Welcome to Druckenwell,Zeus. You are cleared to land in diplomatic bay zero-three. You will be met by the Minister of Defense's envoy. Druckenwell Control out.

Traffic transmissions, barring manifests, were usually kept short and to the point. Of course, they had asked for the Prime Minister, probably akin to the Planetary Governor, who was currently on Coruscant working with the Senate. That left the Minister of Defense has the next highest position. Quite recently, a Munificent-class star frigate, now named Indomitable, was orbiting near the planet with the other older vessels. This vessel was to serve as a trade ship and, additionally, a meeting place for ambassadorial work and trade agreements. It also placed foreign ministers and diplomats, for their fist meeting, aboard a vessel Novak had requested. The thought of such had amused him, which was part of the reason he set it up as such. At this point though, it was undergoing minor maintenance and so the Consortium executive would have to land within the planet-side bay. On their way into the atmosphere, the assault shuttle and its escorts would be joined by a pair of other craft, Eta-2 Actis interceptors. Both vessels were droid-operated, and it was an unspoken sign that they and not TIE fighters piloted by Druckenwell's militia escorted the shuttle. The Sith might bow to the New Republic, but here on Druckenwell, the position of Minister of Defense had quite a lot of pull.

Upon landing, the group would be met by an honor guard of sorts; five of the former Druckenwell Security Forces members, now considered, with new dark black uniforms and blue patches, as the Druckenwell Armed Forces. The leader of the team, however, was an IG MagnaGuard, who gazed upon the members of the Consortium with little inflection, likely as not because he had no real way of expressing emotions. Nonetheless, there was a feel of almost-human arrogance from the droid.

"Welcome, members of the Consortium. Druckenwell is always eager to meet with foreign emissaries. Come, we will travel to the capitol building, if it pleases you."

The droid half-turned, beckoning to a sleek repulsorlimo that was outside the landing bay.

They landed in the groundside docking bay, and he walked out, his men coming in behind him. As the modifications were uncomplete on the Banthas they had, the CR25s were being used to haul in their 2-M Saber Repulsor Tanks, along with additional supplies and weapons. His troops, wearing black light battle armor and armed with WESTAR-M5 Blaster Rifles with Merr-Sonn PLX-1m micro-rocket launcher attached and two WESTAR-34 Blaster Pistols. They also had various other gear pertaining to their specializations, and he himself had a DC-15s Side Arm Blaster held in a chest holster underneath his business jacket.

He nodded at the droid. "Thank you. It is a pleasure to be here." he said, almost out of trained courtesy. He then walked to the repulsorlimo, with his staff behind him. The 2-Ms swinged up to the repulsorlimo, crewed by the techs that took care of them, with the team members now riding on the sides. The team's commander and head tech were with him and his staff. "When ever you're ready we are." he said to the droid as he took a seat. "Sir, Deralia reports that Ariake technicians have reported to our facilities, and will begin finishing the Bantha modifications." said one of his aides. He merely nodded, and waited for things the motorcade to get moving.

The droid slid in next to the human driver, silent as ever. As the repulsorlimo pulled away from the landing bay, it was evident that the remaining armed forces members would be remaining behind. It was a security precaution to ensure that nothing came out that wasn't supposed to emerge, as well as serve as an honor guard for the consortium. Either flanked by the 2-M repulsortanks or followed by them, the repulsorlimo would accelerate down the moderately crowded street. When it neared the capitol building, however, it veered away, heading several kilometers to the east. Even from this distance, it would be possible to see the construction that was underway.

As the convoy drew closer, it would be possible to view construction workers of multiple ages and races working upon five towering spires that were already several dozen stories into the air, if not higher. Assisting them were a number of large construction droids in a painful yellow that screamed caution. This Sith temple that was emerging here differed from the standard styles that were normally built. Instead, it was styled after the Jedi Temple on Coruscant; exactly the same in look but smaller and jet black. When the limo passed by, it turned again, heading back towards the capitol building. The display was to remind the consortium whom they were dealing with.

Arriving at the capitol building, the droid spoke finally. "I am Rajek, adjutant to Minister of Defense Novak. During your stay on Druckenwell, it is my job to see to it that your questions are answered and your accommodations are taken care of." It was obvious this droid was more than it seemed. As they neared the capitol building, it would become obvious what some of Novak's intentions had been in the name of defense. Parked at the fore in a checkpoint were a pair of armored assault tanks with the hatches closed. Behind these and to either side sat a quartet of NR-N99 Persuader-class droid enforcers and at a final vantage point was a single IG-227 Hailfire-class tank. It was clear that Novak was concerned when it came to matters of security.

The limo stopped directly in front of the main steps, allowing Rajek and the driver to emerge. The driver moved to the rear door, opening it for the passengers within. A good glance at Rajek would show him to have no electrostaff at the moment, yet, perhaps curiously, a lightsaber hung from his belt. That alone was likely to raise questions.

"IF you gentlemen would head inside, I will join you shortly. Minister Novak is delighted to entertain businessmen at any hour of the day."

