Private Rational Efficiency meets Silent Control, words whispered over a nest of vipers.

[Mr Black]

Apex Headquarters on Denon

One hour before detonation.

No metaphor this time, actual detonation. A vaporising cloud waiting to happen. Adjusting his collar and flaring his cuffs, wishing it were as simple as that. If only. One hour before the board met, anything could happen.

His assistant, Annasun, tall, precise, and with every strand of blonde hair engineered into place, stepped forward to adjust his tie. The act more than a formality or affection; a coded transfer of data occurred to the chip on the tie. The Hapan woman far from a mere advisor.

Outside, a heavily armed 6-man A-TRD team guarded the boardroom hallway like a clenched fist. ASF moved throughout the corridors of Apex Headquarters like layers of clockwork. Inside three humanoid shapes stood in the room, two of which were stone-cold metal HRD replica droids, their near perfect synthetic skin catching the gleam from the window. Not the droids, nor the security, posed the greatest danger; it was that smartly dressed Annasun, calm, immaculate, and lethal in her silence.

A large, burly man named Broca set the infamous black briefcase to rest on the table. It began to unfold with a whir, projecting a collection of screens and data feeds rivalling a small intelligence service, his expression eased. "She made it; invite her up. And give her an escort, A welcome distraction today."

The A-TRD team in the corridor pivoted to move as one, boots striking a precise cadence to wherever Darth Keres was. They would give her a direct escort up the long executive elevator to the upper floors and the empty boardroom, giving them room to speak.

"Do you think the board will agree?" Black asked Annasun, and she gave a look that made the HRD's look expressive. He smiled and nodded, understanding exactly what she meant, adjusting the cybernetic arm to be well below the suit, ending in a glove. Too many hidden factors to calculate.

The dim empty Apex Boardroom spread wide, a monument to corporate silver durasteel and reinforced glas, offering a panoramic view of Denon's neon lifeblood. Though not all districts were as he remembered them. This one still was. Rain streaked the windows, refracting the city into smears of blue and violet, blurring the lines between surprise and safety. The long obsidian table stretched like a runway ready for launch, polished and rebuilt after past confrontations. This was a battleground disguised as a board meeting. Every empty seat would represent a faction, and words between them could be daggers. Not all meetings ended without blood of some kind spilled.

Security wasn't just for show.

The room lit up as their first guest arrived, the glow from his briefcase terminal matched by minimalist but cool blue lighting. Not enough to glare or expose every secret, but enough to see who you were talking to.

Darth Keres

 

[Darth Keres]

​

[]

​

Location: Denon - Apex Headquarters
Tag: Mr Black

Through the veiled night of Denon’s polluted heavens, the Taciturnitas, her haunted ship descended like a falling omen. Its black hull drank the city’s light, reflecting nothing, as if the stars themselves recoiled from its passing. Lightning cracked through the storm haze, revealing the ghostly figure of Darth Keres standing upon the ship’s prow—silent, statuesque, her presence a wound in the world’s serenity.

Below, the endless towers of Denon rose like the teeth of a metropolitan beast, their windows flickering with the pallid glow of sleepless commerce. Somewhere amid that labyrinth of steel and sorrow awaited Mr. Black—merchant, entrepreneur.

When Darth Keres set foot upon the drenched landing platform, the air itself seemed to retreat, folding inward to accommodate her silence. No words, no thunder—only the cold certainty that something dreadful had arrived to speak in whispers and end in quiet.

The doors of the building parted with a sigh, as though the structure itself dreaded her approach. Inside, the air was perfumed with wealth—an opulent decay that clung like old flesh. Two escorts in polished attire bowed low, their movements stiff with a reverence born not of respect, but fear. Without a word, they led her through a stiff corridor lined with holographic portraits of members long dead, whose violet-blue patronizing eyes seemed to follow her passage. The echo of her steps—measured, spectral—filled the halls like a heartbeat in a tomb.

At last, they halted before a set of towering black doors inlaid with gold filigree. One escort dared a glance at her; his breath caught at the void where her eyes should gleam. Darth Keres inclined her head ever so slightly, and the doors slid open to reveal Mr. Black awaiting her amid other colleagues—eyes drawn to an aura imbued with silence and secrecy—her scent of power, fear, and complete dominance thickened the room, and the silence that followed was absolute—alive, expectant, divine.

"Do not rise. The living seldom need stand before the inevitable," her cold voice whispered, a chill of illusion seeping into the room, "I am neither guest nor threat—merely consequence given form."

