Business Before Pleasure

It was busy during the council meeting room around this time and some of the leaders were meeting up to discuss some things. Normally, it was Frosa City that was apart of the Noreal Council for meetings but every once in a while they switched it up. On top of that, since the various powers were still indepdent they still tried to tend to their own affairs when possible.

At current, there were some people in the meeting room as they got word Ness would be coming to talk business on behalf of Cedrick and her company, so all were waiting for them patiently to be escorted here and arrive. Of some of the notable ones present were of course Queen Andaline and King Lucien which made perfect sense. The princess wasn't present at the moment.

There was also Relena who was a mainstay and Skylar who was trying to discuss a few things with some of the other council members.

"..And this front, I will have to disagree." Skylar continued talking to another gentlemen present. "While its too late at the moment to pull out now, we should always consider what we also get out of our current arrangements. For example: earth."

"Oh? Do tell." One of the others asked.

Skylar nodded,  continuing and ignoring some of the men glancing at her chest. "I am not heartless or without sympathy to others outside of Noreal, but I believe the citizens of this world should come first and foremost. To that end, what exactly do we get out of it? We have to remain hidden and we don't get as much bang for our buck. When we stuck our neck out we don't get as much as a pat on the head."

"I believe big part of the later half your complaints is because earth has enough problems with its native population and they have trust issues with aliens having been attacked twice." Relena cut in.

The older woman shook her head. "Not my point. Or rather that is the point.  We got involved with a world that fights as much as we used to among each other. It's not our job to fix their issues. I'm saying all this to preface we should be more prudent about who get involved with if any at all."

"I don't think its all gloom and doom." Andaline got involved into the conversation for the first time. "It may not work out but just being involved has already lead to us potentially getting space techology. That wouldn't have happened if we had remained isolated. And despite its issues I believe earth and her people have a lot of potential. It'll be a interesting day when we become public."

"Perhaps. I just don't share the same optimism." Syklar muttered, taking another drink of her glass

Ness wanders out of the check-in station of Noreal and looks around. He's been to many planets just like this one in many different universes, but he can't recall ever coming to This planet before. Still, he wasn't here to sightsee, he had business to attend to. He looks around for a welcoming party to escort him to where he needed to go.

Skylar was a bit annoyed by some of the men making subtle(or not as subtle) passes on her for two main reasons. One this was suppose to be a important meeting with someone who might help Noreal. She might not have cared about earth much one way or the other but she wouldn't deny the benefits if things went well. The second is she wasn't interested in being a notch of someone's conquest. She been around enough to filter people out when that's all they wanted.

Fournately, putting up her wall and 'resting bitch face' was enough to keep most of the men she didn't want to talk to leave her alone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our guest of honor has arrived."

Sure enough it was Ness along with some other people who had escorted him into the building. This caught everyone's attention as the council member and leaders focused on the guest. Skylar didn't think too much of them at first glance but she was smart enough to know looks could be deceiving.

Lucien and his wife greeted them first. "Welcome to our home and the Noreal Council. My name is Lucien Vandame and this is my wife Andaline. Unfortunately not everyone could be here today but if they could not make it they sent representation."

"Ambassador Relena Mullen. Pleasure to meet you." Relena said politely.

Skylar knew she was coming up so she got it out the way. "I am Council member Skylar Bertram."

Ness gives a slight bow to them "Ladies and gentlemen, I am not an honored guest, you don't need to treat me with any special way." he says to them "I'm a salesman, here to sell you something and make deals. It's up to you good people to decide if you want what I'm selling."

He pulls out some data padds and hands them over to each member "How the order of business will go: I will tell you our price, then answer some questions. Then explain what it is I am offering, answer questions about the product, give a practical demonstration, answer questions about that, and finally we can hammer out any details in the trade agreements." he explains.

"Now, for our asking price..." he begins "Miss Darkside would like a percentage of your mineral rights. That's it." he says.

Lucien and the others began to look over what was shown to them but it was Skylar who was looking at everything as shrewdly as she could. The unfortunate thing was she, no anyone else knew very little about space combat.

"I don't think that's a unreasonable quest." Andaline finally said. "But we would also need to know by how much."

Skylar cleared her throat, she figured this was the time to bring something important up. "I mean no offense Mr. Burger but how do we know how effective these machines are? Mechanized warfare isn't new to us, but obviously space is. You have a clear advantage over us knowledge wise of how things stack up, while we are clearly in the dark about. I want some assurance what we're being sold is of quality to defend ourselves even if it all appears good on paper. I don't think that's unreasonable."

