Heart of Steel (Anesia)

[Salem Norongachi]

Salem Norongachi was not adept with technology. He could pick up practically any weapon known to the galaxy and wield it like an extension of himself, he could pilot any starship that was given to him...but ask him to fix a holo-screen or replace a relay and you may as well have asked him to install a time-machine into an old speeder and change history.

He had ideas. Ideas that burst and popped in his mind twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They burned up his mind in the quiet of his long sleepless nights and they whispered throughout the days like an itch he just couldn't reach.

It was fortunate, then, that he had an entire division dedicated to the realization of those ideas. Before him, upon the desk that had previously belonged to Jonas Wilheim, he had a sheet of flimsiplast. Old fashioned perhaps, but it always felt better to physically get the ideas onto something solid rather than green text on a datapad.

Most of it was purely single lines, some scored out with notes as to why beside them. They were questions to address later, with the tech-monkeys.

"Hexaped?"

"Turbolaser?" Not enough power..."Heavy Blaster Cannon?"

"Capable of orbital drop?"

"Mortar pods."

He stopped writing and frowned in thought. "Shielding..." He cast his mind back to The Hand of Fate, with its multiple shield generators.

"Possible redundant shield generators?"

Something buzzed close at hand, a shrill noise that jarred him from his thoughts. It was his chrono, set to the far left of the disorganized desktop with its paperwork and dataslates. It had just gone 9:00pm GST.

He had a date, with [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"], and she'd be arriving at any moment.

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

"Again," she managed, a couple decades old whiskey crooked between two fingers at it's neck and her svelte form leaning over him. This was the first date in -if you didn't count the party- ever that had been planned for [member="Salem Norongachi"] and herself. Everything else was just fate and the hand that pushed it seemed to just keep sweeping right past her.

All work and no play; this was the life now. It was irritating, but what could you do? Just fall off the face of the galaxy? That had been done, and the slight reminder caused her to frown. "Sal," Anesia began, hefting the bottle over his shoulder to set it on the table he was working on. "Can we have a drink first at least?" Before you bore me to tears after I slaved all day. Her other hand rested upon his arm, fingers strumming.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

The closeness, he'd missed that. The heat of her skin radiating against his own and that smell that brought the primal to the fore of his mind. He savored it for a moment, a moment was all he could manage. Thoughts of war, of the Protectorate, of the bloody coup only weeks past soon rushed in to claim the scene.

He thought of the poor display of their out-dated and out-gunned droid armies, of how many men and women had died since he had taken charge. Omega was not prone to sentimentality but he despised wasted assets when they could, potentially, be reserved for later. What he envisioned was a machine that would rampage through their enemies, not a humanoid creation. He wanted fear, he wanted decimation, he wanted a monster that infantrymen long into their retirement would still wake, screaming in the right as the memory resurfaced.

"We can have several," Salem responded, noting the time. He'd already placed a call to the head of their R&D department while he waited for [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"]. The had at least an hour to kill before he was back in the lab. "Dinner?" There was a restaurant not far from the new capital building on Roon. He didn't eat out much, his diet had mostly consisted of the liquid variety since he'd awoken from stasis, blissfully unaware of the horrors the future held, of the carnage he'd weave into the Galaxy, but he'd heard good things.

Why not, he thought drinking her in as he stood and slipped on his dark suit jacket, they deserved to indulge after all they'd done together.

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

While he mused, her eyes took in the various notes he had scribbled. The pen eased from its rather lofty hold, slipping from Salem's hand to hers. Without nudging his to the side, Anesia merely shifted to accommodate his larger frame enough so she could pencil in a thought.

Multi-spectrum visual systems

Unsuspecting of the response to come, her thin fingers fell over the words already there, tracing them. An elbow even came down, so she could set her chin just inside her palm. She had been half-lounging on the table when she realized he'd spoke. It was just nice... no, comforting to be around him and some how in between the time it took to write and [member="Salem Norongachi"] to answer, she relaxed.

"Dinner and drinks?" Anesia eyed him with those bright green eyes warily. Perhaps he needs to go into stasis more often...

