Associations of Fortune (Xavier, Emelie)

[Old Man Russard]

ONE WEEK AFTER THE EVENTS OF "A MEMORABLE EVENING"



The old man sipped his morning coffee - for once they'd gotten the brew just right, which he took as a sign of good forturne for the rest of the day. And they could do with a little good fortune.

Last weeks' terrible asteroid storm that demolished a healthy portion of the Russard Estate and ruined a perfectly respectable party for the Empress had pressed the need for he and his household to lodge in the Company office Tower while repairs were underway. Jason did not like his suite one bit. The bed was hard compared to his one at home and everything was not in its proper place. Half the Old Man's day was occupied in trying to locate his belongings and the other half grousing annoyance at the inept staff who's responsability it was to take care of such things.

The morning paper was folded neatly beside the cup on the table, read through and awaiting the next peruser, his son Jason. It would be waiting a while, Jason the Younger usually looked at it only after he had done an hours work before breakfast - work which consisted mainly of responding to general business communications that had come to his office through the night.
He would be down to eat any moment. In the meantime, the Old Man savoured his coffee, mulling over a recent conversation..

"Are you an Empire man, then Synik?" The question was casual enough, and came with no scrutinizing glance at Xavier. The Old Man was curious as to the calibre of man he was talking to and who he may, in the near future, be dealing with on a business level.

Xavier took his Saccorian and put it to his lips before following it with the lighter.

A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips from Russard's question as he puffed on the cigar lighting the tip.

"Only Empire I am concerned about is my own." He smiled and took a long drag on the cigar before letting the smoke out of his mouth slowly, and then chuckled slightly.

"I kid...well mostly. Mr. Russard, I could give you a line of bull, but that would be a waste of both our time and an insult to your intelligence. So I'll give it to you straight." He paused again for another drag, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Getar had moved on over to where Kazaar was standing.

"The Empire is something I respect, but it is far down my priority list. My concern is my company and continuing it's growth. Don't get me wrong. If the Empire showed up on my doorstep I'll do business with them, might even give them a discount." Xavier smirked. "But if your asking if I'm one of those businessmen who spend more time here on Coruscant trying to curry favour with the polititians betting their company's entire existance on whether or not they get a piece of the pie rather then actually spending time to make sure their pilots have cargo to haul, then no I'm not."

The memory brought only reassurance to his and his son's decision to engage Silenus Corp in partnership with their planned new enterprise. Xavier had impressed the Old Man enough to where he even liked the young businessman and looked forward to what this new relationship might realise.

"Good morning, Father" Jason the Younger said brightly, seating himself and reaching for the coffee urn which was also set on the table. "I trust you had a good night"

His son well knew the answer to that - why he insisted on pretending otherwise was irritating to the Old Man. So he answered with a grunt.

"Well, wont much longer now" his son responded, stiring in some cream and tapping his spoon on the rim of the cup. "The carpenters assure me that the East wing will only take one more day, two tops." He sipped his coffee.

Another grunt. Sometimes his son would believe anything.

"So, the meet is set with Synik for this afternoon" Jason reported, spinning the newspaper right-way round to read the day's headline. "I just confirmed it before I came down"

"Good" the Elder Jason answered. "You have the time outlines and operational guides in order?"

"Yes....GUNGAN DEATH SQUADS - FACT OR FABLE..Really, they print such rubbish dont they?"

"Jason, the operational guides?"

"Yes, of course - all is in order. I've had the accountants break-down the projections for the first three quarters and outline what Mr Synik can expect for his portion of return. It is quite respectable, even for such a gamble as this." 'This' being a research lab established in the Ruusan System to be used as a launch point for scientific teams to seek out living organisms and organic material to be developed in the Russard technologies, most specifically in the bio-suits supplied to the Imperial Military.

This was as the Old Man had expected. His son was more than on top of things, even if he did sometimes give his father the impression of being otherwise. Jason the Elder felt a twinge of shame at the amount of times he inwardly underestimated his son's ability. It was never warrented and originated more from his own controling nature and the reluctance to loosen hold.

"GUNGANS," his son repeated again, "I cant picture it, can you?"

[Jason Russard]

The coffee was good, that meant the Old Man could atleast give that tired old song a rest, for today atleast. What is it with old people and change? You'd think their whole life hinged on having dinner at the exact same hour each evening and their morning coffee being just right.

