A Road to Success (Seraphina Shel'tah)

[Gir Quee]

Lucerne Labs Headquarters, Kwookrrr

Gir eyed the towering Wroshyr trees that encircled the company's headquarters. I wonder how long it took for the wookiees to regrow them here after the Empire's occupation, or if perhaps they transplanted them in some juvenile stage from Kashyyyk...but whatever their origin, clearly they've thrived here...and hopefully we will be the same. Gir swiveled around in his chair to face the rest of his office. The rest of the room remained almost the same as when they had first bought the place, with its Kashyyyk-wood panelling and matching desk. Even with the addition of the lighter-hued Lucerne Labs star logo where the old Kwookrrr Motors logo had once been seemed perpetual, as if it had always been there. The whole ensemble seemed a bit too earthy and natural for the admiral's taste, but he guessed that perhaps he spent so much more time in the warships of the Republic.

"I didn't expect to see you here, brother."

Gir blinked and turned his attention to Salmakk, "We're meeting one [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] of Nubia Star Drives, aren't we? Or did it get cancelled?"

"Oh. Oh," remembered the mon calamari engineer, beginning to wring his hands, "That's today..."

The man cracked a brief if warm smile before ruefully shaking his head, "I know, it snuck up on me too. We're lucky the admin droid is good at sending reminders to me."

Salmakk glanced at his wrist chrono, "When will she be here?"

"Pretty soon," said Gir, glancing at his own, "probably within the half-hour."

"That's enough time to change," noted the mon calamari engineer, "I'll be back shortly brother, after I get out of this jumpsuit into something...more presentable."

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

It wasn't often that Sera met with folks in the military, let alone the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Even if today he was in another role as CEO of Lucerne Labs, it would still be the same man, and a man worthy of great admiration and respect. The Twi'lek docked her Stiletto at the hangar once she landed on Kwookrrr and gathered her personal belongings that she would need to bring with her to the meeting.

It was an odd thing for her still, to carry a datapad and business mind to a meeting, rather than a pair of lightsabers and armor. Though she certainly welcomed the change of pace, constant conflict was something she could certainly enjoy less of, and it was likewise similar for the admiral.

As the Twi'lek approached the front desk she provided her name, company, and the gentleman she was told would be meeting with her to the administrative assistant, and took a seat in the lobby to wait until called for. While she sat, she would look through the datapad she had prepared with the list of recommendations from the board, as well as her own notations and highlights for the day. She'd hoped to solidify a deal between the two organizations that would help strengthen their company ties and the Republic.

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

"She's here? Send her right in please," said the blonde man.

He recalled briefly meeting her once before, back on Nubia when her company was introducing the A-type Stiletto. He had seen it and several other Nubian designs recently filling in the Republic fleet. The Utopia-class Corvette and the Scurrg and Freefall bombers seemed particularly popular within the Republic Defense Forces. He would be curious to see one of, if not the, driving personality behind the company's rapid rise to prominence once more.

Now wearing more formal business attire, Salmakk quickly strolled into the office before plopping down onto a sturdy wooden chair. The mon calamari turned his gaze onto the man, looking him up and down. Gir eyed him back intently. To be fair, the last time either of us wore formal business clothes was probably his wedding...no wait, I had the dress uniform on for that one...The doors to the office swished open as a silver-plated protocol droid ushered [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] into the office. Gir and Salmakk quickly rose to greet her, each extending a hand towards the Twi'lekk for a traditional handshake.

"Welcome to Kwookrrr and Lucerne Labs, Miss Shel'tah," offered the man, "how was your journey here?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera was happy to see the friendly protocol droid stroll into the lobby to meet and greet her, ushering her towards the office where [member="Gir Quee"] would be waiting for her. As she entered through the double doors to the conference room she smiled and thanked the droid before turning to the two that promptly greeted her. Her pinkish hand extended and shook the man's hand politely, though still nodded her head in what resembled a bow as was normal for her, before doing the same for Salmakk.

"Thank you for having me, it is an honor to meet the head of the Republic's armed forces, and a prominent figure for which their technology is developed." She flashed a quick smile before continuing, "As for the journey, nothing too exciting, though I welcome that as opposed to the possibilities for alternatives. So I will take that as a positive in my eyes. I was eager to meet with you both today, but I will try and keep this relatively brief, as I am certain you both are very busy."

 

[Gir Quee]

"It is an honor to meet you as well," said the blonde man, "I think we could stand to have more than a few more jedi of your caliber in the galaxy these days..."

He briefly flashed a knowing grin.

"But I suppose that M2-T1 will start berating me if we start to exchange war stories and our other adventurous exploits..."

Gir gestured towards a chair situated in front of his adopted brother.

"Feel free to have a sit, if you wish. I myself will be taking one myself shortly."