Ah, but no, she retracted her previous thought as she watched him slip into his jacket.

The General was still lounging upon the table when she sighed wistfully. "Its been too long..." she'd missed him. More than she would ever admit. As if swatting away at her statement, her hand fanned the air and she slid from the table. "Sounds good."

It was a short walk from where she was to where Salem had moved to. Her arms were suddenly at his shoulders, fingers first traced his lips, then the curves of his jaw. A slow spreading smile approached her lips and Anesia leaned, barely skating her mouth along the corner of his. She said nothing, only stood there for a handful of moments.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

Norongachi looked down at her note and gave a smirk, there was more to [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"] than just a pretty face and a body many men had probably died for. She was upon him then, inches from that long plunge into lust that would forestall any plans he had for this evening or the next. It spoke volumes about his character, that even has his hand moved toward her hip and he moved them toward the door his mind was still running thoughts and questions for the meeting later.

The restaurant wasn't grandiose or extravagant, the doorway was not wide and gaping with marble pillars framing it. It was a simple wooden door, with a window to the right that looked in on the almost quaint tables, chairs and subdued lighting. It looked almost like the type some working class family would frequent on special occasions. Gazing in Norongachi could see that its guests were finely dressed, he spotted a Viceroy visiting Roon, he also noted that the pretty Twi'lek opposite him wasn't his spouse.

"Not quite what I imagined," He commented idly as he opened the door for [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"]. "But, its the company. I suppose." A smirk played across his lips as a waiter came to seat them. "Table for two, somewhere quiet."

"Certainly Lord Commander, please..." The man swept a hand toward the back of the restaurant.

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

As one of the few privy to the Lord Commander's thoughts, she plucked a few as they walked, "Please tell me how droid creation has anything to do with dinner, Sal?"her tone was dry, in need of the whiskey they'd left behind. Really, she did not want to know the answer. What she did want was for him to know that she knew what was still on his mind. Anesia offered a humble spread of full lips that did not quite reach her eyes. You could at least elude to missing my company, dear. With the rise of her hand and the drop of her finger, she tapped his nose. It wouldn't kill you.

The taps of her heels and the thuds of his shoes were next to nonexistent upon the wooden threshold, opposite of what she was accustomed to. This bringing her back decades, to Naboo, and the peculiar place she once called home. They were similar in only appearance, being as this place was welcoming. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it far away.

Once lead to their table, Anesia gazed around, pegging the establishment as rustic or homey. It offered the sort of comfort and privacy larger restaurants on Bothawui did not. That being the very reason the woman ordered in most times. Her fingers trailed over the back of her chair before deciding to sit. The skirt suit she donned seemed to roll with the current patrons attire. Point for her that she didn't stop on the way to slip into something more comfortable.

From across the short expanse of the table between them, she finally allowed herself to just take the man in. "You look good," she placed her hands on the table, fidgeting. What for, there was no clue. [member="Salem Norongachi"] always brought about weird reactions from her.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

"It doesn't," Answered as he took his seat. "We rarely see each other and its one of the few moments I have time." He finished as they were seated, that connection ran both ways. Handy in a tumultuous relationship such as theirs, where deception, lies and self interest were the main attributes they both brought to the table.

"You are a beautiful liar..." He said with a smirk, he knew he looked tired, more tired than he had been considering he never slept. The waiter arrived then and he deposited two menus before them before inquiring as to drinks. "Whiskey, neat for me and ambrosia, black for my...." What was Anesia, another of those moments when he couldn't decide. Confidant, friend, accomplice? Girlfriend? Partner? So many labels swirled around his head in that moment that he simply responded with: "Date." The waiter smiled and sauntered off to acquire their beverages.

"You put me to shame, as always."

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

With the menu standing, she peered over at him with eyes that matched his. Blinked and they faded back to a less hostile, bronze-brown. "Salem," Anesia began, unable to actually dismiss the light smile, but hide it through the make-shift shield of sorts. [member="Salem Norongachi"] remembered her favorite. Could have, should have been usual, but very few kept it in stock. Either way, he remembered, along with plans- plots, delicate information... It was a compliment and she took it. "Thank you."