He had never really viewed his father as being old, and didn't even now for that matter. Jason the Elder was always such a tough man, physically and mentally, but Jason had to admit, sometimes the Old Man's world shrunk too much down to the inanities in life. Jason hoped he would not allow that to happen to himself when he got of an age, although, he had to admit...his bed was too hard to sleep on too.

"Roger sent me the full list of staff whom we will be sending along to establish the lab" he said nudging the paper away with his index finger, leaving the murderous Gungans behind and moving back to the topic at hand. "You'll be happy to note that Sheree Lancaster will be among them"

Sheree Lancaster was a notable scientist who had long removed herself off the contemporary science research grid on "conscious objector" grounds. It had been carreer suicide at the time as her objections were against the Empire and she had been blacklisted for the past eleven years, unable to find gainful employment in all that time. She had written many periodicals and even a book, if Jason recalled correctly, but none which met with any real success -- or even acceptance. Sheree had agreed to work for the Russards out of long loyalty to the men themselves and a chance to find and research something new. Her aquisition was a great boon to the Russards and her knowledge and expertise was of incalcuable value.

"So, Sheree Lancaster misplaced her conscience somewhere over the years did she?" the Old Man remarked almost a little sadly as he lifted his cup to his lips.

"I think it is more a case of her settling for a chance to return to her true calling, which is science not politics" Jason offered.

This caused the Old Man to pause mid-sip, eyeing his son speculatively. "That was astute of you"

"I have my moments" Jason shrugged, not realising just how he'd impressed his father. "Anyway, she will be a great asset to us and is very eager to get started"

"Will she be at the meeting today?"

"No, she has to finalize some things on Naboo where she has been living the past decade. We will send for her once the final date is decided upon, with luck we will accomplish that with Xavier today."

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier sat at the desk in Emelie's seldom used office in the back of the Bastel. When they had started Silenus Corporation he had made sure that they installed a secure communications terminal with direct access, via the proper passwords of course, to the Corporations central database.

At the moment his assistant Jax Stracken's image was being shown one one of the screen's while a shipping schedule was pulled up on the other.

"Okay it looks good. Your right though, we're being stretched too thin. I guess I shouldn't complain though." Xavier leaned back in the high back chair taking a moment to run some thoughts through his head. "Okay, have the transportation department begin looking into some new haulers. Tell them to put together a proposal for whatever they think we need and submit it for review. Let them ask for the world, and we'll see what we can get for them."

He waited as Jax wrote down some notes before. "Okay what's left."

Xavier watched as Jax pushed the glasses up higher on his nose and looked over the loose agenda that he had prepared for their meeting.

"Nothing in relation to the regular operations. Which leaves the RI meeting that you have today." Jax said.

"I take it you've looked over the draft they sent us and looked into our options?"

"Yes sir."

"Well?" Xavier's tone had a hint of annoyance as Jax called him "sir". They enjoyed a pretty informal relationship, and Jax knew that Xavier hated when he called him sir, which meant that he did it often.

"Well without knowing exactly what kind of biologicals their looking to deal with, and with a fair understanding of the kind of security we want to keep, there are these two options."

Xavier sat back and watched his screen as Jax began to breif him on the two prospects and their details. He would wait until meeting with the Russard's before settling on which facility to use.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

While Xavier occupied the office in the back area of the Bastel, Emelie was quite content for the moment to have situated herself on one of the bar stools in the more public area of her establishment. Public was a relative term in the morning. The bar remained closed except for a few more of the dedicated patrons who kept to themselves along the edges of the walls, enjoying coffee with just that bit of an extra pick-me-up they all needed. Most of them worked for her in one way or another if nothing else than in the capacity that not a one of them would hesitate to act as unofficial security to protect their hideaway. In exchange, their vices were discounted. Decent enough arrangement. Also didn't make for a lot of question asking and so it wasn't any of them who actually spoke up, but rather the aged barkeep who had been going about his morning routine, part of which today had involved pushing shot after shot at the bar's owner. But as the last one had been finished off he shook his head and didn't offer another.

"Think that's enough, kiddo."
"Frak you, Durnik...you don't get to make that call."
"I can't let you go off to that fancy meeting all sauced up. You know the boss-man wouldn't exactly appreciate it."
"'Boss-man?' Since when did he become either of our boss?"

The man took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. "Don't."
"Don't what?" Words came out unusually cold for her, biting and anything but typical for Emelie's usual demeanor.

"You know I won't go and play your games, Emelie. You have a bone to pick with someone today and out of everyone in the galaxy you know damn well I'm not that person."

