"I'll be back within the hour. If I'm late, the pay will be doubled as promised. Just so you know, if you leave...my company will not be pleased." With that, the deceptively handsome looking passenger eased himself gracefully out of his seat and exited the shuttle as quietly as he'd entered. Soon, he was lost in the sea of people headed towards customs.

The disturbing sound of someone cracking their knuckles echoed in the cockpit of the Sentinel-class shuttle. "Gawd damn! What a prick!"

The co-pilot nodded angrily. "The whole flight, he's quiet as tomb then when we think we've seen the last of him for a while, he's got to threaten us. Who the hell is that guy anyways?"

His only reply was an arching of the eyebrows.

"Right, right, he couldn't give us his name and he didn't have to. He's got to be some government type, involved in Black Ops perhaps. Guy's too creepy to be just a normal civvie. Maybe he's a spook?"

"Ahhh...now that's the sixty four million credit question, ain't it? Quit your worrying Joeq. We get double the pay and all we gotta do is lounge around for an hour then transport him back to Glee Anselm. Simple as a Corellian Air Cake." The pilot stretched his arms then stood up and gestured towards the open hatch. "I'm gonna go grab some eats, you coming?"

"Yea, yea...I'm coming..."

As the two men exited the shuttle, still nursing their displeasure at being called to transport such a nasty man, said man had his thumb hovering over a opaque red button. The device it was connected to was being kept in the pocket of man's steel grey suit, allowing for a very casual action of having ones hands in ones pockets. Nodding in approval, Colonel Xen Oso of Section 8 disengaged from the wall he had been resting against. Releasing his hold on the detonator, he let it drop into the bottom of his pocket as he reached into the opposite pocket to retrieve a small datapad. He was about to enter the disarm code when he hesitated, gave it a second thought and replaced the datapad. He doubted the men would leave and they hadn't seen like the counter-Intelligence type, plus..nobody knew Section 8 even existed, so in theory he should be in the clear. But...there was the off chance he was wrong and it never hurt to have insurance.

Patting his pockets reassuringly, Xen set off through the hallway towards customs. Casually tossing the detonator into a passing garbage bin, he made sure the connection between his datapad and the detonator was still going strong before checking the glowing dot on his datapad that represented the shuttle. If they went anywhere, he would know...and they wouldn't be going anywhere for a long time.

Pasting on a fake smile and adopting the persona of an eager businessman eager to invest, Xen was easily whisked through customs as he presented his fake identification and credentials. His cover story was quite simple and to the point. His temporary name was Rix Zela, an upcoming investor and businessman that had heard of an excellent company by the name of 'Stellar Enterprises.' Zela was here to see if he could become an investor and turn a tidy profit. All in all, his documentation was airtight, story was simple which allowed for little holes in it, and frankly, the planet wasn't that heavily guarded nor was security especially tight. Much easier then sneaking into say...Corsucant undetected.

Walking outside of the docking bay, Xen flagged down a hovercab and politely asked to be taken to the location of 'Stellar Enterprises' corporate headquarters. Within fifteen minutes, he saw the building looming ahead of them and as he closed his eyes he mentally reviewed his exclusive shopping list once again. When they next popped open, they were looking into the greedy eyes of the cab driver that was asking to be payed. Giving the man an average tip, Oso grabbed his briefcase and quickly entered the building.

Striding in a self-important manner up to the receptionist, he gave her a flirtatious wink. "Hullo there ma'am. I'm Rix Zela, here to see Mr. Stellar. I believe I have an appointment."

The pretty, yet very intelligent receptionist smiled at the man who now stood before her. She eyed him over once and mentally measured up, comparing him to many other business types she had seen walk through the Stellar Enterprises entrance way. As she run her hand down the datascreen in front of her, the receptionist moved her foot ever so slightly under the desk that covered it. With her feet completely hidden, she touched a small disk embedded in the floor to active a scanner array within the large front desk. The scanner would detect weapons or power sources of any kind, even as small as a commlink.

"Ah Mr. Zela, here we are. You are just in time." The lady smiled and looked back up into the man's eyes. He did not look the part of a business and while his background said he was, Stellar Enterprises security doubted that very much. Zela looked every bit a man from the military, however, which military he belonged to and if he was perhaps retired or not, was unclear.