Reflecting back on the Master of the Force, Anesia knew this was shades less than what he was. What he truly was. There was danger, weakness, vulnerability. "You have to sleep soon," she said suddenly, albeit quietly. Salem could go on without it, using the Force. However, it was not good for his health. This is not negotiable, dear. Near plain Jane eyes scrolled down the menu as she projected. The "date" missed the faint redness of his cheeks; he was paler than her, gaunt even too. If she noticed it, there was no doubt in her mind others would as well. Others not so endearing to the freshly risen Lord Commander.

To say in the least, she was not ready for him to be disposed of. She sighed, abruptly managing to mentally slap herself. Mad, mad at the Galaxy and her own reckless abandon because she could not see a time where she would be satisfied with the concept. "Are you ready to order, or do you need another moment to look over the menu?" The waiter set their drinks in the appropriate places and stood awaiting his next move.

"Another moment, if you don't mind?" a polite and prized smile was given then and before he turned to go, she tagged his shirt with a brush of fingers. "A round to that table," Anesia pointed to the Twi'lek and the Viceroy, "on me."

A simple nod was given, glasses raised once the order was filled.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

Sleep. It was hard to remember what that was, before the memories tainted them. Anesia would never know that, she would never know what haunted the Lord Commander. Those thought, those feelings, were buried deep in a dark vault where all his blackest moments resided. Sleep was a terror, one he could not control and thus one he would not face.

"I will," He lied and turned his attention to the menu. Half the things it listed were alien to him, he'd lived on a modest diet even when he'd had billions of credits at his disposal. A steak jumped out at him and he made a note to order it as he set the menu aside, clasping his hands upon the table top.

When their drinks arrived, Salem tried his level best not to let his want show. He took up the vessel, a hexagon of glass, and placed it to his lips with calm, cool, precision that belayed the fact that his thirst was that of a man in the desert. The first mouthful was heaven sent, a blazing trail that at once scorched and sated his appetite.

The waiter retreated from the table and they were alone again. The broken pair, the deceitful duo, that held the fates of billions in their hands. He watched as the Viceroy and the sentient, that was not his wife, looked across at them when the drinks were delivered, he allowed a smirk to flee across his lips. Another sin laid bare, before [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"]. One couldn't help but wonder hat this nugget of information would be used for in the future.

"Cruel." He commented, raising his glass to his lips.

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

"I know you will," Anesia replied, narrowing her eyes. Bloody liar. But who am I to judge? Different story for a different time. A brief smile flitted over her face and she lowered the menu, "Do not make me fix this. Not when you can so easily." Not that it was some grand power or even a minuscule one. It did require time though, and that, was always tough to manage. The rest? It was, to say in the least, a pull of a few strings- an animal thing-instinct. Such talk, even to herself, caused the beast within to stir. She closed her eyes, agitated and then opened them again just as the waiter began to pass. "Covado salad and bantha steak, medium, add a pinch of saffron."

The black membrosia sat urging her, while the barest touch of a finger ran the rim of the faint garnet tinged glass that contained it. Old friend. "You appointed me liaison, Lord Commander," Deep brown pools glimmered with mischief. Having certain relations with other political parties were necessary, no matter how tight or loose the tie was. War was still upon them, ever barking at their heels. "Position matters as much as appearance. Neither as much as action, but of course you know that." I am extending my hand as well as letting him know that I am aware. Your face made for a beautiful punctuation.

A light, playful smile was given and her fingers fell from the brim, past the center of the glass before ensnaring the container and pulling it to tip at decadent lips. Onyx liquid fled down her throat and Anesia sighed at the familiar burn, consuming only over a quarter. "It is what keeps you coming back for more," finishing the rather paused innuendo-embracing reply in reference to her being cruel, the beguiling dark headed fiend sat the crimson stained glass back in its place.

"Who from research and development will be joining us later?" she inquired, a siren gaze sweeping over his hands, then to his brilliant emerald eyes.