During the entire conversation Emelie had been staring at the bottles behind the man addressing her in his rather thick Coruscanti accent. With her head on her arm as it rested on the bar top, her right hand twirled the last emptied shot glass about. But with Durnik's last statement the movement of the small piece of bar-ware came to a halt and her eyes moved to look up at the man. She regarded him for a few moments, his long wild hair that was more gray than the brown it had once been, the beard of same color that probably made him look older than he was, wrinkles deep set into a face that showed every bit of wisdom the old guy had for his years. It was a face she'd been familiar with for a long time now and yeah, he was right, no matter how much she wanted to direct all the bad feelings at him it just wasn't going to happen.

"Sorry."
"Right, right. You know you don't have to be."

Emelie tried to not cringe as the barkeep put his hand on top of her head and mussed up her brightly colored hair for a moment. Instead she just let her eyes close as went back to fussing with the shot glass. There was a strange fondness for the action, he'd done that same sort of thing to her back when she was little. The familiar clink next to her caused her eyes to open again and eye the fresh shot filled with bright blue liquid.

"Last one. You can have more when you get back from playing business lady."
"Aint playing..."
"You just keep going on telling yourself that."

The rude gesture she gave him before downing the shot only made the barkeep laugh. Yep, today was going to be hell, but the trick at this point was to not let on to it. There was too much riding on this meeting to let some dumb incident from twenty years ago mess it all up no matter how much it was going to try for it. With a forced smile Emelie pushed herself away from the bar and walked to the door that lead to the back area which would eventually lead to her office. That same smile remained as the door to her office slid open and she let herself rest against the jam, arms folding over her chest.

"So, Jax manage to blow the place up yet?"

[Old Man Russard]

Sheree Lancaster. The Old Man was hard pressed to remember the last time he'd seen the young Scientist. It was probably an innocuous enough event as so often is the case with such things. No one ever expects its the last time you'll ever see some one, until it is. Of course, vocally disclaiming the virtues of the Empire like Sheree had been doing should have been the first clue. Hindsight. The Old Man shrugged inwardly, youth was so damned foolish with life sometimes. Everything was about the here, the now. No long-sightedness, no real concept that there is still a lot of life to be lived after the age of thirty. Sheree would be close to forty now. Jason wondered if she'd had that same realisation yet.

He would be quick to tell anyone who asked him that youth could be folly. Still, he had to admit, he admired those who believed in something so fervently that they didn't shy away from the risk such beliefs brought them under. Sheree had paid a high price for having a conscience and the courage to express it. She deserved much more than a life of obscurity and unrealised personal achievements.

"Im glad she'll be working with us" he said after a while. "A mind like that is a crime to waste"

Jason the Elder pushed his coffee cup aside and turned his hoverchair away from the table.

"The car will be round for us at Noon, Father" his son said, adding the meeting was set for 2pm. It would take some time to reach the Bastelraum von Dieben across Coruscant. In the meantime, the Old Man would swim some laps, have a sauna and spend some time in the makeshift office Jason the Younger had set up for him to replace the one he used at the Estate.

"Are we really meeting in a bar?" the Old Man asked, finding that a little unorthodox, but not completely unappealing. A lot of sincere alliances had been forged in a bar during his lifetime.

"Er, I believe there is an office there somewhere, upstairs or downstairs or..not really sure where - Roger would know though, but Im sure Synik will provide us with a private enough environment whatever the case."

"Huh" Jason gruffed. "I'll take my chances with the bar scoundrels as opposed to the white-collar kind any day."

His son grinned slightly, taking the newspaper up once more, "Me too."

[Jason Russard]

Jason lingered over his coffee. He scanned the first section of the paper to keep up in a general fashion with what was making headlines in Imperial Center, then read more attentively the business section and investor forecasts. Nothing too monumental was going on. The spike of offshore markets was starting to level once again now that the initial frenzied trading that had begun when Empress Tarkin was placed at the head of the Empire was waning. Things were settling down nicely -- it was a good time for Russard Industries and Silenus Corp to consolidate their new enterprise. With some luck, they may even slip under the general radar for quite some time and operate without any aggressive maneuvering by other Corporations for Silenus' interests. Jason was very pleased RI had made the first move.