"Mr.Stellar actually just arrived and will be awaiting you in the conference room. First, however, do you have any weapons or anything of the sort on your person?" The woman asked, while lifting up a comm link herself to call for an escort.

As she awaited the answer, a door slid open and a dark gray colored droid stepped out. It moved towards Rix and slightly bent at the waist. The humanoid looking head on the droid's shoulders scanned the man over once more and also analyzed his vocal patterns, heart beat, facial structure as well as his response time and pupal dilation to determine if the man was lying at any point. While even the best liars could get away with polygraph tests, certain aspects of the human anatomy could alway change or distort when they tell a lie. Certain tests have proven affective almost 96% of the time.

These were just precautions that had to be taken these days.

"Sir, I shall be your escort to the meet today. If you will, please follow me."

Outwardly, Xen continued smiling. Inwardly, he was mentally rolling his eyes at the entire process. Yes, of course he had hidden weapons and yes of course, he wasn't a businessman but this wasn't a normal company so they should have been able to dig up enough evidence to formulate their own theories on him.

As the droid moved on him and bent at the wait, Oso had no doubt there were several cameras, scanners and perhaps even weapons trained on his body. There was some usefulness in lying...but one had to know when to push that limit and when to retreat. Now was not the time to test how well Stellar Enterprises's security measures were.

Throwing his hands up in mock surrender, the Colonel bobbed his head slightly in a comical rendition of a drunken sailor. "Ack! You got me miss! Yes, yes, I do have some weapons to declare. Let's see now...I'm going to be removing them now so please tell your droid not to vape me. Hmm, here we go." Reaching into his jacket carefully, Xen gingerly extracted one electro-pulse blaster from his holster on the right side. Still smiling, he shrugged his jacket off and turned around to reveal the small thermal detonator at the small of his back. With careful movements, he removed this as well, placing them both on the desk in front of him. Bending over, he next lifted up his slacks and extracted a holdout blaster from a holster down there as well as two small throwing knives.

Giving the secretary a toothy grin, he winked. "Hey, hey. A businessman like me makes a lot of enemies, might as well be prepared right? By the way, would you happen to be busy tonight? I'm in town for a while, maybe we can get together." Giving her one of his most charming of smiles, his eyes twinkled with mischief.

Unfortunately, before she could answer, a metallic voice rang out.

"Sir, I shall be your escort to the meet today. If you will, please follow me."

Sighing, Xen nodded in resignment. "Right...business before pleasure. Until next time miss." Turning to follow the droid, he set off towards the conference room and his meeting with Mr. Stellar.

The woman watched him take out the weapons with a pleasant face and seemed unphased by the hardware he pulled out from his suit. She slowly, yet fluidly moved her chair back before standing up straight. Turning around on her heel, with her hair fluttering a little, the receptionist moved towards the wall behind her and touched a portion. That rectangular section pressed into the wall and silently slid sideways to reveal a box, which slid forwards towards the woman.

She took the metallic container and with another quick turnaround faced Zela. Once beside the man she set the box down on the desk and keyed it open with a code and a scan of her finger. She quickly reached out and placed all the weapons the man had taken out and put them neatly into the box before closing it. When all was done she smiled sweetly.

"When you are finished with your business here Mr.Zela, these weapons will be here waiting for you. Perhaps then we can talk about that dinner." She smirked flirtingly and picked up the metallic container as it weighed almost noticed.

The droid led Zela through the lobby and into one of the long corridors that stretched out to one of the many turbolift clusters. As they walked, Zela could see the high ceiling constantly change as it displayed the view of the atmosphere above the tall building that was Stellar Enterprises headquarters on Denon. Light shown down in the distinct manner of the planet's sun to make it seem as though the whole ceiling was a skylight even though above it were over a hundred floors of durasteel and duracrete.

Silently the droid walked beside Zela and paused at the turbolifts to activate one automatically through a wireless connection. The lift opened and once both were inside shot off quickly towards the top levels of the building. When it opened, a large large room was revealed. A room that was curved at the far edge and let the sprawl of the city be seen through it.