It had been too long, Anesia realized. The pangs, the hunger, was not for the meal that was sure to come, but for the madness she awoke in [member="Salem Norongachi"], the fire. Those flames practically danced in those rustic gems and she looked away before he would notice, landing them upon the mistress and the politician again.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

"Rare for me, hold the salad." Norongachi instructed the waiter, who nodded politely and left once again. "I'll sleep when I'm dead..again." The response came with the usual lopsided smirk, it was one he used all too often in wildly different contexts. Many didn't know if humor lay behind it, a dark promise or a galaxy rending scheme.

The smirk broke into an amused smile. They were both very aware of the intricate dance any position of power required, whether it was to maintain said position or reach for something higher. "It also topples governments, I should market my likeness to all the plucky terrorists out there."

"Atretes, he spends as much time in the R&D department as he does training. Along with a slew of lab coats who's names I never bother to remember. It should be..." He wanted to say interesting but that wasn't the correct word. "..Fruitful."

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

Does it? Tilting her head, her fingers combed through her hair, mussing the tresses. Still her eyes were trained in another direction. I thought it only groomed them? Honestly, it was complete happenstance that Anesia began fixing her -or rather disarranging- her 'do'. Set the bar? The soft pads of her fingers tapped upon the glass as she watched the room. "A little green nosh does a body good, Salem."

Threading her gaze through the establishment, Jy'Vun searched for a form of distraction. "Mmm..." None. Plucky terrorists can be of use, so long as you're the highest bidder. That did not necessarily mean credits; it depended on the terrorist. Little details. Such was the life of a charismatic politician. Her coy fingers suddenly found her drink and she slid it to, soundlessly.

At least it is not the foreman, "Ahh... the good pupil. Firecracker, that one." Her gaze finally met his once more, the flames having dimmed. It was still smoldering, but that was to be expected. This was Anesia. She gave a carefully guarded smile and flung the rest of the Black Membrosia down her throat. Pale cheeks flushed just a shade or two under ripe berries and she exchanged her empty tumbler for a nod and a promise for the second.


[member="Salem Norongachi"]

 

[Salem Norongachi]

"Groom is such a crass word, I like to think I show them what is already there." He responded through their link, taking a moment to meet her eye. Desire, that's how it had begun. A meeting of minds and kindred spirits, but as is always the case the heart wants. It took you down avenues that you weren't even aware were there. He suppressed that, covered it in peat and fire and buried it deep. Whatever this...affliction was, it wouldn't do to let it see daylight.

"I get all the nutrients I need, thank you.." He responded with a slight arch of a dark brow. "Like all tools, they have their uses. You just have to direct them, or at the very least let them assume their target is the correct one." He forewent the use of telepathy. Truth be told there was something about hearing her voice the old fashioned way. It took him back to that cabin, with the fire raging and confusion and disquiet in his mind.

He matched her, draining his glass. The service was impeccable, they were refreshed after only moments and he looked across at her, emerald eyes meeting...what would it be this time? A colour to match his own, with the same dark fire? Or would it be something new? He could never tell, and perhaps thats why he was enticed by her. Like Icarus drawn to the heat of the sun, before the fall. He could never pin her down, could never figure her out, could never fully control her as he had a thousand others.

"You have no idea," He replied, remembering the fury that was [member="Atretes Rhoujen"] on the battlefield of Roon. "Firecracker is mild, he's a force of nature."

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

Not being able to help it, she laughed, the siren vocals stretching within the small restaurant. Just a pitter-patter of echoes flew from her lips when she regained composure, "Not all nutrients, Sal." Her shoulders still shook mildly. It was sudden and Anesia had not realized what happened until after. The stares she received from her short outburst were less than welcome, but she as always, gave the bravado they expected. Practically painting on the embarrassment, the partisan glanced away quickly, making subtle note to not make eye contact with any patrons and to let her gaze stroll back to [member="Salem Norongachi"]. They took on a whole otherworldly light when they met his; resembling the flame of a chemical fire with violets, greens, golds and reds all flickering in tandem.