Darth Keres let her gaze drift across the chamber, her silence heavier than any threat. "I am Darth Keres. Some call me silence; others, debt made flesh," speaking in absolute conviction: the Mistress of Silence moved to a seat, adding as she sat, "Now that you are acquainted with me, speak wisely, gentlemen on matters of importance. The air remembers everything you dare to say.”

​

Spoiler: Gear Loadout

• Melee Weapons​
  • Basic Lightsaber​
  • 
    
• Armor​
  • Black Caskan Wolf-Snake Armor​
  • 
    
• Accessories​

 

[Mr Black]

30 Minutes Before the Board Meeting.

Cool light outdone by the corridors' illumination, like the words of a commanding Sith carried along a current of inevitable focus to follow. Black almost stood as she entered. But she spoke first, her voice holding the moment, fear, and respect.

Remaining seated, a smile at one corner of his mouth. She had command presence, and she'd made her entrance count. For a moment, he was quietly grateful the rest of the board hadn't arrived yet; he didn't need their noise or their bluster interfering, their inevitable posturing for favor or position that would have followed. Instead, near silence; the two standing HRD bowed their heads in sync; for the others, Annasun remained watchful, and Broca respectfully silent.

"Welcome to Apex," Black said. No overdone courtesy, only the confidence of a man who didn't need to raise his voice to be heard. Apex had multiple meanings by design, each one intentional and not all obvious. He skipped the small talk. What he had of her file and words made it clear that it would be wasted. How he'd got that file was another matter; switching off the apex of AI data flowing across the screens in front of him, the briefcase fell silent for a time.

"Thank you, Captain. That'll be all." The escort team nodded and stepped out to guard the hallway. The doors shut, sealing them in.

Balen Var Black leaned back slightly, fingertips meeting in a practiced triangle, his expression not cautious but thoughtful and calculating.

"We asked for this meeting because we think there's overlap," he said. "Not in goals, let's not kid ourselves, but in method."

Broca placed the glass of water near Darth Keres and pulled out a chair. Whether she took it or not didn't matter; the gesture itself was part of their mapped routine. Black continued, his tone calm and precise. "Efficiency," he said, as if the word were currency. "Silent Coordination. Two things the galaxy consistently undervalues until it's too late. We're hoping to avoid the too late part." At least in regard to their own interest, there were troubling developments from a frictional perspective that threatened imbalance.

Darth Keres

 

[Darth Keres]

​

[]

Tag: Mr Black

Darth Keres sat in silence at the edge of her seat, her eyes—two dying stars in a void—traced the man before her as he spoke with a poise of one accustomed to control; as walls, cold and glimmering with faint reflections of the city’s nightlight spires, seemed to absorb sound itself.

When he spoke, behind his polite lips , she discerned the tremor of fear he could wield, that no mask could conceal. Every word he spoke was a calculation. She studied him not as one studies a man, but as one dissects a specimen—measuring the decay beneath his ambition, the hollowness in his heart.

"Efficiency and Silent Coordination."

Darth Keres spoke not a word afterwards, letting a shivering silence hover. Her thoughts coiled in silence, cold and deliberate, as the terms Silent Coordination and Efficiency lingered like incense upon the air.

To lesser minds, it was a matter of profit and progress—but to her, it was a hymn to control. She pondered the stillness between actions, the unseen dominion born of quiet obedience. Such efficiency was not merely business; it was the architecture of submission, a harmony built on the erasure of will.

Her voice, when it came, was low and deliberate—an echo drawn from the depths of stillness itself.

“Your proposal,” Darth Keres murmured, her gaze cutting through the dim light, “Carries the scent of order I admire.” She allowed the silence that followed to linger like a blade suspended in air. “I shall commit to its course—partially. Efficiency thrives, yes… but silence must govern, not serve. I wish to hear more of this beautiful story, to be drawn fully into commitment—but first."

Darth Keres lifted the offered glass with a motion so measured it seemed ritualistic. The bright light caught upon the liquid’s surface—clear, deceitful, still: briefly she studied the liquid inside. Without a word spoken, she tilted it, letting the water spill in a slow, deliberate cascade across the polished floor, its sound a fragile whisper, her smile an omen wrapped in civility.

Only then did she speak again, her voice a velvet blade cutting through the gloom. “Tardiness is clearly unexcusable for you and I," she murmured, each syllable steeped in quiet disdain. The words hung in the air like a curse—soft, precise, and heavy with unspoken consequence.

​

Spoiler: Gear Loadout

• Melee Weapons​
  • Basic Lightsaber​
  • 
    
• Armor​
  • Black Caskan Wolf-Snake Armor​
  • 
    
• Accessories​