An expensive rug lay on the polished hardwood floor of the room and led on from the wide hallway before them to an oval looking room beyond. Artworks covered most of the walls and some could be seen changing from one style to another. The droid extended one of its hands towards the oval room beyond and from the right side entered a man wearing a light blue jacket on a blue shirt whose collar was open.

The man smiled and moved towards Zela with a hand out. "Mr.Zela, welcome. I am Rob Stellar. I trust your trip went well? Please come. Would you care for something to eat or drink?"

Rob said as he shook Rix's hand and looked up a bit at the tall man before him. With the hand shake over, Rob waved the man towards an oval table with a clear looking center that stood at the center of the main room.

(O.O.C.: Sorry for the length and quality Rob...my brain died on me tonight, lol.)

The man's grip was firm and reassuring. Xen replied with an equally confident squeeze of his hand. This wasn't a contest of strength nor a display of male testosterone levels, instead, the Colonel was taking note of all his movements. Each act or speech was carefully planned and possible reactions were taken into account beforehand. This was necessary to remind the Colonel that he was attempting to play the persona of someone that would not come naturally to him. The fact that he was being overtly friendly grated against his natural instincts and it took every ounce of his concentration to keep that damn foolish smile plastered over his chiseled features.

"Mr.Zela, welcome. I am Rob Stellar. I trust your trip went well? Please come. Would you care for something to eat or drink?"

As Mr. Stellar waved him towards the table, Xen set off with a jaunty bounce in his step. Leading the way, he took the opportunity to give the room a cursory glance, hiding his actions by commenting about the beauty of his surroundings. Coming to the oval table, he turned around to face Mr. Stellar before giving a slight shake of his head.

"The trip was bearable at best. Since you asked...I wouldn't mind a Firedancer. Two ice cubes and hold the fruit please."

Carefully placing his briefcase down on the floor, Xen removed his jacket and slung it over his shoulder to reveal a matte black dress shirt. Like Rob, the collar was slightly opened. His steel gray slacks were held up by a black leather belt and they flowed nicely down his legs to meet with shiny dress shoes the color of coal. His attire was that of a reasonably well off businessman but to the trained eye, the man wearing the clothing was obviously holding a secret close to his chest. His fluid movements, darting eyes and piercing gaze belonged on a man whose life was always on the line. The closely cropped jet black hair was cut loosely along the lines of a military style cut and his fake city accent was quite horrible. If Section 8 was already up and running, Xen would have hired a professional to do this sort of work but as of yet, he didn't trust anyone else to handle this deal.

Glancing over at Mr. Stellar, the Colonel mouthed a silent word, 'Well?'

Rob watched the man look around and smiled to himself as he moved towards the bar at one end of the room. "So I guess you'll just be having the Fire than without the Dancer?"

He turned back to look at the man who now stood in the conference room and started to mix the drink himself. While he did, Rob kept an eye on the person through the mirror that lined the rear of the bar area. He poured the different drinks together and set down the mixer while reaching for a glass and the ice cubes.

"If you spend some time on Denon after this meeting perhaps I could recommend you some places that will allow you to better relax and forget about your long flight here. We have a spa and relaxations in the building actually. I could make you an appointment there. It really is quite an amazing place after a long day." Rob stated as he poured the drink and turned around to walk back to Zela.

He handed the man his drink and reached over for a glass of sweet water for himself. Sipping it slowly, Rob stood beside the man and looked down at this briefcase, while studying him closely. Keeping his own jacket on, Rob pulled back one of the chairs and motioned towards Zela.

"Why don't we just get straight to the point, shall we? What can Stellar Enterprises do for you Mr.Zela?"

Taking the offered drink with a slight nod of his head, Oso brought it up to his lips, taking a tentative sip before smiling slightly and tilting the glass back a bit more. Gesturing towards the Firedancer, he chuckled lightly. "At least you have a talent to fall back on if your company should ever fail."