Ness looks over to Skylar "Miss Bertram, with all do respect, you're getting ahead of the order in which this business transaction will be conducted." he says to her in an even, but respectful, tone "Right now, we are in the question phase of discussing my fee." he points out.

Ness looks over to Andaline "Miss Darkside has given me authority to negotiate an arrangement, but she's hoping for at least 10%." he says "You see, it's not the profits from the sale if the minerals that we're interested in, but the minerals themselves." he states.

Skylar frowned slightly, but surprisingly didn't further interject about the point at least for now. It didn't mean she was going to say absolutely nothing but only if she had a question she felt no one else was going to ask. Still she knew space defense was only half of it, the other half was if they couldn't save their dying tree.

Andaline looked over Lucien who nodded after looking over the data pad. "You're correct demonstrations can wait until later." He began. "Although I am curious what value these minerals would have to you, but ten percent would be acceptable."

"I quite agree and I am curious as well but what's said so far is reasonable." Another well dressed councilman asked while Skylar subtly glared a hole through the back of their head. He had a pleasant smile and demerour though. "Ah, and forgive my manners my name is Sebastian Sylvian."

Ness Did take note of the interaction between Skylar and the mysterious man. But it wasn't any of his business and unless she came to him directly, he wasn't going to get involved.

Ness shakes his head "I honestly don't know what Miss Darkside wants with it, as this would be the first non terrestrial materials she's encountered." he explains.

"But before you add your thumbprints, I wish to point a few clauses in our contract that you would like to know before hand." he says, holding up a hand "One such clause states that should we, meaning Paragon Corp, require more minerals outside of our agreed upon amount, we can purchase most at the going rate per ton, at a 25% discounted price." he explains "And the last one I wish to bring to your attention is that after five years, Paragon Corp can renegotiate the terms of our agreement for more of a percent, less, or just stay as is." he finishes, letting them look over the contract more closely "You all don't need to come to any decisions right now. So take the time to read over our proposal for payment if you wish."

Lucien was looking over the data of the deal along with the others, it seemed fine but in this kind of thing they wanted to make sure. "In that case, would it be all right to take a short recess and come back once we properly went through everything?"

Ness nods "I have no problem with that." he says as he lools back down at his data padd "I have to set up things for a practical test anyway." he says as he waits for a recess to be called so he can head out and get the things he needs ready, ready.

"Then, we will be on a short recess." Lucien said and sure enough the other council members got to work and talking among each other. It seemed strange King Lucien and Queen Andaline were mostly taking the lead since it wasn't a unfied government with just council members acting as others interest. There was a method to the madness since they were going forward with one, but were slowly easing into it.

Sebastian moved by Skylar. "I wanted to discuss more of our business briefly while."

Skylar frowned, but nodded. "I figured as much."
__

Sebastian moved to another part of the council building to a balcony making sure they weren't followed, or Skylar had any electric devices to record.

"I am a patient man, so I don't ask for much." He began looking over people going about their day to day. "So let me remind of your situation once more. After your deceased fiance's failure of a toy company began to sink, I, out of the kindness of my heart stepped in to save it. Meaning I owe it. So when I ask something its not a request."

Skylar grounded her teeth clenching her fist and took a deep breath to calm down. "We are clear."

"Excellent."  He said pleased. "Though, if you weren't foolishly sentimental I would now have this power over you to begin with. A woman of your means could do much better. Honestly? A failed toy company? He was a Farian so he would of died long before you reached your end as well if you had any family. Besides its been two years, its history."

"Fuck you Sesbastian. He was a better man then you'll ever be." It was said with pure venom but there was a slight emotional waver behind it.

"Patience." He said, non bothered. "I wouldn't go as far doing that. After all, the hunt is more exciting then the catch. It's not exciting when the catch is just given to you. You'll come around, they always do." He turned back around. "You're dismissed."

Skylar left quickly not giving them further satisfaction of letting them see her upset. She was going to head to her room, she needed to think of what she was going to do. I won't let bastard make me cry because I'm frustrated. I won't. I won't...

Ness had gone outside to take care of some things. He was pulling out some items from Lee and Dino's Universal Subspace Storage and Retrieval system to use in the practical demonstration, when he feels strong emotions. He looks around a bit, he has his empathy on high alert, so he can better read the crowd and right now, it's telling him that someone is upset.