Gir wheeled out his own chair from behind the desk towards the middle room, placing it next to that of [member="Salmakk"]'s. He promptly sat down in and took a datapad proffered to him by the mon calamari engineer. After briefly tapping a few buttons on it, he turned his gaze unto [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"].

"Nubian Star Drives has a very storied name," remarked the man, "my brother here is a great admirer of some of the technology your company has developed..."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Nodding to the man's invitation, the Twi'lek took the seat as offered and draped her right leg over her left, clasping her hands lightly over the knee as she listened to [member="Gir Quee"] speak.

"Thank you." She looked over at [member="Salmakk"] with a smile. "The Nubian name has been around for much, much longer than I. The majority of the credit goes solely to the engineers behind the manufacturing and designs. I just had the energy to raise it from the ashes again.But, I am flattered that you find the vessels pleasing, Salmakk."

Sera had a bit of a limited knowledge when it came to matters of war and the structure of the military, but she did understand that a number of wonderful additions to the Republic's armaments came from Lucerne Labs, and if they could come to an agreement for a contractual partnership, both businesses would stand to gain while simultaneously assisting the Republic's endeavors.

"Myself and the board of NSD have eyed your products for a while now, and we've been very impressed by the quality of the work put into what is made here. It is a testament to the type of people you have behind the scenes."

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Salmakk and Gir exchanged a brief knowing glance with each other.

It was true that the Labs was fortunate enough to have such a skilled base of people to draw upon, perhaps their founder's greatest legacy. All of them had a drive and intelligence to innovate new things and improve the old, in the process taking technology to new heights. To that extent, many of them would appear to be the usual professional engineers. Both Salmakk and their lead computer specialist, the bothan Azira, fit into that stereotype of the somewhat socially dry but highly intelligent engineer. Gir would have little issue with letting either of them guide Seraphina around the factory and explain to them the various types of technology that the Labs produced.

But there were other, more eccentric personalities working at the Labs that Gir would never consider allowing to meet outside guests. Chief among them being the duros engineer Gai. Quee guessed that any such tours would likely include far more explosions and weapons testings than he would desire, assuming that the guests stayed around after he started any of his one-track rants. But still, Gai and those engineers were an essential part of his team, as difficult as they were to work with from time to time.

Gir cast his eyes once more onto [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]'s.

"We are very fortunate to have some very talented people in our staff," said the blonde man, "is there a particular product that has piqued your company's interest in Lucerne Labs?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera smiled, the atmosphere surrounding the company was relaxed, positive, and invigorating. The Twi'lek was well aware of the vast number of products that were tailor made for the Republic, and how well they operated therein. She was also no stranger to the strive for perfection, as her company was well known for its' flashy metallic ships and luxurious transports fit, quite literally, for royalty, namely back in the days of the clone wars.

Finally she spoke up, "Yes, one in particular caught my eye. This sensor jammer that you've developed. It is made for small ships and starfighters, yes? I put a lot of development and research into the smaller scaled ships, and this particular item seems it would serve a fantastic role in keeping pilots safe during active missions."

[member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir nodded in agreement, "We try to develop defensive technologies to protect those that fly the space lanes. They're dangerous enough without the fighting that's going on right now. We should be able to arrange a contract to produce them for you pretty easily-"

"Ah...ermm...would you...excuse my brother and I for a second, Miss Shel'tah?" asked the mon calamari suddenly, rising from his chair.

Gir looked at his adopted brother curiously, and slowly rose from his seat as well. They quickly walked out of the office's door, and briefly stopped, before Salmakk led Gir into the adjacent room, their employee break room. Salmakk gestured for Gir to lock the door behind him, which the man promptly did.

"Gir...we're idiots."

The man blinked, "Come again?"

"Remember how we were debating if we should take Tsuk's off of the Vanguard project to work on that engine?"

Gir nodded, "I remember."

"Gir, we keep her on the project if we buy several of Nubia's engine models instead of trying to make our own. It'll be more cost effective to put that development money somewhere else, and we will know for sure that we will get the results we need right away. No more hassling people about the product release schedule or siphoning off of resources from existing products."

"I'll defer to your judgement on this one," said the blonde man, "I'm assuming you want me to broach the subject with Miss Shel'tah?"

Salmakk vigorously bobbed his head, "The sooner, the better..."

"All right, let's go back in there..."

The two brothers exited the room and walked back into the office. Gir quickly noticed Salmakk's much more relaxed posture as the mon calamari sank down into his chair. Gir himself wasn't entirely sure what to feel, though he felt a bit awkward about their sudden departure. Gir slowly sat down in his chair and leaned slightly forward towards the twi'lekk.

"It would seem that we have some interest in some of your company's products as well, notably your sublight engines and at least part of a hyperdrive. Salmakk can send you a memo of the specifics of that order. Would such an order be a possibility?"

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]