The meeting today held much promise, as did the whole enterprise. An outer rim satelite office that could facilitate exploration and discovery held limitless opportunity. Jason was still debating how long, or if even it would be practicable, for he himself to be a part of the founding staff of the Labratory. He certainly wanted to, but that would involve time away from Coruscant...and that would be hard to explain to curious competitors. Well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

For now, he would return to his office and go over all his information. Jason was a great man for preparation and this meeting would be no different. He would present the face of RI to Xavier Synik and his partner, Miss Shadowstar, and they hopefully will be duly impressed.

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier leaned back in the chair and looked over at Emelie somewhat seriously first before breaking into a warm smile.

"No more then Trina would."

He looked at her for a moment before making a slight motion with his head for her to come into the office and toward him. As he expected she came into the office and sat down on the desk directly in front of him. Looking into her eyes for a moment he noticed that something was slightly off from her usual playful gaze.

"You okay? Not worried about this afternoon are you?" He paused for a moment before shooting her a playful grin. "I promise you we'll be done in the bar with plenty of time for Durnik to put all the scum spots back in their proper places before the regulars get back."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The smallest of laughs left her as she looked away from her partner and let herself lean back slightly, putting more weight upon her hands as they rested behind her.

"Really? I think this place might do well with a proper cleaning every so often."

Most people, hell, every other person in the entire galaxy, would have been left with that comment and that alone. It was the fact the man sitting across from her held great importance to her aside from just their business relationship that let her take a deep breath and let it out slowly before forcing a small smile as she turned back to him.

"No, I'm not worried about it. I've been through far more stressful meetings than this. Though why the frak you all agreed to hold it here is beyond me."

Emelie glanced at the chrono on the wall and smirked before pushing off the table. Her time standing was short lived as the moderately sly look appeared on her lips before she moved to sit on Xavier's lap, her legs on either side of his and her arms resting on his shoulders. The smile grew as the fingertips of her right hand gently brushed up against his cheek before coming to rest on the back of his neck.

"Don't worry. The big mean business men won't get me, Xi."

The way in which she spoke had gone back to her usual playful tone and for a moment the usual liveliness returned to her eyes before she closed them and pressed her lips against Xavier's for a brief instant.

"We'll talk later, ok? Right now we need to focus on this Russard deal... and how I'm supposed to convince the others into behaving themselves."

[Old Man Russard]

2 PM - The Bastel


The hoverlimo pulled to a neat halt outside the front entrance of the Bastel. Two aides, their hips beneath their jackets bulging with the telltale outline of firearms, promptly exited the vehicle to assist the Russards as they, too, stepped from the car. The elder of the two Russard men leaned heavily on a polished uridite cane and allowed his burly assistant to lend a supportive arm in order to gain his balance stepping onto the sidewalk before moving ahead on his own.

"You should have brought the chair" Jason the Younger admonished through barely moving lips, knowing the effort it cost his father to walk under his own power.

"Nonsense" the Old Man responded gruffly, "Just open the damn door"

His son obeyed, refraining from further comment - what would be the point? The pair of them stepped into the Bastel, their aides one pace behind them and scanning the interior with the trained eyes of security officers. From the limo, Lissell, the Old Man's nurse watched them disappear behind the heavy frame doors.

[Jason Russard]

At least his father had brought his nurse. Jason always knew his father liked to take risks, but never unnecessary ones. He understood that being chair-bound grated on the Old Man's dignity, or ego, or both, but Jake Russard still had the ability to paralize a man with a look if he so chose - chair-bound or not. It was probably on account of the girl, Miss Shadowstar, that his father wanted to look more virile than being confined to a hoverchair could appear. Fair enough, Jason smiled.

Jason touched his breast pocket to reassure himself the datapad was in there...slight case of OCD on his part. He'd just tucked it there before pulling up outside the bar.

He looked around for Synik, or the pretty Emelie, expecting them to be close to hand and as punctual as themselves.

[Sheree Lancaster]

NABOO - Local time 2000 hrs: Sheree Lancaster residence.


Sheree Lancaster walked with restrained grace - a certain regality of movement that gave her an ethereal aura. She was slight of build, yet so stoic in her posture that she assumed an appearance of unbending determination even when she was at her most relaxed. Uptight, some would call her, and did - but the former Imperial scientist who's outspoken views on the Empire and its rule had left her jobless, friendless and even a pariah amongst her peers, did not care. Uptight suited her just fine, it made for an uncomplicated lifestyle - one without the tedium of well-meaning friends or associates prying into her every waking moment. A lifestyle she had grown to cherish over the long, lonely years - and one she would soon be giving up.

