In A Nubian Moment

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera had begun prepping the board of directors for the transition. It hopefully wouldn't be too terribly unexpected. The Twi'lek had been constantly away from the business for long periods of time, and it had become apparent that a new CEO was required to continue driving the company forward, lest it become stagnant. Sales with the Republic had slowed as new products were not being developed. Seraphina had also recently become enthralled with her new company, and much of her time had been dedicated to that.

Slowly she began to pack her small belongings into a box within her office. Removing the art, notes, and generally clearing things out so that Taeli would find the new space in neat and orderly fashion. There wasn't much to do, aside from the paperwork, perhaps a tour, and a meet & greet. Afterwards, Sera would hand over control of Nubia Star Drives to the one [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

She had never actually been to Nubia before, but as a system that had close ties to her homeworld, she felt it wasn't such a bad place. Nubia Star Drives was the reason she had come as part of an acquisition. Luckily enough, she didn't have to deal with some greedy businessman with an ulterior motive or anything. She was simply buying the company from a fellow Jedi [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] so she could pursue her other goals.

It was actually a pretty good acquisition, she thought, and things would probably change in the short term and long. However, she would make sure everyone employed by the company would not be affected by the changes. She thought of every employee as valuable, as her employees in Aurora Industries would attest to.

Waiting down in the reception area, she hummed to herself quietly and read some news articles on her datapad and kept an eye on a certain auction going on.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Miss Shel'tah? Your guest has arrived and is waiting in the lobby for you. Shall I send her up?" The receptionist spoke through the intercom that connected the two on different levels of the complex. "No, thank you. Let her know I will be down in just a moment." Sera gathered herself, finishing up the last bit of cleaning to make things just right. before she hurried over to the lift to bring her back down to the lobby floor. As the doors opened she ushered herself out and looked around. She was able to pick out Taeli from the others in the busy lobby. Corvus' sister, after all, they shared some rather similar traits. Those purple eyes being one of the most telling. A rarity. She had also rejoined the Republic shortly before Sera had departed the Jedi Order, and was familiar with the information that she had been a former Sith turned Jedi. It was another rarity, but a welcome one.

"Master Raaf." She said with a smile and a respectful bow. She hadn't said those two words in a long time - since she had been a Padawan, learning techniques from Corvus, when she was promptly informed to never use that form of address in the future. Ironic that she was now using it again, even if it were to address the sibling. "Welcome to Nubia, and Nubia Star Drives. Please, follow me to the lift. We can speak more privately upstairs."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Please just Taeli," she said, getting up to bow back at the byzantium Twi'lek. "Only the Padawans need to call me Master Raaf. It just sounds weird to me from anyone else. I must say Nubia is quite nice, and your operations just so as well. Please, lead the way."

As Seraphina led her to the lifts, she could see that her fellow Jedi had the same idea as her when it came to a company, at least she thought so anyways. One should always be seen by the employees, doing stuff with them such as inventing or the heavy lifting.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera nodded as the pair reached the lift, her hand extending to press the button to call it down again. "Very well, Taeli." The doors opened and she held the door open long enough for the two to step inside before pressing the button to the upper floor. "The company was founded many, many years ago, and was one of the most notable shipwrights known for their elite, yet luxurious starships and fighters. We've done our best to maintain that similarity, as well as continue the legacy they set forth all those years ago. Unfortunately my availability has dwindled in the past few months, and the company will suffer for it if I do not act now."

The doors opened again as they reached the top floor - A sprawling office space with a few couches, a balcony behind pane glass windows, an executive desk and chair that looked rather comfortable, as well as a private Holo-meeting room. "The company has done rather well, though it could do so much more with more focused direction - direction which I cannot provide right now, in part due to my own personal decisions."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"I can understand how that goes," Taeli replied, taking a seat. "I get so busy with things I have my COO running things at Aurora when I'm out and about on research trips or on my duties. Nubia Star Drives is definitely something to be proud of though, Sera. You rebuilt the company out of almost nothing from the dark days of our galaxy. Sometimes one needs to let go of things if they are pursuing something else."

Picking up her datapad again, she set it beside her to take notes during the meeting and to potentially form a final offer for Nubia Star Drives. She didn't believe in taking something without proper compensation.

"So shall we get to business and get that out of the way before we discuss other topics?" she asked pleasantly.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera laughed lightly for a moment. "True enough, though I had plenty of assistance in the rebuilding process along the way. But it is time to let it go to more capable hands." She sat down at the desk and took out her own datapad, skimming over the product listings, both public and private, before presenting it to Taeli. "Here you'll find everything we've worked on, outside of special requests for the Republic. Also, we've built a rather impressive light start destroyer, though that little gem is unique - only one ever built. And then there's this, the Valkyrie dropship. It utilizes Umbaran technology and carries with it, like the star destroyer, the electromagnetic plasma cannons. Very, very powerful."