When they had come to a stop, and the door had opened, he stepped outside, and merely nodded to the droid, before walking into the building. His staff and security team proceeded to surround him, as the repulsortanks turned and faced the rear of the security checkpoint. "Major, have four of your men stay with the tanks." ordered the Commander as they entered, and the woman quickly took action, citing off four names before they entered the door. Ares braced himself for what might wait beyond the other side.

Before Ares was admitted to the office, he was joined again by Rajek, this time in possession of his electrostaff. It was more of a formality than anything, but the droid opened the door to allow the man inside. The interior office was rather spartan, lacking any plush carpets. It was functional to be exact, and little more. Novak was not a man who set store in many extra trappings. Seated behind a long desk, the new Minister of Defense looked up.

"Ah, welcome! That will be all, Rajek. Oh, yes, I will need you to meet with the command staff of the Hand of Truth. They should be arriving within the hour with some cargo that is extremely important. Have it brought planetside as soon as you can.

"Now sir, what can I do for you? Things have been all manner of busy around here lately!" Novak stood from where he was, offering a welcoming smile to the consortium representative, motioning for the man to take a seat.

Novak shrugged slightly at the other man, still maintaining his small smile. Oh, there had been a lot of changes indeed. The populace were quite happy, there was no lie there. A better economy always made for more spending money. Getting the entire Druckenwell Armed Forces into his pocked was proving to be a challenge though.

"While the Senator," and there was an emphasis on the word, "who happens to be the Prime Minister is away on business, the next highest position stands in for him. As Minister of Defense, I am answerable directly to Senator Ryuun. So once again I make my statement: what can I do for you today?"

He stared him down for a moment, although he didn't like it, he took a breath and very quickly assumed his business mindset. "As you might be aware, Deralia, where our company is headquartered, was once the glimmering capital of the New Imperial Order, and center of reform of the Empire. However, due to various issues and an attempted coup, the NIO fell apart. During a brief civil war as a result of the coup, which led to the NIO being disbanded, the NIO pulled every assett it had into Deralia. While the fighting was destructive, as my homeworld is no doubt an testament to, it has left us with a peculiar situation." he said, pausing for a moment.

"Deralia is in possession of a stockpile of military hardware, which it has forfeited over to Hahne-Kedar. We are always willing to lend a helping hand to a world that is building its defense structure. Thus, I offer you a proposition. We will outfit your troops for a price. Five-hundred credits for standard outfitting, four-hundred for scout outfitting, six-hundred for heavy outfitting...useful for shocktroops and the like, and one thousand for special forces. Those fees are per soldier, and those do include shipping fees, measuring your troops, etcetera. We can also aid in the other aspects of your militarization, such as vehicles, artillary, fighters...practically anything but a capital ship. Of course there are varied prices on such larger items, and all we require is a number from you for a one time sale....or, we can work out a contract agreement to have continuous work done between us and your world. Do you have any question, Minister?" he asked finally, while being handed a datapad upon which he would be able to figure a number for the Sith.

"We have soldiers backed with the blessing of Blas-Tech, representative. Nonetheless, I believe that fair enterprise and new business partners, providing they are loyal and trustworthy, are an amazing asset to any working man's life. I certainly do have need for additional outfitting in all those areas. However... most of the vehicles, fighters and artillery need to be able to be heavily modified for the implantation of droid brains. I don't mean the bottom basement either. I need good droid brains; the kind that can work on their own without a central control unit. If we can manage this, Mr. Hahne, then I think you and I have a good future for business."

He smiled at this, and nodded. "If you gave us a look at BlasTech's offer, I'm sure we could work out a better deal for you. Now, did you have a certain droid brain model in mind, or were wanting a new model to be created? Either way, this is an obtainable goal, and one that can be advantageous to both of us." he said. He then jotted down some notes on his datapad, and handed it off to one of his aides. He became more relaxed, and eased back into the chair, crossing right leg over his left, and folding his arms together.

"One of my aides can draw up the numbers for the BlasTech deal. I'm more inclined to go with your company, especially if you can produce a new droid brain for me. The way things are in the galaxy, especially within the Senate and all its odd changes these days... well, a man can never safeguard his planet enough. So this takes us to the next question: pricing. How much, in theory, for a droid brain that could work as closely as possible to near autonomy but still be controlled within the limits of having it serve in the allotted capacity as a defensive and offensive system?"

Novak considered the offer still. In truth, he was less concerned with outfitting the living members of the newly-reformed Druckenwell Armed Forces than he was with creating a highly advanced droid army and armada as his personal hammer. However, to keep the people safe, happy, productive and supplying him with an income, he would have to work both ends equally.

"I believe that BlasTech's standard outfitting for us is a fifty-percent discount on items purchased from them; specifically from the plant here on Druckenwell, as we do help supply the materials for production in some cases.

"Nonetheless, your prices are more than acceptable. I already possess many of the units that need to be upgraded. The majority are Clone War-era battledroids that have been refit and retooled in some ways by myself and a few others."