It had come like a bolt from heaven, an old associate from what was to all intents and purposes her former life, had contacted her. Jason Russard the Younger, CEO of Russard Industries, had contacted her with a very unexpected proposal. It was a chance at a new life, or at least, another shot at an old one. Sheree had grave misgivings at first, but the longer Jason spoke of his proposal, the more she thawed to the opportunity. Her hunger for knowledge, discovery, of all things scientific and the excitement and adventure which that encompassed. It would feel good to be involved again.

She had kept abrest as much as she could of any new developments within technological circles, reading up on the latest discoveries and theories - they could shut her out of the scientific elite, but they could not lock away the knowledge.

The rain began now, patting against the floor to ceiling windows of her living room with its eager fingers flying in the face of the impenetrable glass dividers and breaking to stream inconsequential down the length of the window panes. Sheree could not help but notice the symbolism...was she not much the same? Would she not just be thrusting herself against similar impenetrable barriers of prejudice and preconcieved opinions against herself? Russard assured not. Lancaster shivered involuntarily, such prejudice was not completely undeserved. She had sabotaged her own future by her past activism and many would say she did not deserve a second chance. Hell, did anybody? Jason seemed to think so.

Looking out the window, Sheree could see the storm was only just beginning - the thunder clouds rolling in, thick and black. Another Naboo tempest, she would miss such storms. She would miss the quiet life she had made for herself on this fertile planet over the past ten years, but there was nothing of real import here that was stopping her from leaving - no ties to bind, no roots to hold. Anything she was doing here could be done from her new position on the Synik Labratory Space Station. Sheree drew a certain confidence from that thought, even if others didn't.

Sheree decided she would pack in the morning. She was expecting an update from Jason Russard later this evening anyway and if his meeting went well, the morning would still afford her plenty of time to ready herself for departure to Coruscant. For now, she would uncork that rich merlot she had been saving for an occassion -- an occassion that had never seemed to come -- and savor the turbulent sky that was now thundering noisily around her. She lifted her glass in farewell to the familiar. Funny, she thought, a storm had brought her here and another would usher her away.

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier was still at the bar talking with Durnik when he heard the door open. As he turned around to make sure it actually was who he was expecting it still surprised him to see the transformation of the Bastel. The first thing that anyone who knew the bar would notice was the fact that the light level was about ten times what it normally was.

And while the increased light may have previously shon the light on the usual suspects that practically inhabited the bar, and the dirt and grime that came with them, the bar was actually looking like it was new. Well short of a fresh coat of paint and the bar being stripped and revarnished.

Darnik had done a good job having what limited time and resources he had at his disposal. His staff had set up one of the larger tables in the middle of the room and replaced the usual chairs with somewhat more comfortable ones. The more damaged and less desirable furniture had been moved into the back room.

It wasn't a boardroom, but nor did it give images of being the pit of the universe, not that it was even at it's worst.

Moving away from the bar Xavier approached the Russard men, approaching the elder Russard first and extending his hand.

"Mr. Russard, it's a pleasure to see you again."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

In the relatively short life of the bar Emelie could count on one hand the number of times that her staff had ever made an attempt to make the place look honestly presentable...and still have enough fingers free to hold onto a glass. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the fact that some clients' simple presence demanded a bit of polishing around the edges; it was more that usually those clients were ushered quickly and quietly into the back office, their being in The Bastel to remain just as much a secret as the deals they would conduct. This whole business with, well, legit business with Xavier still seemed funny to her somehow even though it had already been over a year since the two of them had decided to create Silenus.

On the whole though, Emelie was glad for the fact it seemed the majority of the deal would be worked out in the main section of the bar. A bit of tidying up was easy enough to pass off as simply attempting to impress someone and dirt was easier to conceal than the various crates filled with stolen blasters and spice that were waiting for shipment in the small warehouse the bar fronted. Tarps wouldn't be questioned for a shipping company... but the small firing range that Emelie had installed so most clients could test their new purchases before leaving might have been harder to explain.

A handful of her employees were still handling the newest shipment of sweetblossom and gunjack that soon would be making its way into the hands of one of Coruscant's resident street gangs... for their use, the death sticks they were getting as well were for distribution... with thirty percent of their earnings coming right back to her. Always was nice to support and be a part of the local small business.