Sauntering casually over to the indicated chair, Xen took a seat quietly as he organized his thoughts. He debated dropping the facade. Mr. Stellar was sharp, one didn't have to have brains to see that. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to continue lying to the man, especially with such a transparent act as the one Xen was currently putting on. It served no purpose other than to prove Oso's foolishness and place him in a lower bargaining position. Of course, he could be overestimating Mr. Stellar, which was just as, if not more, damaging then underestimating an opponent.

This game was a delicate one, the arena was ripe with challenges that someone like Xen was unprepared for. He didn't kid himself about his skills in such a situation. The fact that he had served as a Guardsmen for the majority of his career hadn't slipped his mind and it hung there like a thundercloud, obscuring his judgement and forcing him to rethink his actions. Yes, he was intelligent, this he knew, but he also knew that experience went a long way and sadly, he had none that could pertain to this particular circumstance. In essence, he was wading through quicksand with one arm tied behind his back while wearing crap colored googles; woefully unprepared for the challenges ahead.

It was with this in mind that he decided to drop the act and lay it nearly all of it out for Mr. Stellar to see.

"I suppose the first thing that you can do for me is to start calling me by my real name."

The transformation was instantaneous and wickedly disturbing for those who weren't used to it. Xen seemed to grow an extra foot as he straightened to his full height. As his spinal column snapped into a military precise angle drilled into him over the years, his shoulders lost their 'hunched over' appearance and locked into place. The nervous wringing of his hands was long gone and instead they were now placed confidently across his chest as he crossed his arms. No longer was he shifting his weight from side to side and now stood confidently as if his lower appendages had grown roots and anchorered themselves solidly into the ground far below.

However, the most drastic change was in his facial expression. Soft, friendly lips hardened into a granite line across his face. Eyes that sparkeled with mischief and greed now shown with an intense intelligence and coldness. Eyebrows that once gave the impression of being well groomed now seemed razor sharp as one arched ever so slightly. It might just have been a trick of the light, but one couldn't shake the feeling that the Colonel's skin tone seemed to have darkened in just a few seconds.

"I must apologize for the earlier ruse, not that it would have fooled you. It was just much easier to slip through customs that way." Extending his hand forward precisely, Xen's eyes sought out Mr. Stellar's...not to intimidate him, but to reassure him. "Now for some proper introductions. I'm Colonel Xen Oso. I represent one section of the government. We're looking to purchase some goods from you this fine day...combat droids, labor droids, security systems, intelligence gathering tools and perhaps even that DATA management system I've heard so much about."

Rob let out a small laugh at the other man's comment about the drink. "I certainly hope it doesn't come to that. I'm too old to start working at a bar."

He smiled and sat down, watching the man become somewhat lost in thought even though he was trying to cover it up. After years upon years of business deals and communicating with people, Rob had developed what could be called a sixth sense for reading people. When the other let it be known he was going to drop his made up persona. At this development Rob was glad since it meant "Zela" now trusted him enough.

Rob reached over under the table as the man straightened up and pressed down a specialized button. Within seconds a burst of static filled the air and caused some of the hair on his arms and legs to twitch. As soon as the static appeared, it dissipated, indicating that the electronic field had activated around the office. The field could keep all communication between this new man and himself private, away from any prying listening devices that might be trained on the room. The field also interrupted all comm transmissions and made sure that only certain specified frequencies could enter the room.

As the man straightened completely and changed in outward appearance, Rob couldn't help but be somewhat impressed. This person had gone through a lot to keep his identity a secret and was now willing to forgo all that to show his true self. While it was impressive, Rob still watched the man with a relaxed air around him, having seen these acts before from other customers.

Rob reached out and looked into the man's new eyes as he shook his hand firmly once more. While Xen looked stern and very military like at the moment, Rob stayed rather relaxed and with a slight smiled at he nodded his head towards the man.

"Colonel Oso, it is a pleasure to remeet you." Rob said without requesting any more information from him. While the man had not stated what government he worked for, Rob Stellar was not a man who needed to know such things. As long as this gentleman had the funds for what he needed, that was all that mattered.

As Xen talked about what his group needed, Rob pulled out a small datapad and started to jot down some notes for future reference, listening carefully. While the Colonel stated his needs, Rob nodded slightly and glanced at him. The need for DATA and labor droids suggested a facility of some kind and the low key approached ruled out a regular military unit. Using his mental skills Rob guessed this man was part of some elite intelligence unit, which would call for something so low key.

