The following day, Avery and Kasandra left the Dauntless and headed into the colony.
Today they would be eting with two executives from Storren Corp, about their lost vessel.
Their initial ssage had seed more favorable than not. Allowing Avery to set most of the terms of the eting and even offering him a juicy reward as incentive. Had they wanted to settle things through pressure or force, they never would have reached out in the first place.
"To think you could rent private rooms at the rcenary Association. That’s sothing Urs never taught ." Avery mused, standing in front of the sleek building that served as the association branch on Yuson II.
While it was sowhat rare, there were tis when specific rcenaries were requested, and they could et face to face in an association building to hash things out.
Normally, rcenaries just took whatever missions had been submitted, or if they were personally asked for, it was typically far easier just to communicate remotely.
Nevertheless, there were sotis when it was best to et in person, and this was one of those instances.
Kasandra had recently told Avery that she could usually tell when a person was lying by changes in their heartrate. Thanks in large part to her hypersensitive hearing and intense training she had undergone. Of course, this trick only worked on certain species, since so possessed truly alien circulatory systems.
After she had ntioned this, Avery rembered that the only ti she spoke during their first eting was when she told her brother that he was not lying.
It was definitely going to be a useful ability in the coming eting.
Upon entering the building, the two of them walked up to the reception counter, and after their identities were verified, they were given access to the room they had rented.
Inside were so slightly higher than average quality chairs and couches, with one large table in the middle.
Up against one side of the room was an autochef and several food and beverage capsules lined up in case of longer etings that required refreshnts.
"Everything is clear. There don’t seem to be any caras or eavesdropping devices set up. We’ll have complete privacy." Kasandra said, just having swept the entire room with a device designed to discover anything ant to spy on the room.
It was not much longer afterwards that representatives from Storren Corp. arrived.
There were eight of them in total. The two executives that would be the primary negotiators. Two assistants for each of them. And finally, a single bodyguard apiece.
’I’d figured that they’d co with more escorts. Are they confident that the two fighters they have can beat us, or is it ant to express that they don’t want to fight?’ Avery thought, analyzing the situation.
Obviously, two upper-level mbers of Storren Corp. could afford a small army of bodyguards to protect them. Had they wanted to intimidate Avery and Kasandra, it would have made sense to bring more.
"It’s a pleasure to et you, sir, mada." Avery said, addressing the two Storren Corp. executives. "I’m the Avery Asteria, the two star rcenary you wished to et with. And this is a mber of my crew, Kasandra Woest, a three star rcenary."
In contrast to his usually casual deanor, Avery was approaching this eting as politely as he could. Acting brash and unmannered would only be a detrint in this situation. Though, if they pushed him, he was ready to beco aggressive just like any other rcenary.
Fortunately, his courtesy seed to catch the people from Storren Corp. off guard in a good way. For a mont, even the executives’ masks slipped as they were shocked by how respectable Avery was.
"I am Dorris Flaria, Chief Financial Officer with Storren Corp." The First Executive said, introducing herself.
"And I am Ardesen Balamy, Chief Technology Officer with Storren Corp."
Hearing about their positions within Storren Corp. nearly brought a look of surprise to Avery’s face. These two were not just upper managent, but two people that sat at the very top of one of the largest manufacturers of spacecraft in the Dramid Alliance. Within their respective branches of organization, these two were in charge.
’I guess they wanted to send people that could negotiate without needing to constantly contact their superiors for approval over every little matter. That’s just how badly they want the Dauntless- no, SCXD-011 back.’
Once they had finished up with their pleasantries, Marcus and Kasandra sat across from Dorris and Ardesen, while their assistants and bodyguards stood behind them.
Kasandra took the lead in asking if they wanted anything to eat or drink before things got started, and the two executives politely accepted.
While they waited in complete silence other than the autochef working in the background, Avery tried to assess the two people he would be negotiating with.
Dorris was a tall and attractive middle-aged human woman with long orange hair. She wore a smile on her face, and Avery could not tell if it was fake or real. It was almost unsettling how utterly impossible it was to tell what she was thinking or feeling. Of the two executives, he felt certain that she was the shrewder.
Ardesen on the other hand, was only around half of Avery’s height. Though, he was not human but a Baccigan. A species of people that were known for their intellect.
Like all mbers of his race, Ardesen possessed two pairs of arms that ended in hands that had three fingers that had twice as many joints as a human’s, large eyes with multiple irises, and bright fur covering most of his body. With the color of his hair appearing yellow to Avery’s eyes.
’As the Chief of Technology, he almost certainly had a prominent role in the construction of my ship. Unlike how Dorris seems to be calculating how costly this endeavor is going to be, he seems more intent on successfully accomplishing his goals.’ Avery thought, extracting what context he could about their positions on this matter considering their roles in Storren Corp.
Finally, once they had all been served a drink and small snack that could be had at any ti, the negotiations truly began.
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