Pulling from the ashes...

[Julius Sedaire]

Location: AEI Executive Headquarters - Office of Development and Research​

Under the tutelage of [member="Darth Shadow"], Ostanes had slowly began to piece together his powers and abilities. Still, he was but a shadow of his former self, a pale echo of the once powerful man. Those closest to him knew just what he had lost. So while his Force related abilities began, again, to mature and grow and be regained, he looked elsewhere to build his power and knowledge.

As an alchemist for the company he worked for, that option was nearly infinite, and so he had begun playing corporate espionage and 'climbing the ladder' so to speak. There were more than enough gaps in the structure of the behemoth of a company for Ostanes to wedge himself, or his associates, into. It was not, perhaps, the most elegant of manuevers. but AEI was showing wear and tear after Rave's death. There was blood in the water, and the sharks were circling. Ostanes would not loose his best chance at regaining his power.

First thing was first, like with any business... They needed to ramp up production. They needed their product out on the streets and new product being designed. To do that, the first step was recruiting to fill in the gaps of various Alchemists, Force magicians and more that had been lost or wiped clean by his former employer in her vacancy. So to this end, Ostanes had wedged himself into a promotion from the Board, despite his weakened power, as Director of Development and Research. It fell to him to begin to restore day to day operations in the best way he knew how.

So to that end he had delegated, like any smart businessman. The dossier of various AEI certified alchemists were broken up by talent level/certification level. Ostanes himself would oversee the highest two ranks, and interview potentially 'unsigned' talent to offer them positions as Staff Alchemists, Trainers or more. So he sat, a Warden Cloak lined in crimson draped over a chair behind a massive hijarna stone desk, a long flared suit coat trimmed in jakobeast fur hung up on a coat rack, while his clothing, though not known, was a singlet designed to help resist against lightsaber blows (the shirt at least) and he even wore a much subdued variant of the bloodwalker boots into which simple tusken-cotton trousers were tucked. Overall, he looked the very image of a captain of industry as he waited for his meeting, a ledger and holo-quill out, taking notes. Very different from the frantic being of a few weeks ago indeed.

[member="Snowflake"]

 

[Lief]

With the acquisition of many of her former self's memories, there had been several names to stand out; those whom she had known back in her own universe, for instance. One such being was, of course, the esteemed Darth Shadow. He had been a great mentor to her, and from what she could recall of the other Kära he had even helped kickstart her Alchemical Path, so to speak. Part of her knew that she had to find him, however she also knew he was a difficult man to find! So she did the next best thing, and instead sought out one of his many students.

While this information was also difficult to get ahold of, being that she was now once again a business woman she heard rumblings along the grapevine of AEL switching hands. It just so happened that he who had claimed it was in league with Shadow, or so she had been informed. Her sources were very rarely wrong. So it was that Kära descended upon their Office of Development and Research, fully intent on receiving the attention of [member="Ostanes"] by any means necessary. She was a patient woman, yet she had more than a few tricks up her sleeve too.

Should any attempt to stop her she simply manipulated their minds into thinking she had an appointment. It wasn't a very difficult thing to do where the untrained mind was concerned. No, the only real issue would be Ostanes himself. Shadow rarely shirked on the training of his students. Perhaps she could assist there, too; Kära of all people knew how Shadow enjoyed disappearing for long lengths of time. And there was likely something she specialised in that the old man hadn't considered teaching his student yet! Still, her priority was finding out where her former Mentor... Master?... Was.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Ostanes had been expecting someone. Just not Kara. Hardly her. His office was easily pointed out, as there was little reason to suspect her being dishonest. But, knowing the unreliability of others, Ostanes had worked with the grimoire in his possession to protect himself even beyond the guards and underlings that Kara brushed aside. Though he was not really the CEO of the company, yet, he had a high position within it, and only a handful or less of people wielded more power in it than him, and most of them worked for him through one path or another. So while the title didn't match, the influence and power did. And that was enough, for now.

As Kara crossed what looked like a simple red enamel line in the marble floor of the antechamber to Ostanes' office, he knew someone was coming, and that is wasn't the Chiss scientist he had called in. Calmly, to his credit, the Shii'do stood and silently pressed a button, a drawer on his desk opening to reveal his lightsaber, should he need it, and he eyed his door, waiting and watching as he felt the presence draw near. A simple track threshold was enough, and was subtle enough all but the most powerful of Force Users would probably neglect and overlook it. And so, he waited.

[member="Snowflake"]

 

[Lief]

Entering the threshold which led into the Office, Kära could not help but smile. [member="Ostanes"] was untrained for the most part, of that she had no doubt, yet he was resourceful if nothing else. Using an old ritual involving Korriban sand wrought into the marble was clever; he would be able to detect her now, no doubt, she could feel the trigger through the Force. Yet she also knew how rare and difficult this particular bit of cunning was to pull off. She doubted it usually failed him, in terms of gaining the upper hand. But Kära had been raised amongst the deceitful, she knew the signs to watch out for.