Skylar thankfully didn't see any other council members as they seemed to be all inside or elsewhere doing whatever. That gave the woman enough wiggle room to find a bench she could sit and compose herself for a moment. She was a bit off her game slightly so she didn't know Ness was around.

Damn things. I know I shouldn't have bothered with the make up..

She wiped her eyes with a napkin, even if it did mess them up a bit she rather have that then showing weakness in the council.  Most wouldn't care but others would sense blood in the water as it were. Much as she may try to put on the act, Sebastian's words about her deceased fiancé did sting.

Ness comes wandering back in, checking his readings to make sure everything was in place. He was pleased with what he sees.

He looks over and finds the source of the strong emotions. It was that confrontational woman, Skyler Bertram and while she Looked composed, her emotions say otherwise "It's none of my business, but are you alright?" he asks, making one final check of everything "Your emotions are so strong I could pick then up from all the way outside." he points out.

Out of all the people to check on her, Skylar hadn't expected Ness Burger to come check in on her. Luckily for her at least he had come in when she was at least physically more composed. Her first instinct was to tell him she was fine and mind his own business. But as she glared at him it softened a bit seeing geuine concern.

Have I really become defensive? Pathetic..

She took a deep breath shaking her head. "No. But I don't there isn't anything anyone can do and talking about it make it worse. If they found out..." She looked down at her balled hands. "Thank you for your concern though. I apologize for my rude behavior from before.." She said which may of surprised him or not.

Ness wasn't really surprised. He has seen her type before and they almost always have a soft center in the middle. Ness nods "As you wish. But remember, no matter how hard you try to hide them, secrets always have a way of coming out." he says "If you wish, please inform the council that I am ready to proceed when they are." he says "And remember, if you need help, my offer stands. Helping people is what I do."

 "I will in a moment when I have composed myself more. I may decide to excuse myself and let the meeting continue without me entirely." The woman said after a beat, and hesitated. "..It's not that I don't want say anything. It's I'm under pressure to be quite and they have ears in a lot of places. I don't know who I can trust, or even if I can someone else over hear."

Ness holds out his hand "Then don't say anything." he says "Take my hand and I will hear all you have to say, without you saying anything." he tells her. Which was a cryptic way of letting her know he was a mind reader.

Skylar didn't move. At first. Ness was a complete stranger to her but he was offering to help? She was trying to search for some ulterior motive but came up with a blank. He wasn't from Noreal and didn't have a animal in the fights currently going on and Espen mentioned them and she trusted his judgement so...

Hesitantly she reached for his hand.
______

Flashes of memory came to Ness suddenly as if watching a movie, he'd see things from her perspective as well as other things even Skylar wasn't aware of.

Ness could see Skylar with another man with red hair that had a kind aura to them. One of the things that was notable was Skylar seemed to be much happier and at peace then the more thorny woman a lot of the council knew her for.

The two were inside a building that seemed to be in the middle of getting a inside paint job with the floors also being done. On the shelves were toys of various kinds.

"She still needs some work but I can't wait to see how it turns out once we open." The man said, dumping some trash to the side from the floor they were cleaning up. "The inside work of getting a business running is more tedious then they glamourize on shows though."

"It is. But anything worth doing needs more work doesn't it?" Skylar had to stand on her toes to kiss his cheek due to the height difference. "It'll be fine Cayden. I believe in you. You focus on this and I'll focus on becoming a council woman."

Cayden smiled a bit. "I know we will. After all we came a long way from where we were."

"In the mean time afterwards. You need a bath. I won't cuddle with you otherwise." Skylar playfully poked him.

The man sighed dramatically. "You drive a hard bargain. You trying best to practice when join politics?"

"Maybe. Is it working?"


"I'll have to see more to be sure." He said playing along. "But you're also going to be a mother once we get married and settled. If you can handle that then you can probably handle about anything."

Skylar flushed a bit. "One thing at a time. Let's finish what we have on our plate first."

____

The business didn't go as well and it was struggling to stay a float after a bit. That was when a Nosferartu by the name of Sebastian who would buy in part of the sinking company. Cayden hadn't been pleased with it entirely but he agreed after a bit more of talking.

As it turned out, Sebastian was a man of many secrets and ambitions and there was more to him then just a council member. Cayden was killed some strange men and his body was found by fishermen later.

Skylar was besides herself with grief, but she had the support of her family, or at least Cayden's family as her own didn't seem to be around anymore.