She sat back in the chair, allowing Taeli time to look everything over and ask any questions she might have.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"I see," Taeli said, looking over each design by Nubia in detail. "I see the company decided on, while building new designs, that refurbishing and res-establishing some of their older products was needed to get a strong foundation. An interesting direction, and I must say the light Star Destroyer and the Valkyrie are very impressive."

Leaning back in her chair, she put the datapad showing the catalog on the table. Hmm decisions now.

"I'm of two minds here," Taeli said slowly. "One is to keep the company as it is now, independent but as a subsidiary of Aurora ... while the other side is we simply absorb Nubia into Aurora proper, taking over the production sites and the product lines. If that is the case, everyone currently employed by Nubia would remain on the payroll, it would simply be they would be Aurora personnel instead. However, I would want your input on both of those ideas before we decide anything decisive for the company."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera folded her hands together and leaned back, glancing about the room. "We brought back the old designs in part due to their iconic nature and how relevant that technology is still today, but also due to the fact that many of the materials that went into those ships were transferred into our newer models with relative ease, and performed outstandingly well."

The question Taeli posed regarding the direction of the company's future was interesting. She hadn't considered the idea much. It wasn't something that was necessarily for her to decide on however.

" As for the direction to take, whether that be abI'm not too sure, really. I would say that is up to you and the board. If you were to absorb the company, it may feel to the workers that they are losing the name that brands their home world. But it may be easier from a corporate standpoint to manage one large company, instead of managing operations under two flagships, and two methods of workflow."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"It would certainly be easier from a corporate standpoint," Taeli said, steepling her fingers in front of her. "I wouldn't want to anger the workers though and everything would need to be run through Nubia's board as you say. Aurora doesn't have to deal with boards as we're privately held. Only board I talk with is a board of my chief engineers and designers to hash out new projects and such. It makes me a little busier, but a good right-hand man always helps."

"Honestly, I would prefer to just absorb and name the new operations the Nubia division of Aurora," she continued saying. "Their overseers would be the same, no one gets fired, they can continue working on all the projects and products Nubia Star Drives creates, but it would just have a new logo. While company pride is one thing, business realities are another entirely. So, I would offer five billion credits for the complete buyout and merging of Nubia into Aurora Industries."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"A generous offer." She said. It was in fact, more than she had anticipated, though not far outside of her desired asking price. Comfortable, she could say, and given that the company would remain in good hands was another aspect of this deal that gave Sera the warm and fuzzies inside. While she didn't know Taeli on much of a personal level, outside of being sisters to a good friend and former mentor, she did feel that both as a fellow Jedi, and sibling to Corvus, Taeli was the right person to take on the company and continue its' vision.

"I will let the financial team handle the credit exchanges and that sort of thing. That's far from my area of expertise. But unless you had other questions for me, at least about this anyway, then I would say that I can accept the offer."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"No further questions about that," Taeli said, sliding her datapad over to Seraphina with the terms laid out for the deal. It was a tidy sum, but it was to show that Taeli respected everything that had been built here. She didn't now Sera too well, but she had been a friend of her sister's, so that made the byzantium Twi'lek okay in her book.

"I promise that everyone will be taken care of, even if things are going to change slightly," Taeli continued saying. "It might be a bit of a smack to the pride that they're getting absorbed, but they're going to have a great deal of independence in development and they can still make designs based on the old style of Nubia."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Seraphina smiled and acknowledged Taeli with a nod.

"Very well. Then I would consider the deal done. I trust everything will be in good hands with you, but if you ever need any advice or a hand with something feel free to reach out. I am always happy to lend my assistance to you, either as business, a friend, or a fellow Jedi."

Sera offered her hand to Taeli, more so as a simple close to the deal. "Let Corvus know I asked about her as well. I do miss her."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"If you ever want to catch up with my sister, she's usually at her ranch on Tatooine or out and about," Taeli said, her business demeanor disappearing to be replaced by a much kinder face now that the meeting had concluded. "Let's just say the Jedi are looking to our roots for places to go, now that Ruusan and Ossus aren't in the Order anymore. A hidden refuge if you will, but you can ask my sister about that."

Getting up, she took the hand of the Twi'lek again to shake it.

"I'll make sure I pass along your message when I see my sister next and don't worry about Nubia, it will be in good hands," she said.