The Dark Academy on Korriban

Sylvain sent a text to the half-sith Zeno after the Dark Council had convened for the evening. He had still been unable to thank the young man for his assistance on their trek a few weeks ago and figured that drinks would be a good way of starting that. Zeno seemed like the type of guy that would enjoy a strong drink and a bit of fun.

The red man walked into the cantina and glanced around, when he saw Zeno he moved to join him sitting down across from him. "Evening. Quite the meetings today, no?"

He gets a servant to bring him something to drink. Some sort of liquor and a water.

Sylvain pointed to the same drink as Zeno when the servant came and gestured he'd be covering both drinks.

"Indeed. There's a different air about the Academy today." He smiled, "I hadn't thanked you properly for helping out with that business a few weeks ago; let me take care of the drinks tonight."

"Appreciated, though I won't be drinking too much. A good duelist keeps his senses. Just one to relax," he replies. "... maybe two."

"How have things been going for you? Any good alliances among the other students? And I don't believe I've congratulated you on your selection by a Darth as a master, which is in order."

He nodded his thanks for the words of congratulations, "It's an honor to have gained Darth Baras' attention; now I just need to live up to those expectations."

He leaned back in his chair, "Alliances go well here and there. I appreciated the work Baesal and Moyr did on our trip and so I saw to it that the teachers are a bit more helpful during their exams than they have been. I heard you felled the beast with one of my closest friends the other day. Congratulations."

"Indeed," he says in response to the end of Death's Shadow. "It was a hard fought battle. Shaisha stood tall and firm and provided the strength of will necessary for us to fight at full capacity. Khalim's clever tactics got us started on the right foot and he resiliently took the brunt of most attacks. For my part, I wounded the beast grievously and significantly. It would not have worked with such an effective team. My thanks." When his drink arrives he takes a sip.

"Moyr and Baesal. I suspect that my close association with Lord Zash pushes them away from me. And there is nothing I want less than that. They are capable allies and I'd prefer that they'd trust me more. I am trying to calm things between them and Lord Zash, to eliminate the tension and let past grievances remain there. Hopefully they can appreciate that. I prefer to keep useful friends an allies close. I don't know if they fully understand the lengths I would go to in order to protect them and their interests. Like you I have a soldiers understanding and the thought of bleeding or dying for a comrade provides a sense of honor rather than fear. I don't know if that's a mindset they can understand with their histories."

Sylvain nodded, "Your desire to maintain a working relationship is admirable Zeno. I share many of your viewpoints."

He took a sip of his drink, "I do think you've hit it on the head with your comment about 'their histories' being in the way of eliciting the type of trust you hope for."

He swirled his drink, "I know Moyr fairly well from the time we've spent together, she has a fierce streak of independence but knows a good deal when she sees one. I am not sure of what happened on your trip with Zash... but I know that someone else you supposedly put your trust in did not make it back alive. You seem from all reports to have solidified yourself with Zash, but at the cost of one of your compatriots. To someone with a strong streak of self-preservation... there definitely might be pause when they consider what happened to that poor Gerald-boy."

"A sacrifice was necessary for the completion of the ritual. And to be truthful, while I did like Gerald he was not cut out to be sith. Try as I did to encourage him to embrace his passion and accept the sith way, he had too tender a heart for the life of a sith. He was destined to fall one day, but in that way his passing was of benefit to the empire," Zeno says. There is definitely a hint of sadness in his voice. And if Sylvain knew anything of Zeno from his interactions, he wore his emotions on his sleeve... terrible at hiding or faking them.

Sylvain noted the remorse and tucked it away in the file on 'Zeno' in his mind.

"I could talk to Moyr if you'd like. She's reasonable... and probably the only way that Baesal would listen to anything. I occasionally have to check my belongings for the object we found just in case Baesal felt the need to acquire what she felt was hers." He said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, she wasn't happy about that either. Pretty sure that didn't help my case. Perhaps we could try to hunt down a holocron to give her. She's a tinkerer. I think she probably wants to tear one apart," he suggests. "Do you think we could do that?"

Sylvain tilted his head, "Perhaps. We've been fortunate with what we found... there are no guarantees that there would be anything like it near. But there are many lost secrets in the deserts... we just need to go look for them." He said with a roguish smile.

"Well, let's see what we can do," he says with a shrug. He pulls out his datapad and dials in Baesal's ID.

"Evening. You there? I have a question."

Sylvain smiles and pulls out his own.

He texts Moyr:

A message comes through for Sylvain from Veers, "My room tonight, we should talk."

He replied: "Alright. After dinner."

"Can you do some research and find a spot likely to have a holocron? We'll go try and fetch one for you."

While he waits for Baesal's response, he turns to Sylvain. "Also, I'm interested in getting that holocron back. It was supposed to be temporary to keep Zash from searching our areas and finding it."

He talks over the comlink quietly in the noisy cantina, "Your interested on getting your hands on one right? Can you find a likely location?"

"Because you are a skilled and capable companion. More trustworthy than I deserve. But I would like to make amends for my actions. I know you wished the holocron found within the vaults, and in truth it ended up in the hands of the one that did the least to earn it due to my words. My actions were out of consideration that I suspected Lord Zash suspected you but had no interest in Sylvain and did not want her to bring harm to you or Moyr in the seeking of it and did not wish her to claim it from me as she did Gyn Hothe's from myself. It was not a spiteful action but intended to keep a valuable ally out of harms way. As I've said previously, I do what I can to protect my allies. I would repay you for your assistance and kindnesses thus far by helping you get your hands on what you seek." He continues keeping his voice low so it cannot be heard over the bustle of drinking and chatter.

"Yes, the collage of me..." A pause. "Shit, sorry. I really do mean to take this seriously. I apologize for that but sometimes my poor humor runs away from me. Please go on, I am interested in doing what I can to help mend things. And know that I don't consider buying your trust a thing. I'll help you with the project further if you wish, though I am not made of money."

He doesn't reply for a minute, as he pulls out his credit chip and connects it to the datapad, transfering the credits to Baesal Zyn. "You should have a transfer. I don't consider this evening a thing, you are not some cheap person to have their trust bought. Let me know if you want me to come purchase the stuff you need with you. Carrying around such an amount of quality materials can make you a target. And I'm willing to help you with your project as much as you need, if you need some hands that know a thing or two about mechanics. Just let me know."

"Allright," he replies. "Zeno out."

He turns his attention back to Sylvain.

After a while, Moyr walked into the bar, dressed in her revealing tapewear with the academy jacket loosely thrown over her shoulders. Rather than looking for Syl and Zeno outright she simply took a walk across the Cantina, letting herself be noticed.

Seeing Moyr he got her attention and motioned her over.

"So Zyn coming?" He asked Zeno.