As she glided into the Office itself, Kära motioned with one hand and the doors swung close of their own accord. Any who might try to pry them open from the outside would be simply wasting their energy. Turning her attention over to the man who sat there, Kära studied him for a moment. Settling both her hands to her back she tilted her head to one side. "I presume that you are Ostanes" she began, already knowing for a fact that he was. "You and I need to talk."

[member="Ostanes"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

To his credit, Ostanes kept calm and collected, not a single bead of sweat or flutter of attitude or emotion. Calmly he shut the drawer he had opened and sat, propping his feet on the desk and crossing his legs, gesturing as a chair scooted over to sit in front of the massive black-stone desk. With a second gesture, Ostanes had turned the fire in the rooms fireplace back on (such a nice touch). He eyed the visitor, waiting a moment before he spoke and divulged anything, thinking.

"Yes, I am Ostanes... I suppose I have a few moments before my interview here... What is it that you require madam? Oh, and please do feel free to sit."

[member="Snowflake"]

 

[Lief]

Kära had never before been addressed as Madam, and for a moment she was honestly dumbfounded by the term. Not letting it show, however, she strolled calmly into the room until she was stood adjacent from him; she was not really one for sitting. Her gaze subtly took in as much as the room as she could see within her peripheral, yet moreso she took note of the collected manner in which Ostanes presented himself. It was good that he could handle pressure in such a fashion, no doubt being around the likes of Shadow helped.

"Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" Kära despised wasted time, "I know who you are, and what you are, though I daresay most of your company has not been made aware. All I seek from you is the location of your..." Master would not do, there was likely cameras picking up sound and the like. She wasn't in the habit of blowing fellow Sith's covers. In fact even as a child it had taken brutal torture to have her divulge similar information. "Associate, you may know him as Shadow."

Internally the woman cringed, he had more right to his claim as Darth than most of the Galaxy's Sith. It made her uncomfortable to speak of him in such a disrespecting manner. "I promise you he will not mind your telling me. He and I go far back." There was no need to say anything more on the matter. She probably said more than was necessary, but this was a new Kära. Sometimes the old ways had to be altered.

[member="Ostanes"]

 

[Julius Sedaire]

To his credit, Ostanes merely curled an eyebrow up in a look wrought purely of interested confusion, his smirk was thinly disguised though as he silently drew a beautifully worked crystal decanter across the desk and poured, slowly. His first admission of his connection to the Force was through this display of telekinetic ability, and he raised the glass in his hand in a mock salute to the woman across from him, sipping softly of the amber liquid, which smelt slightly of burnt wheat and raw earth, a heady and primal scent.

"I do beg your pardon miss, but i'm not familiar with that particular person... I daresay the name 'Shadow' is a bit melodramatic, and not typical of the type I myself, nor Akure and it's holdings associate with... However, if someone were to be known by that name that I did associate with, I would hardly say speaking of him openly would be wise... After all, someone that I wouldn't mock with that name would be.... Surely one not to upset...But come... Let me at the least give you a tour of my personal facilities... Perhaps we can then go to our employee database from there, as my work-room is on the way.... We can use the silence to think"

Trying to emphasize the words 'on the way' and 'silence' to appropriately leave bland hints his work room was the safer place to talk, he stood, sliding his coat first and then the extravagantly lined wardens' cloak, using the flip of the cloak to draw his lightsaber from the drawer which he had opened as he furled his cloak onto his shoulders, and closed with his hip as he turned to retrieve the cloak. His companion might notice, but the gestures were for show for her alone, to know that he was placing caution on this.

Standing, he turned and walked around and past the desk, offering his arm to Kara in a silent entreating to follow him.

[member="Snowflake"]

 

[Lief]

While she was all for subtlety and covertness, at times Kära simply wanted to cut to the chase. She had no reason to linger in this place, after all, Ostanes was not someone she had a use for - or so she thought, at least - and thus a simple planet would have worked. But lo, he wanted to cover his back. She supposed it made sense, but still it would have been as simple as scrambling the cameras and other recording electronics for a few seconds to ensure that it was neither documented or heard by anyone in the building. Perhaps he did not know how. Kära had used the trick numerous times before.

Either way, if she wanted Shadow's location she supposed she'd have to play ball. She did need that blade, after all. Besides, this was Merrill's old company, which meant there could be some interesting forges for alchemy lying around. "Very well," she offered, with a light shrug, "It cannot hurt to see what you have going on around here." She was rather fond of her trade, after all. Following after the man, making no physical contact - it seemed only Thyrian had that right - Kära headed alongside him into Akure's facilities, feeling every wasted minute tick painfully by.

[member="Ostanes"]