Private A Parlor of my Choosing

[River Kryze]

Location: Steel River Manufacturing, Mandalore.

River never did well with high stress situations. She always pulled through in the end, but she just didn't like the stress that came along with the situations. Her office was still a mess, and Mand'alor himself would be here to oversee her new suggestions for the future. To say she was nervous was an understatement, she had never shared her work with someone before. At least, not like this. In all the years of her work, River had kept her prototypes to herself. She was a bit too embarrassed to let others see the faults she found in her own work, sadly many of which were all destroyed when...well, the 'event' occurred. Regardless, her company was up and running, and she had several new models that needed his approval before she could begin.

Which was why she was storming through her office trying to gather all her holodisks. Nearly tripping over a power conduit wire, River caught herself, on her terminal, sucking in a breath as she tried to get a semblance of sanity to come to her. "It's fine, everything is fine." She told herself, setting her disks onto the desk, closing her eyes as she tried to not think about how imperfect everything was. Taking in several breaths, she could feel the tension in her body lessen, her mind actually able to process now. It lasted all of five minutes unfortunately.

A loud 'buzz' triggered a second wave of anxiety, as the voice over her comm indicated her worst fear. Her secretary was supposed to inform her the moment Kreslin arrived, delay him for five minutes, give her time to fix herself up, then send him on the way. She had hoped this was a signal that she needed to fix herself up. She was mistaken however. "Miss Kryze, Mand'alor is being escorted to your office as we speak. I apologize for the tardiness, but your comlink was out of service when we tried to hail you." This wasn't at all how things were supposed to go. She was still clad in her jumpsuit, grease and oil stains still on her face and hands; certainly not a flattering image. "UGH!" She bellowed out, nearly grabbing her hair and pulling, before realizing how much it would dirty up her hair. "I'm on my way." Collecting up the disks and sliding them into her suit, the most she could do was try and clean up the gunk on her hands and face and stumble through this.

This wasn't how she wanted to start this meeting.

Kreslin would find himself escorted by two of River's new droid guards, leading him down the halls of the facility. River's company wasn't run down per say, but there was a noticeable lack of furnishings in the building, alot of crude metal walls and lack of furniture; it bore more resemblance to a star ship than anything else. River's 'office' as it was called, was something akin to a workshop and apartment crammed into one. Various terminals and droid parts had been laid out about tables, with only one small desk for two being the only bare surface to take a seat at.

As the door would open River would be found trying to toss her spare droid parts onto a work bench, spinning around just as she came up with a handful of metal parts. "Oh, Mand'alor, welcome. Sorry for the mess." She muttered, tossing the last handful of parts onto the desk, turning to face the man with all the respect that she could muster. Unknown to her, a single steak of oil was still visible on her face.

Kreslin Westwind

 

[Kreslin Westwind]

Kreslin was surprised by the amount of work that River Kryze had been able to accomplish since they had last spoken. A small, run down and ruined block had been reinvigorated into a thriving hub of innovation and experimentation. At least, that is what Kreslin had decided to call it when he was scheduling the meeting today. The exact words his advisors had given him about the efforts at hand had been a bit more...explosive in nature. Kreslin decided to give River the benefit of the doubt. This time.

He had arrived in full armor, escorted by a detail of ten Supercommandos, all of whom were instructed to wait outside as Kreslin entered the building. He was taken back at first by the difference in what he saw and what he had been expecting. Rather than a lavish facility, it seemed to be bare bones wherever he looked. Whoever had given him the original report had been greatly exaggerating what they had seen, and Kreslin made a mental note to have a discussion with the man once he was done here today. However, he could not disapprove of what he saw. He was a man of little decoration and flourish, preferring things to be simple.

When they eventually arrived at the office, Kreslin entered just as River spun around. His freshly polished silver almost blended in with the walls around him, except for his helmet. That morning, he had taken orange paint to the helmet, and began the process of repainting it. This would be his first appearance in public with the alteration. He briefly took note of her office; a mixture of work and living that combined together in a unfavorable way. Grunting quietly, he turned his full attention to River, looking her up and down briefly. "A mess, yes. But one that could do for some...personal touches." With a brief movement, Kreslin removed a small cloth from a fold in his armor, tossing it to River and briefly waving at her face.

Stepping further into the office, his armorweave cloak covering the entire right side of his body shifting with him, he reached down with his dominant left hand to pick up a small sheaf of papers. "These are the droids that escorted me here. They are impressive, Kryze. Although, I doubt that they are the reason you asked for my presence here today. I know I am charming, but I am a busy man."

