Discoveries

[Kurt Meyer]

Kiran walked calmly through the central hall of what could only be described as an oppressive building.

The Zeltron had never much liked the Sith Temple, he had always found its atmosphere...obtrusive. Whenever he entered its halls he felt as though something were pushing in on his mind, as if small spikes were slowly driving into his brain and draining him of vigor and life. It was not a feeling that he enjoyed, and it made his fingers curls just above the handle of his blaster pistol.

It wasn't a conscious decision, but a reaction to that oppressive force pushing into his mind. It was as though he was afraid something would come out from around the corner and try to stab him while he walked. A frown creased his lips, and slowly he moved further into the temple.

His steps rang out around him, his boots thundering in the empty halls as he moved to meet the woman that had called him here. The Zeltron had of course worked with Sith before, he had practically been required to, but he had never met many of them personally. This woman, a woman named [member="Matsu Xiangu"] was completely foreign to him, save for her reputation.

Kiran's nerves frayed slightly as he neared the Sith's abode, taking one last turn towards the grand hall of the Temple.

He assumed this meeting was about Saeva Incorporated, being hired to do a job. He knew that the Sith needed soldiers, good ones, everyone did. Perhaps they were planning another assault on the Republic, or perhaps they needed something more covert. It didn't matter, as long as he was paid Kiran didn't care.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Though she had no way of knowing when he was still far from her chambers in the Temple, she was having similar thoughts to the man answering her call. She didn’t particularly like spending time within its halls or even within the confines of the space she called ‘hers’, streamlined to her post-modern tastes. There was something cartoonish about a Sith surrounded by the heads of animals mounted on plaques in a room built of stone, cold castle-spires and while this place was nothing like her apartments it still felt…clean. As good a place to dismember someone in peace as hold a meeting, at the end of the day.

And she did have business to attend to.

She hadn’t known Alric Kuhn personally though she’d seen him more than a few times. With a face like that he was hard to miss, but it seemed that was his fate anyway – gone, spirited or by choice a mystery. Matsu had taken it upon herself to dig as deep as she could in to the aforementioned. Knowledge was power and she would not allow the Sith to be found lacking.

Sitting in an armchair composing the circle of furniture in the center of the room, she scrolled through the datapad propped in her lap as she waited for his arrival, the net buzzing with news of Titan’s move and its reasoning, Tefraxis Obauldi’s face dominating every article.

“Lady Xiangu, Mr. Vess has arrived,” announced the tall, quiet woman peeking her head through the sanctum doors. Matsu merely waved a hand without looking up to indicate he should be brought in, putting her datapad down on the desk only when she heard the doors open again to signify his entrance. Lifting herself from her seat, she swept a hand towards any of the chairs surrounding hers.

“Have a seat, please,” she offered, a spider settled on the edge of her web as she found her perch again.

“You’ll have to excuse the briefness of my request to meet with you. I’m sure you’re aware the One Sith has much on it’s plate.”

[member="Kiran Vess"]​

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

Kiran moved into the room, taking careful note of the woman behind the desk.

His eyes met hers for a brief moment, and goosebumps trailed uncomfortably down his spine. They prickled his skin, and his hand tightened near his blaster once again. To say he felt uncomfortable around Sith was an understatement.

It wasn't because of their beliefs, their cruelty, or any sort of liberal notion. It was the simple fact that they could kill. Unlike any other being in the galaxy, a Sith could look like a harmless little doll and still be the deadliest thing around for miles. This woman was an example of that. She was tiny, at least compared to him, small, frail, and giving off an air of the divine.

Yet she could snap his neck with half a thought.

That idea sent another chill down his spine, though he made no visible sign of any such thing. Instead he slowly trailed his way over to the womans gestures seats. Wandering to one directly opposite her and sitting himself down without any further question or glances. “I've heard, yes. Though I'm afraid I've been somewhat disconnected.”

He had just left the employ of Titan Industries after all, and had been busy with the founding of Saeva.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Ah, bliss – there were days she wished she was less inextricably bound to the machine. She was made for days spent exploring the abstract, chasing black holes. That was part of the reason she held no claim to any position such as Hand or Voice, the other part being that she found the concept of the Dark Lord to be something like a fairy tale. She’d never seen or felt his supposed power and therefore stuck with the Sith because it was fun, not out of some sense of duty to a shadowy figure.

Regardless, he was in front of her because she was good at what she did, even if she wasn’t made for it.

“Understandable,” she said quietly, watching him in the alien way she’d been told more than a few times was disturbing. The trouble was she didn’t realize she was doing it: a slight tilt of the head, a reptilian blink missing only the third eyelid, fingers clasped over her knee. The man sitting across from her was as much a mystery as it was capable to be in this day and age, his records mostly scant though she’d always gotten the impression Kuhn knew more about him. It’d made Matsu curious about hiring Vess for a few jobs but whether that would be on the table after today remained to be seen.

“My interest lies in your former employer, Alric Kuhn. I’m very motivated to find him, and I was wondering if you knew anything at all about his whereabouts.” She didn’t push, leaving his mind alone for the moment. She didn’t like to bring out the big guns immediately – it was sloppy, and often a waste. Force of personality was sometimes enough.

[member="Kiran Vess"]​

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

“Ah.” Kiran said sounding almost disappointed.

He had known that this would come at one point or another. Though work had been steady with the One Sith he had known that eventually the question of Alric would come up.

Of course, unfortunately for the Sith he knew nothing. Or rather, he no longer knew anything. Like all Sons of Titan Kiran had been brainwashed. With pheromones, torture, and hell beyond imagining Kiran had his mind completely and utterly twisted in every fashion. Made to be loyal and unquestioningly obedient to Alric Kuhn and Titan Industries. When his service under Alric had been completed, his mind had been wiped, at least partially.

He knew that Alric was still alive, and he knew that he was somewhere within the galaxy, but he suspected that was something that the Sith already knew themselves. More than that he could not give them, nor would he.

Alric had always been good to him. “I doubt I know more than you on the subject Lady Xiangu.”