She received a call from Sebastian a month later saying he wished to discuss business so she decided to meet them. She didn't like them. Something about them just gave her bad vibes even if it was subtle.

It didn't take her long to reach his mansion and the large living room which to discuss things. He was waiting patiently for them to arrive, greeting them in kind. "I'm glad you could arrive. And I apologize for your loss miss Bertram."

"Thank you." She mumbled as a beautiful woman poured them what seemed to be a glass of tea as well before leaving the two be for the being. "Zara makes excellent tea."

"Indeed, she does." The male Nosferartu said as they sat. "But that's not what I called you for. You see, seeing as I owe your deceased fiance's business as their unfortunate demise. I think it best to consider my point of view with what I could do to it. As a council woman it would be important. Would it not?"

Skylar blinked, not sure she heard right but feeling her temper slowly rise as her eyes narrowed. "..Are you threatening me?"

They shrugged, sipping their drink. "No such thing. I am a businessman. I merely point what is offered. If the person decides if they don't want to follow through, well the consequences are on them. But as such, I know as a businessman I need to make a more compelling case. Tell me what that picture is miss Bertram."

Skylar had a bad sinking feeling of the picture before she even saw them. The picture contained ones showing some of Cayden's family, man, woman and a young little girl. "They are a nice family aren't they? I'd never harm them, but others aren't as patient. I'm telling you this as a kindly warning we are very dangerous people. So we're giving you the option to remain out our way."

Skylar swallowed the lump in her throat. "..What do you want from me? And who are you really?"

They shrugged a bit. "As I said, to stay out of our way. I may ask certain things and vote certain ways but never get your hands dirty or anything too drastic rest assured. You are one of our kind at least so I don't want to just vanish. As for me, I am part of the noble Pharoen Clan."

Skylar's eyes widened and she growled. "I should have known you were apart of those group of thugs by your tactics. How did your type even get in?"

He frowned a bit. "I wouldn't use that term. A business man doesn't give away all his trade secrets. I'll just say we have ears and eyes where we need them to be as well of course I have a spotless record."

"Naturally.." Skylar said dryly.

"Anyway, do have a deal Miss Bertram? I rather this not be violent." He said.

Skylar felt sick but she didn't have much of a choice. "Fine..I'll be quite. I do have one question.."

"But of course. You need to just ask but I can't promise I'll answer."

She took a deep breath. "..Some of the things now make sense to me more in context about Zara after the clan you came from. How she calls you master all the time and seems abnormally docile. It's because she's.."

"Defective?" He claried thoughtfully and Skylar glared at them as not a word she used. "In a sense I suppose, but she is quite useful in other ways even if she can't use her shadow powers. That use of other guest for their own needs. It's unfortunate but someone of their station still has some use at least. I haven't done anything to them because personally I don't like dolls that just go in the direction you want them to go."

Skylar did her best to reign in her temper at the man which was taking a lot of effort. He wasn't even being smug, just calmly stating what he thought were facts. "..I request Zara be transferred over to my care if she's that unimportant to you. She deserves better. She's been nothing but kind to me."

"Request?" He mused, then chuckled. "A bold and sentimental one. Fine, I will honor it."

_______

That's where things stopped, though of course Ness could dig for more things if he wanted to.

Ness let's go of Skyler's hand "I believe I understand." he says as he looks over to the young woman "I have several ways to deal with people like him. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant." he says "Most of them are untraceable as well." he says in a low tone "If you wish it, after the negotiations are over, I can handle this situation for you, however you wish me to."

Skylar didn't want to get her hopes up too much, but far as anything happening to the man? She could honestly care less. "Do whatever you see fit. I don't care about them. Just know he's not alone. I don't know what they're all planning for Noreal though.."

Ness nods "It doesn't matter if he has an army... they are no match for me." he sends to her, telepathically. This woman was in some Serious need of some hope. She tries to hide it, and actually does so quite well, but Ness can now see that she is lacking any hope at all and he means to give it back to her. If he was able to (which is actually is) he would rather have her Take her hope back from this foul man "Come along. We have business to take care of. Business that will benefit all of Noreal and it's people."

Skylar didn't know what this human was capable of, though the issue was their soft power not so much they were hulking power houses. Sir Tristian or Lady Yasuko could certainly beat them by themselves so she'd keep a open mind of what a single person could do. It wasn't to say Pharoen Clan was weak, just obviously couldn't brute force their way through Noreal. Sebastian was more for his brains, she was confident she could beat them in a physical fight as she was stronger then she looked and she knew what he was capable of.