River Kryze

 

[River Kryze]

As Kreslin entered, River was a bit caught by his arrival, the touch of orange had thrown her for a loop; though she quickly came out of it. Blushing at the comment levied before her, River's eyes drifted to her chaotic workspace, nearly missing the cloth that Kreslin so gracefully tossed her way. The message was clear, she was a mess. Taking the cloth, River set about cleaning up the stain on her face, though it felt a quite a bit of a relief that Mand'alor complimented her work. Cheeks still red from the praise, she continued to struggle in vain to find the problem, babbling all the while. "Well, thank you sir. I just took inspiration from-well never mind that." She stopped, eyes locking onto her droids, as she gestured towards the door, pausing her little cleaning endeavor. "You two, go back to sentry duty." She ordered, tucking the cloth into a pocket on her jumpsuit as she believed her task accomplished. The droids obeyed the commands of their master, and their movements declared their departure; the clanking of their limbs being heard down the hall as they withdrew, the door sliding shut in their wake. "Right, I'll make this quick Mand'alor. Charms aside, you are needed elsewhere." She responded, feeling odd at calling him such a title when she already knew his name. Unknown to River however, the oil steak on her face had been smeared across the rest of her cheek, though the woman continued on her briefing all the same.

Taking a deep breath, River produced several holo-projectors from her jumpsuit, and set them on the table, sinking into the nearest chair as she would get right to the point. "I had several designs in the works, droids that can be used to replace our military losses from the last set of invasions." Pressing the small buttons on each of the projectors, giving a small graphic for each of the images shown. The first was a short barrel headed droid. It's legs were tiny compared to it's head and arms, making it look rather childish as a design. "Firstly, I've worked up anti-sith units to handle force using agents. I'm thinking of naming Akaan Bria Droids, you know, for War Cry. Using sonic weapons, they'll be able to render most force users crippled, perhaps even destroy their lightsabers. Still in prototype stage at the moment." Moving to the next, this droid looked similar to a B2 Battle Droid from the anceint Clone Wars Era, but additional spikes and a shield had been added to its chassis. "This is for more of a front line support droid, it's not much, but it'll be able to work in tandem with our ground forces. Name is pending at current." Moving to the last droid, this one was larger than the last, it's body looking more like an insect than anything else. "I'm planning on this serving as a siege unit. It can mount itself into nearly any surface and fire projectiles from at current.....eight hundred meters away. Sadly, it's weapon system is....complicated, but we have promising solutions to this."

Having finished this briefing, River leaned back in her chair, waiting as she awaited Mand'alor's approval on the projects. Of course, there was one more project she was holding on to, something she wasn't sure he would agree with. "Again, sorry if this is information overload. I've...never had the opportunity to work on actual projects before. I....sorta lost myself in it truthfully." She admitted, unsure as to what the man would have to say about her work thus far.

Kreslin Westwind

 

[Kreslin Westwind]

Kreslin leaned against one of the work benches, folding his arms across his chest as River began to meeting proper. The first combat droid she had designed for the Union had proved effective in the limited combat trials it had seen, and Kreslin had approved its mass production only a few days ago. Several newly constructed factories had begun to process of constructing entire platoons of the combat droid, and they would be deployed across Union space to shore up the thinly stretched defenders.

These new droids she was suggesting had potential. Anti-Force User droids, front line heavy combat units, and a self propelled and controlled artillery gun. All of these droids lent themselves towards the current direction of the Union military. Highly specialized and elite Mandalorian soldiers supported by legions of support troops, in this case, droids. Nodding his head as River concluded her presentation, he gestured towards the B2 droids look alike. "I want you to prioritize that model for now, River. I can not divulge much at the moment, but the Union is going to have need of more front line units very soon."

Pushing himself away from the bench, he turned to look around the room once more, nodding his head after a moment. "You are proving that you have the ability to do these things, if given the chance. Your dedication to completing whatever is set before you is admirable. A Mandalorian trait if there was ever one. You have done well."

River Kryze

 

[River Kryze]

To River's relief, Kreslin seemed to take to her initial designs well. Far better than she had expected. Clasping her hands together, River gave a short bow of her head, smiling all the while. Her first combat droid designs had been met with approval, but these models were by far more radical departure from her original design. It was good to know that her work in R&D wasn't a fluke. "I will tell my team to get to work on it, thankfully compared to the rest of the models here, it's no where near as complex. Should be done in a matter of weeks." She remarked, as she straightened her posture in her seat. It was then that his words caught her interest, as she realized what he was hinting to. They were going to be going into battle soon weren't they? Her eyes lingered for a moment, considering on asking what was going on, but she quickly decided against it. It wasn't her place to question after all.

A blush broke out across her face at his compliment; and it was a compliment, being compared to a Mandalorian by Mandalore himself was...well it was certainly something. "That means alot coming from you Kres-" She paused, correcting herself before continuing. "Mand'alor. It's been difficult trying to integrate into the society, though I'm sure you can relate. It's not as simple as people try to make you believe." Rising out of her chair, she moved to collect the three data disks, tucking them into her jumpsuit. "I assume this...would conclude our business for today?" She asked, not entirely sure what he was going to do with the rest of his time here. "If not, I can always humor you will small talk. Though, I'm not sure if such things are worthy of your time." It seemed like the two just never had time to talk anymore. Well, there was something work related she had worked on as well, something that might keep him here for a tad longer. "I was working on a prototype for an early warning system. If that interests you, I can go into detail. Effectively an AI unit that will use the holonet to keep our sectors of space free of unknown ships entering the area." River began to sit back into her chair, curious if Kreslin might be perturbed by what she was suggesting.

Kreslin Westwind