An Uneasy Exchange

[Julius Sedaire]

Location: AEI HQ​

​

Draco Vereen... The name had crept up slowly, honestly not terribly well noticed by Ostanes in truth. The idea that a war-mongering mandalorian would begin to branch into his territory of Alchemy and such creations was ludicrous at first. But the rise of ArmaTech had taken that particular view and destroyed it almost with laughable ease. And so, he had sent an offer out to the man behind the company for a meeting, inquiring after a few Holocrons he had heard the Mando'ad had come into possession of lately. The premise was he could bring his toys, and Ostanes would meet him in the Research & Development office to discuss trade or study, and to discuss future product ideas.

In the end, it would probably wind up being just that - a meeting of two Alchemists of a very different bend and thought than the other. Idly he had thought of trying to off the man and take the knowledge for himself. But prudence deemed he not be that ham-handed with his dealings. Besides, the man knew how to run his little munitions factory, that much was evident. Perhaps if Ostanes played along, a few contracts could result, and the end products would help bring in even further revenue to Akure.

As he waited for his pair of qo'saarai tuk'ata to guide the visiting businessman into the office that he used in this guise, he leafed through the Codex translations idly, a long, smooth staff of gleaming black stone sitting on the desk he was behind, murmuring slightly to himself as he sketched idly on a datapad to his right with a holoquill. A battered and positively antiquated grimoire, oddly enough appearing to be written in Ancient Sith, sat to his left, and a few other things of study scattered about the desk.

While some might view the preoccupation as rude, or a sign of disregard, it was a part of the persona of Ostanes. Ever since he had taken the guise, even whilst serving in the One Sith with it, he had affected a casual air of a cold and calculating craftsman whose only real crux was the ease of which he could be distracted by lore and theorem. In truth, with his memory and intellect, he could put on such a show most would be unsure if he were studying and thinking, or just merely passing time doing such a cover whilst doing other things in reality.

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

AEI HQ

Not long ago at the Blackguard Auction there had been several Holocrons purchased by the illustrious Head of the R&D department of of AEI that had interested Draco Vereen. Now, Darth Vulkan was coming to collect on a hastily orchestrated deal he and Ostanes had fabricated during the auction's proceedings. They had split purchased a small number of holocrons for use, mostly those including information on Sith Alchemy with some other information tossed in here and there.

That was atleast part of it. Another part was Vulkan's obsessive need to protect the two beings he loved and cared about, and AEL had several products he wanted them to have. Vulkan was however smart enough not to bring ancient and valuable holocrons on his person. He nodded at the pair of qo'saarai that stood waiting for him. Vulkan remembered them from Geonosis when Zhol Kash Dinora had went with them into the tunnels.

Upon entering the room of his fellow businessman was sitting writing in a book filled with scratches Vulkan recognized as ancient Sith. He recognized the language but he couldn't read it, not really. Bits and pieces of a small number of spells he had learned over the years. "Mister Ostanes. Are you well?" The Sith Lord asked politely. Not everyone was aware of his change, and he liked it that way at the moment.

[member="Uriel Escria"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

The Alchemist looked up, nodding, as he pulled his mind from the tasks he had assigned it to, stretching a bit and smiling almost pleasantly, although the gesture never touched his eyes, the classic signs of a Sith in that they were a sickly, noxious yellow color. In this form, he stopped with many pretenses about the corrupting influence the Dark Side had been taking on his body lately. Standing, he crossed from his desk and nodded, not quite extending his hand, but that was common. Draco would know what he was, without a doubt. The clues were obvious all about the office, and he wouldn't ever offer to shake a hand. With his kind, that could be considered almost an aggressive attack, given knowledge and ability.

"Quite well, Messr Vereen... A little short on sleep, but the Ethereal Realm rarely sleeps, and I've been busy keeping the business going forward and trying to acquire some requisite skills and knowledge for some new things. It is a rare pleasure to meet you in person, truly. Not many like minded fellows for my sort. Can I get you anything? I don't brag or lie when I say if it exists... Akure probably has a bottle or two of it."

[member="Darth Vulkan"]