle of the Organa's gardens, surrounded by bubbling brooks and sweet-scented flowers. But Friday was not the typical noble lady. "Uh…"

He caught Tony Stark giving him an evil look. Beside him, his father was glaring at him, because nobles did not splutter.

Bail cleared his throat. "Miss Friday Stark, it would be a honor if you would let, er… allow me to court you?" he said, feeling as if the carpet had been swept out from under him.

It was not a feeling he had ever had before. Bail was an only child. He had no older brother to jibe with or a younger sibling who played pranks on him. Most of his life had been spent studying to step up his father's place. The commoners' children were too intimidated to treat him like one of them, and the other noble children simply did not participate in just undignified behavior.

He was caught off-guard, surprised in a way he had never been before. He somehow knew that being with Friday would only make it a common feeling.

He found that he was looking forward to it.

-Insert a Freakin' Quote AlreadyThe teacher read the note the headmistress had sent. She checked her makeup - done in the latest Alderaanian fashion - one last time before standing up in front of the class. "Well, class, we have a new friend coming in," she chirped to her group of elementary students. "Do any of you know who Tony Stark is?"

At least half the class raised their hands, but Jael answered first. "He saved the Viceroy!" she announced proudly.

"Remember, you have to wait to be called on before speaking!" Miss Tamaka scolded the troublemaker. Jael pouted and the class giggled. Miss Tamaka clapped her hands twice to gain control over the rowdy youngsters. "His son will be here any minute, and I know you all will be nice to your new friend!"

She smiled as her little flock of schoolchildren nodded eagerly, breaking into excited whispers. It would be such an honor to be teaching a young Stark. Hopefully, he would be just as brilliant as his father. Miss Tamaka could already imagine bragging about it to her coworkers at lunchtime. They would be so jealous!

But… not as jealous as when she would be scheduling a parent-teacher meeting with the Tony Stark himself! There was no sign of a Mrs. Stark - rumor had it that he was still single and up for grabs.

They heard a knock on the door.

Sugar-sweet smile on her face, Miss Tamaka fluttered to the door and opened it, stepping back to let the ticket to her new future in. She was expecting a short boy with a charming grin, brown hair, and warm eyes.

Instead, in stepped a giant alien of some lizard species, almost a head taller than her, with vicious claws and sharp teeth.

"Oh dear," Miss Tamaka whimpered.

"Whoa," Jael said. It would be that last thing Miss Tamaka remembered before she kneeled over in a dead faint. Gis did not bother trying to catch her, merely watching morbidly as she slid down onto the floor. The children offered no help either, just chattering about their newest member with glee.

Gis snorted, looking down at the prone form of the teacher. "Class over," he grunted out. With that, he turned around and stomped down the hall.

"Wait up!"

"Can I see your claws?"

"Roar! Please, do a roar!"

"Whoa," Jael repeated as the group of schoolchildren all clambered out of their seats to follow the reptilian out of the classroom.