What would they have thought, all those other guests?

She only shared it with him and in a blink, it was gone as if the flutter of obsidian lashes acted as a fan for the heat, driving the color back. For a long while, they sat in silence, staring at one another. Drinking in the present, revisiting memories... Even though their refills sat with in reach, neither had been touched in those, what seemed like frozen moments. Anesia's hand slid past the Membrosia, fished around the whiskey and found his, deftly sweeping her fingertips along his palm until it lie almost flush with the table.

There was an ache.

There was that madness.

I need something more than memories, she recoiled, drawing her hand back to wrap around her glass. A sadness lingered there, one she would not mention, and Anesia abated it with polishing off her entire order in seconds. Needs were not being met and the only reasonable thing left to do was to drown it out. There were moments like these where she would rather disappear all together, rather than battle with desire. Or emotion that was not returned. Damn love. Damn loyalty.

The empty glass was quickly swiped away and replaced with a refill of the same poison. The meals were promptly placed thereafter, "Thank you, monsieur."

Denying herself the option to even look at the Lord Commander, Anesia grasped her utensils and began the tedious duty of carving the steak up into small square bits. "Perhaps one day I'll see for myself." One bite, then two... after that, it was just the usual ploy of pushing the food around the plate. While the food was rather exceptional, it was not what she needed.

This would have been a nice night out, should have been. She knew too well that war was in favor, even on the first reunion since before The Fall- before even The Confederacy. That anything she wanted or needed would always be second, often discarded or forgotten unless it was part of the grand scheme. Anesia had done this to herself; letting Salem become like a drug with no recovery in sight.

Not that she wanted it. Alas, options were always nice to have. There was no backup plan for this.

The Master had went without her fix for entirely too long and the alcohol was only dampening the addiction. "Salem." It was only his name, but the way her voice pitched in the dark, robbing the silk of its softness and the fire that bloomed soon after, its warmth reigned within the space between them. A summoning to play that he would not deny her, lest he wanted to scorn a tool so early on in the game.

A damning woman was she and without the use of influence that was so readily available to her. Anesia preferred a natural response; nothing muddled with the affections the Force brought to the board. She loved him, but both her crafted vanity and her heart could not afford to acknowledge it on a public level, even though her mouth burned to speak it. This would be her undoing and she would fall gladly into the abyss should it ever transpire. But who was to know his response to such or even his rejection? That she felt she could not take and always reverted back to silence. Much like the man before her, certain things even their shared bond could not breach; the love she had for him and what feelings he had for her, were there any, and the deep dark pasts of them both.

There were things that were better left in the dark.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

Silence feel at that, like a ton load it landed atop them both, settling over the table like a smothering blanket that wouldn't abate. He ate and drank until nothing remained, turning thoughts aside that desperately demanded his attention. This wasn't the time, he counselled himself, there was too much going on, so many things that demanded a higher priority than affairs of the heart.

When would be the time? The question came like a shot from the dark, catching him unawares. When would it be enough? When would he finally put his own needs ahead of the mission he had taken upon himself to carry out?

The answer was an easy one: Never.

A sigh escaped his lips and he finally made eye contact with her. Opposite, yet the same. Two hollow souls trying to fill the void with one another. A sad tale and one all too common in life. Salem slid his plate away and checked his chrono, it was time.

"Lets go." Was all he said, extracting a handful of notes from his pocket and placing them on the table.

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

With a sort of stoic reserve, Anesia stood in the space between the table and the chair with nothing short of feline grace. Something broke then, inside. Another piece chipped away, discarded into the pit of nothingness. The pain... it all suddenly washed away and she blinked. Blinked again as if the mere notion stabilized her, kept her chronically unable to display the emotion she had carefully tucked away. When she finally met his gaze, they only reflected a vast and empty void. Never once had she given him such a lifeless exchange. No heat. No ice. Her face was a painted passive mask. Rejection.

So this is how it feels.