He made some inputs on the pad's touchscreen and slid the datapad unit towards Xen. "This an inventory of the most popular droids for each of the categories you stated. It will not a be problem to meet your demand, however, the DATA system is an expensive piece of technology. Are you sure you can afford it? I can assure you, however, it is worth every credit. I could set you up with a meet with the Denon government if you wish to research it further. Stellar Enterprises installed the system on this world a month ago and it had worked out beautifully. Hundreds of most wanted men and women have been captured since it's operational start and traffic accidents have gone down by 45.78% and are still decreasing."

He stated these facts and put his fingers together in sort of pyramid formation as he leaned back in his seat, looking Colonel Oso in the face as the man glanced upon the datapad that lay before him.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Stellar had not asked for any more information regarding Xen and who he represented. It had been a calculated risk but it'd been worth it. This man wasn't your regular run of the mill businessmen and it showed. Now, Oso knew why Stellar Enterprises had done so well. Their revenue and quarterly reports had caught the eyes of investors across the galaxy and with Mr. Stellar leading the way, Xen was sure the company would continue to outfox its competition as well.

The contrast between the two men was amusing. One on hand, you had Rob. Relaxed, friendly with a seemingly 'bored' air about him. He knew what he was doing and seemed to have extreme confidence in himself. Then you turn around and stare at the Colonel and you have the other end of the spectrum. While not tense, he was alert. He wasn't friendly, but he wasn't hostile either. All in all, it would be immediately obvious to any outsider that to interrupt the two's meeting would be an extremely idiotic move.

Which was why Colonel Oso was grateful that Mr. Stellar put up an electronic field to shield their conversation and transaction.

"Bzzz..." Xen said with a smirk, indicating the field. "How kind of you. My sources were correct in advising me to come see you."

Oso took his time in going over the list present on the datapad. Everything seemed to be in order and Mr. Stellar was not kidding when he said the DATA management system wasn't cheap. But no matter...the government would foot the bill. True, he might get a bit of whiplash from the men handling the credit flow but so far, they'd given him a nearly unlimited budget and he intended to capitalize on that in order to construct the 'perfect' unit.

Selecting a link for the DATA management system, Xen scanned it's statistics and capabilities with a cursory glance. It was certainly impressive and would most likely fit the bill. However...

"Money is no issue Mr. Stellar, I can assure you of that. I would like to see detailed models of everything I need. Like I mentioned earlier, labor droids, security droids, monitoring equipment, cloak suits, wristtop computers, combat suits, firearms, surface to air missiles, surface to surface missiles, adaptive camouflage, orbital insertion pods, rapid stealthed transports, I'm sure you get the idea Mr. Stellar. I do have one question...would it be possible to perhaps...upgrade the DATA management system? Or tailor it to our own needs?"

The difference between the two of them had not gone unnoticed by Rob, he had to admit to himself that it would be rather comical if outsiders would be see them both sitting here. However, even though they were different on the outside, one mustn't judge a holonovel from the outward appearance. Internally both men were quite similar. They were both obviously very small and very skilled at what they did for a living. Years in their individual lines of work had honed their skills and made them into the people they were at the moment.

"The DATA system was created to be fully customizable and fit any client's needs. The system is an artificial intelligence and works very much like a child growing up, albeit a very smart child from the start. It learns with every action and mission you instruct of it and will in time learn to predict your wants and needs for different assignments. Over time will become much more proficient at the tasks it is required to do the most, while staying stagnant at other functions that you do require of it."

He paused and sat up a little before leaning towards Xen. "Of course you understand that detailed schematics can be made available to you, but models could always be provided. We have some of these droids working here in the building if you would like to see them, or through holo projections. The missiles and more military of the things you requested are only available here through holo projections. If you would like full demonstrations I would be happy to arrange something for you on one of my testing grounds on another planet."

Rob waited to see what the Colonel would like to do next, but spoke out quickly before the man could. "The combat suits and active camouflage is another of the things that I could show you today and offer a demonstration of."