She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt as they walked back towards the meeting room. So she gave them a bit more information she knew. If he could send, that way then he could probably pick it up. 'The Pharoen Clan are more or less a terrorist slash Nosferartu supremist group. In straight combat they don't possess the power or numbers to be a legit threat to Noreal collectively. So they use hit and run, or as it seems to be the case soft power. If I was blackmailed, I suspect other council members may be compromised to. The issue isn't so much defeating them is making sure they can't bring people down with them for their insurance. That's where their real power lies.'

Lucien greeted the two. "Welcome back you two. We have decided and are ready to get things back into session if you are Ness."

Ness nods "Absolutely." he says with a smile "I have things set up for both a demonstration and a practical test, to show you what you plan on purchasing, that is." he says. He plans on shaking everyone's hand to 'seal the deal' as it were and he would look into their past to see if this creep of his associates have any more dirt on anyone else.

Luckily for Ness it seemed most of the council members were clean, well you know for politicians anyway. However, there were a few that were some sore spots far as sticking out. There was a young man named Dreven who was a clear and direct ally to Sebastian and those with him. A woman named Brienne who wasn't a ally by choice, but apparently they had their son so they had to be quite.

Surprisingly, they didn't have their dirty claws on anyone else maybe because older members were too hard to get a hold of or another reason.

However, once he shook Sebastian's hand he got a very interesting bit of information.
__________


Sebastian scanned around the lab that was hidden underground. It was annoying they had to skitter around the ground like rodents in the shadow unlike the past, but given the situation they had to bide their time and be careful.

It was also ridiculous to be working with some Human scientist they had smuggled into Noreal. They had worked on a somewhat similar idea back home with some creatures called 'Heartless'. Truthfully, he hadn't heard of such things but his master had told him they be good asset to use their talents to help. Not only with their creations, but they could perhaps use their knowledge of genetics to enhance perhaps.

All their Lord Remus asked is they worked and listened and they be able to continue their research and study in peace.

All I know is these Human's had Better be worth it. Honestly I trust my lord but does he know how hard it was to get them here without alerting anyone on either side? He complained to himself about his plight. No one appreciates fully all the work I put into this group.

The automatic doors opened and stepped in was a imposing man, they looked somewhat similar to King Lucien, with black hair and seemed a bit older. If one didn't know any better one would of thought them siblings.

At their entrance the woman in the labcoat typing away greeted them and Sebastian stood at attention. "I hope everything has went well Lord Remus. Things have been slow on my end."

"I'm afraid its the same. We're playing the long game so that's to be expected." The other man said. "Seiran? How goes the progress of the subjects? And what else are you doing to make sure there's no 'incidents' like what happened on earth when you made similar things?"

"The mindless Heartless aren't a issue as long as we have someone to control them." The woman replied not missing a beat. "As for the others, currently they're in the child phase in stasis. If we play things slow we can mold their minds completely so they are one hundred percent loyal once they're adults. It'll take some years before its complete but that shouldn't be a issue for one like you."

Remus nodded, seemingly pleased with the news. "Keep me notified if anything changes." He glanced at Sebastian. "Have you had any success trying to get us extra weapons outside of Noreal?"

At that, the other Nosferartu grimaced. "No. It's Very difficult trying to get a hold of such things and smuggle what is needed in Noreal. Not at least without tipping off authorities in Noreal or those damned Hunters. I thought about getting some spare Trojan technology left behind to repurpose for our needs but to no avail."

"Keep persisting. A opening should present itself if given enough time, but we'll have to make one. Just don't over extend yourself." Remus seemed confident in that part at least. "We're greatly outnumbered and outgunned so we need to leverage anything and everything."

While they were on that subject, Sebastian decided to add his own idea. "If there was a way for you to steal Lady Yasuko's power it would not only be a game changer for us, but take one of our greatest threats to success."

"If such a thing was possible." Seiran shook her head. "I suppose in theory but that's not something we studied. Still even if we could the power would be too much for your body to handle. It would be like trying to empty a lake with a water baloon. No offense."

"I don't take offense for my subordinates giving a honest answer. I have too much to gain by arrogantly ignoring the obvious." He assured them, thinking. "Take me to these subjects. I want to see the results of this work, for myself more."