Sinistar

[Onrai]

@Kaine Zambrano

PANATHA, KAINE'S MOUNTAIN FORTRESS

Circe's arrival was not entirely unexpected. Her and Kaine had previously interacted with one another in such special ways... Yet here she was now, busy arriving back at the former Sith Emperor's palace, deep in the mountains of Panatha. He always did have a superiority complex, likely due to the Epicanthix genes - but on the other hand, she was here. Hopefully business could be discussed.

And as such, she awaited to be led into Kaine's throne room.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Eventually they came for her, a pair of royal praetorian guardsman dressed in thick plated armor wielding lightsaber pikes, although their weapons were currently unlit, but they still acted wary and cautious around the Emperor's guest. "Our master has commanded us to escort you to his throne, you will come with us now." They would motion towards the door they came out from, and would then shadow her as they guided her towards the throne room. Luckily, it was not far away from the landing pad, the throne room being in the center of the structure and all, and once they had entered the gloomy throne room, both praetorian guards would kneel before their Emperor.

Emperor Zambrano sat high atop his black iron throne, his arms draped across each arm of the throne, his fingers clutching the metal fiercely as his piercing gaze fell upon the woman who strode into his sanctum. He was dressed in dark silks with a circlet of onyx and ruby perched atop his brow. His graying hair was let down, but pulled back behind his shoulders with minimal strands of hair actually getting in his face. His mouth morphed into a wry smile as he regarded the Sith Lady in front of him, and with a simple movement of his hand he dismissed his guardsman and perched his chin atop his knuckles.

"Good evening, Savan."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

She curtsied to him, being the prim and proper woman she was now. "Lord Zambrano... A nice place you've built up here on your homeworld." She smiled, eying him at his throne as she stepped closer. "I know you must have very intimately laid out plans, considering your current position... and I desire to assist them. I have Sithspawn to serve you, starships to sell you, and enough resources to significantly bolster your current force."

She smirked. "I even have a project that may interest you."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor chuckled deeply as he adjusted his sitting position on the throne, throwing one leg up to rest gently on his other's knee, and lowering himself back further in the throne as he eyed the woman before him. "I am pleased that you are also so eager to aid me, Savan, it warms my heart. But, your mention of a project has interested me, I do hope you will not keep me in suspense much longer, and lay out what you have planned before me." His eyes twinkled with amusement as he waited for Savan to reveal her ominous project, all the while his mouth kept that wry grin he had when she had first entered his domain.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

"Basically, the project is as such: I intend to create a device. A gate, of a sort. This device will be used to open up a rift to Otherspace, a lifeless, resource-filled realm. Otherspace was utterly reduced to ruin by a civilization a long time ago, but the planets are still unexploited. Not to mention that there is zero presence there by the Republic, the Fringe, the Mandalorians, or any other current galactic power. You would have a galaxy's worth of resources available to you, were you to help support this project. And my company would be able to prove that such a design was indeed successful." She smiled, giving a soft chuckle to the Epicanthix.

"I will of course need your help getting some of the vital components..."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Bah."

The Emperor said with a dismissing wave, "Such a thing sounds like the ravings of a madman, of which I know that you are not. I will not waste my time with such nonsense." He uncrossed his legs and scooted up till he was nearly sitting on the edge of his throne, and clasped both hands together and rested his chin on the intertwined fingers. "My ultimate goal is to expand my Empire through this galaxy, Savan, not some desolate wasteland that harbors no people, and I shall gift thee words of wisdom. I would move onto something more practical, Savan, rather than your half-baked flights of fancy." The Emperor relaxed back in his throne, readjusted himself with a shrug, and smiled once again.