Emelie knew Xavier would be the first to greet the Russards. It seemed fitting since he was the one who had originally agreed to the deal. Though as she was settling on some final instructions on delivery of the gang's merchandise one of her assistants gently tapped her on the shoulder to let her know their guests had arrived. The datapad in her hand was slipped into a pocket of the passably modest white dress she wore and a hand was run through several strands of the brightly colored hair that she had to remind herself had been a conservative shade of brown the last their new associates had seen.

She took a moment to mentally scold herself for verging on stressing over the whole situation, knowing most of her nerves were being generated by other things than just a seemingly professional business deal. The decent buzz she'd been running with from the strong drinks earlier was long gone, leaving Emelie with a lingering sensation of unease. With one final deep breath she left the warehouse behind and entered into the main bar area to join Xavier and the Russards.

[Jason Russard]

She was an exquisite creature. Jason tried, and failed, to keep the open admiration of Emelie from his face as she walked, no - glided, toward them. He had seen photographs of Miss Shadowstar before, but none of them quite did her justice in real-time. Even at the party she had not captivated him as she did now, though, in all fairness he had been quite pre-occupied that night. He was sure her hair had been different then. He felt certain he would have remembered her hair.

He'd shaken Xavier's hand warmly in greeting, following his father's lead after introductions had been made and they had all turned at Emelie's entrance. The old man coughed lightly and Jason realised he'd been staring.

"Excuse me" he mumbled and had the good grace to look sheepish.

[Old Man Russard]

"Forgive my son" the Old Man said to Xavier, "He was raised under a cabbage leaf."

Turning toward Emelie as she now drew up beside them, Old Man Russard did a small half-bow in greeting and flashed a warm smile, doing the honors of the introducing his son all over again.

"Nice place you got here" he said once everyone had said hello. "Whats good to drink?"

[Xavier Synik]

The inward smile was about twice as large as his outward smile as he watched Jason's reaction to Emelie's entrance. He had no doubt that he would get some sort of comment from Emelie later about his ego growing three-fold, but how could it not. Whatever he portrayed to the outside world he was a man, and it gave him, and his ego, great delight in watching the woman with whom he shared more then just business create that type of reaction in other men, especially men such as Jason Russard.

The elder Russard's words brought him back to reality.

"The bar is Emelie's. She just let's me visit." Xavier chuckled slightly. "As for what's good. You name it, and it's likely that Durnik's got it behind the bar."

[Emelie Shadowstar]

The impish smile perfectly contrasted the demure gaze she gave the younger Ruusard. She let her eyes linger on his, just for a few seconds in a silent, if not coy, manner of speaking her appreciation of his unintentional show of admiration. The look was fleeting and soon she allowed herself to take up a position that let her eyes flow freely from each of the men.

A soft laugh left her at Xavier's speaking that she just let him visit the bar. Although truthful, the concept still amused her for some strange reason given their relationships with each other, both professional and otherwise.

A small glance was given over her shoulder to the barkeep at the second part of Xavier's answer before she turned back to the elder Russard.

"Not just likely, I personally have made sure that the stock holds most most every type of drink one could imagine. It may be a smaller establishment but I do pride myself on quality and quantity here. Though I did receive a shipment just the other day that had a bottle of Cassandran Choholl, if that's your sort of vice."

[Old Man Russard]

"I'll take you up on the Choholl, Miss Shadowstar" the Old Man accepted with a lopish smile. The lady had style. "Just a single, mind you - we've yet to discuss business and I cant be as indulgent as I could in my youth."

The Old man's remark drew smiles, but no one got the impression that he really missed those days at all.

[Jason Russard]

"Namana with Corellian Vodka for me" he said to Durnik.

Jason had collected himself, which was not difficult given the graciousness of his hosts. Emelie and Xavier were unique - enigmatic, almost. From what he had discovered, their background information led him to believe that their operation was very much 'blue collar', yet they both shared a level of sophistication not usually seen with such ventures. It was at once encouraging as well as a little disarming.

"Your establishment is very nice" Jason offered to Emelie, "and we appreciated you meeting with us so soon." He included Xavier with a glance as he spoke. "As you may already have noticed, we are quite eager to get our association under way."

[Xavier Synik]

Xavier nodded slightly to the younger Russard. "As are we."

He waited until the drinks had been made and delivered before ushering everyone over to the table. Given the way things were going it was probably a little larger then needed. He was getting the feeling that they could have met around a sabacc table and things would have gone fine, but better to not tempt fate.

"In fact I've already had my staff doing some preliminary work on possible locations for the facility that you are looking for. If we can hammer out the details today I can have construction started immediately."