The legs of the rustic wood gave not a sound when she nudged past it to weave through the arrangement the restaurant had laid out. [member="Salem Norongachi"] was still sitting when she left. I'll be along shortly, Anesia touched their link briefly, not knowing herself if she were being honest or not. The door to the eatery was between them now and without warning every fiber of power she had built, erected, and fortified the metaphysical walls she for so long went without around him. Anesia walked, heels strumming along the walkway of cracked duracrete, in no particular direction, with no destination in mind. The cesspit of need ever threatening to take her down the path she had been so careful to avoid this time.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

He nodded and just like that he was alone. Watching her back as she walked away. He wanted to stop her, to go after her and tell her that he cared but as powerful a being as he was, he was a coward.

The ache was palpable as he waited in the cold night air. The car pulled up, the driver stepping out and opening the door for him to enter. The plush leather succumb to his weight as he sat down, crossing one leg over the other. If he were as heartless as the world thought, his mind wouldn't have been replaying the last half hour. Mao came to him again, not with any form of want but purely the memories of what she and his son had never said. So afraid, so terrified, to show the feelings that they clearly had for each other. Now he was dead, an echo in Norongachi's mind, and she would never hear those words.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked, his voice small through the intercom. Salem didn't answer immediately, the thought that he had repeated the same mistake as his offspring nagged at him, it tore his mind away from the now and cast it back to a time when love wasn't something he would run from, but instead run toward it. Young, naive, barely more than a child in the ways of life. He had always thought he was a fool back then, looking at the galaxy through rose tinted glasses, barely able to equate that man with the one he had become.

Something had gotten lost along the way, something vital that made all the death and the wars bearable. For all the power and the authority he had wielded in his life, he had never once been what some would consider happy. There was always that hole, a dark pit that he could never heal no matter how many schemes he hatched, how many battles he won or how much strength he attained through the Force.

"Follow my directions." The driver pulled away from the curb and Salem dictated their course, honing in upon [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"] like she were a beacon in the night. In minutes they had found her and he told the driver to slow down.

"Get in.."

 

[Anesia Jy'Vun]

Building after building, a club, then a bar. So little stars in the black blanket of night, but the ones that shone appeared strung and close up, artificial with blinding twinkling light. Begging to be plucked, or daring you to. Even though she decidedly wanted to walk among the shadows, the glow of the moon and stars often did not accommodate to her want. Instead they cast her crown of dark russet hair, and pale wet cheeks in a wash of vibrant white-yellow. So distraught, she bothered not with her power to create a show of manipulation. Nor did she bother to wipe her tears, but let them fall where they would.

There were questions, so many of them, that they threatened to trump the never waning need. Torment. She was at a loss of how to respond, where to go. The pull of the flesh, of shimmering sin came from Roon's nightlife so strongly that the desire to answer was beginning to win. Anesia found herself closer to the doors, then away. Stuck between her emotions and loyalty to a man who did not want her and those that would come so willingly. Stuck between ache and survival.

Alone and seemingly vulnerable, it was as if the Master was inviting what ever chaos lingered on the streets of Tawntoom. Anesia needed something else to concentrate on, lest the very emotions that aided in her power tore her apart from the ether and back, destroying her. That was how it worked, right? The power received often became your demise. Her heart thudded in her chest, eyes set on the sky. There was little attention paid to her surroundings and nothing save Salem would have a fighting chance at harming her. Just when a smile approached her lips at the security, the events that transpired no more than two hours ago was brought to the forefront of her mind and she flinched as if slapped.

"Get in."

Could she look at him? Even though his voice, after it all, still sent shivers of anticipation dancing along her skin. Would she allow him to see her, see what he caused? Show such weakness though the walls upon walls still held steady. Those made no difference to the physical pain that was so plainly displayed upon her face. Anesia only gave pause, stopping mid-step. That would give him power over her, would it not? Did it matter now? She closed her eyes, letting the pain of the cool wind of night sweep over her red glistening cheeks. It was then that she turned, only to let her glazed green pools linger to his matching ones. She held it for a moment, lower lip quivering before her head snapped away. He didn't deserve to know and yet he did.