"But, I do hope that you have something else to offer me?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

"Indeed I did." She paused, smiling. "Our corporate resources have currently been working on a way to synthesize nebular gas into a tibanna substitute, or a synthetic version thereof. The process for synthesizing the gas is efficient, costing much less than the process to refine tibanna to a usable state, while still offering near the same performance. As the Omega Protectorate is ultimately the source of most, if not all tibanna in the galaxy, your utilizing the substitute - the syntibanna - will permanently free you from any sort of economic crisis a restriction in the export of the Protectorate's product would cause you."

After all, Circe didn't want to see Kaine's fortunes get harmed by trigger-happy export restrictions.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He thought about this for a time, lightly tapping the tip of his index finger against the stubble on his chin as he contemplated the ramifications of investing his time and money into something like this. He finally decided that it was worth the risk for a reduced price for precious tibanna gas. "Very well, Savan. You've convinced me to put my faith and resources into aiding you and your company work on a synthetic tibanna gas, so long as it is agreed that my Empire will have the highest priority in the purchase of this newly created, 'syntibanna', as you put it. I will also request that a regiment of my Blackblade guardsman to help oversee the acquisition and creation of the gas." His mood had lightened significantly, and his tone seemed almost jovial, which was a stark contrast to the subtle menace of his earlier tone when confronting Savan about the 'Otherspace' scheme.

"Do I make myself clear? And furthermore, do we have a deal, Circe?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

"That sounds... proper, to say the least. We have a deal." She smiled. "I will eagerly await the arrival of the Blackblades at the edge of the Colluctari Nebula. From there, we can get to work on putting the gas in tanks and testing it with some of your fighter craft and whatnot." She paused, thinking to herself for a brief moment. "If I may inquire... do you still have that one Zeltron around?"

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Excellent."

From there the Emperor of the Panathan Empire rose up from his mighty throne, and descended down the small series of steps to stand before Circe, although he stood nearly a foot taller than the Sith Lady. He reached out with both hands and clasped her firmly on the shoulders, his wry smile larger than ever and his eyes twinkling as he looked down at his newest partner in crime. "I am extremely pleased that you had come around to me, Circe, I have always valued your intelligence and your aid. You have still a grand part to play with me, and this is just the first of many steps to bring you closer to your true destiny." He released his grip on her shoulders, and stood solemnly before her as he acknowledged her question about a certain big-breasted Zeltron.

"If you speak of Balaya, she still serves me closely and loyally, and owns a room in my castle as well as a personal estate down in the capital. Why do you ask?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

Ordinarily, someone would likely be quite intimidated by a man who stood a foot taller than them, whose hands ended up on their shoulders. To Circe, however, she felt little to no intimidation whatsoever. Kaine was a professional, but so was Circe - she had served as one of his Sith Lords during the last days of the Sith Empire, and here she worked with him once more.

"I would like to request that she come with me as well, both to manage the Blackblades participating as part of this in lieu of your not directly being there, and serving as an adviser to deliver news of the project directly to your ear."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Hrm, very well. I will assign Balaya to oversee the Blackblade's sent along with you."

He didn't necessarily understand why Circe specifically wanted his Zeltron underling to be assigned to this project, and while he had quite a few suspicions as to why she would want her, he wouldn't object at this moment. Rather, he would indulge Circe and let Balaya report back to him on the project's report, but he would also have another loyal and trusted Blackblade soldier relay to him as well. That way, he can see if there would be a moment if Balaya had a sudden change of heart and was secretly plotting against him with Circe, but he didn't presume that she would. Still, it was good to have a backup plan just in case something like that did go down. Preparation like this is what kept him alive for so long in the Old Empire.

"If that is all, I assume you will be leaving to begin work on the project?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

"Indeed. You will have the first batch of syntibanna sooner rather than later. I assure you of that." She smiled before properly curtseying to the King of Panatha and turning away. With his resources, Colluctari would likely prove to be the motherload of nebular gas, ready for refinement into syntibanna in order to properly curb the market. Perhaps with enough refinement, exotic forms of tibanna, such as TibannaX, could be synthesized as well.

But that was for another time.