She had given him... everything and he shoved it away. What more could he possibly want? Anesia had nothing left to give.


The sky, once clear, began to be riddled with her afflictions in the form of lightening. Clouds swam in, ghosting the view of the stars above and rain slowly, but surely began to fall. Anesia just stood there, the warring of her emotions having finally reached a point of tipping into the atmosphere, guiding the weather with an unstable hand. "Why?" her voice cracked.

 

[EmKay]

"Are you done with those calibrations yet?"
"No, sir."
"How about activating the astromechs?"
"Still charging."
"How long have they been charging?"
"Uhh...."
"GO! Get the astromechs online, and I'LL deal with the calibrations!"

Atretes sighed in frustration, plugging his pocket secretary into the lab computer terminal and typing as fast as he could to get these last-minute simulation calibrations functional. Mechanical whirring was all around now, the small astromech droids activated and carrying out their various purposes. The tech he'd just been speaking to returned, only to get waved off by Rhoujen to go do something else while he finished these computer bits.

"I have a company to get of the ground," he jabbed a button and started a synchronisation, "Norongachi and his guest will be here any moment," he heard an electrical spark from behind him, and then the lights flickered and he slammed the emergency generator backup switch before his work was deleted, "and this "team" is about as proficient as my grandmother. Oh wait, I don't have a grandmother!" he threw his arms up and spun in his chair, leaving his work to finish uploading while he went and switched a droid from demolition to repair. He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers and groaned. This was the worst day to be trying to gain a team of technicians to train and get on-board for Sudoka Industries, and he was about to start trying to puppeteer them with the Force when a chime came from the door.

"Please don't be Salem yet..." he frowned and went to the door, tapped the open button, and there were some scientists and more well-trained technicians. He grinned then, his mood lifted significantly. This handful of men and women worked with Strask Ak'lya before he... vanished? Rhoujen wasn't sure on that detail, all he knew was that resources were distributed, and he grabbed what few workers he could before they were all taken.

"Good, you guys get to work fixing, please, and I'll clean and organise." he said, words rapid-firing out of his mouth. The team wasted no time and got straight to work adjusting, calibrating, rewiring, and generally making the lab work correctly. They also taught the more raw team he'd hired, and while they did that he sorted datapads, cleaned counters, and swept the floor. A simple task, but spanning the majority of the facility, and time consuming. If all went well, by the time [member="Salem Norongachi"] and [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"] got to the labs, they'd be a typical white-paneled and sterile lab with all of the bells, whistles, and gizmos related to this kind of operation. Hopefully.

At worst, everything would still be in chaos and disarray, things would be half-done and put away, and the two guests would be unfortunate enough to witness what goes into training the new guys.

 

[Salem Norongachi]

Norongachi sat there, watching her, feeling the crushing weight of her emotion hammer into his senses. It carved a hole in him, let the ache become a thundering being all of its own that wanted to consume him. Then she turned and somewhere, some little part of him that still remembered what it was like to be human recoiled in horror. The twin trails of tears glistened under the street lights, a perfect lip quivered as it held valiantly against the urge to give her feelings voice but it was her eyes that put into stark reflection how different Omega and [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"] were. They had been so full of fire and mischief, a promise of something extraordinary...that fire had finally died.

He had broken her once, physically, he had laid her weakness bare for the universe to see but this...the sadness he saw in her gaze was something different, something cruel and without purpose. He couldn't look at it anymore, he couldn't see the aftermath of his cold indifference. All the things he had ever done, terrible, horrible acts that had cost lives beyond count never once had he felt ashamed, never once had he looked upon those moments with anything more than 100% certainty that it had to be done, that those deaths were in service to the whole.

This wasn't like that, whatever designs he had started with when he had met Anesia, they had evolved and changed into something unexpected. What he saw in her eyes was the result of his own selfishness, his own fear of emotion, and he was ashamed, angry, that he could allow himself to become that which he detested: A spiteful, manipulative Sith.

"If you need to ask," He responded, finally, his voice quite and controlled. "Then you should just keep walking."