After surveying the surrounding land of the building, the Sister made her way to the center of the building to the main security deck. A few guards tried to stop her, but a bit of intimidation moved them out of her way. She analyzed all of the current security footage and deduced that if anything would try to stop the negotiations, she wouldn't see it on the cameras. She would have to use the Force to keep an eye on possible intruders.
She let herself into the conference room, a large and spacious hall prepared for the long meeting ahead. No one else was there yet, so she stood in the back corner and pulled out her lightsaber to examine it.
Nothing was wrong, but she knew it would reiterate her standing impression on the Vancorians. She didn't think the Separatist Council would be a problem. If anything, they, or at least Viceroy Gunray, liked her too much. They seemed to think that her presence was a sign of Darth Sideous' favor when she was really there to make sure nothing went wrong, from their end or the Vancorian end. Not to mention there was always the possibility of a rogue Jedi trying to stop the negotiations.
The Sister's comlink beeped suddenly, and she answered it immediately. The only people who had access to her com-code were people that she needed to be in contact with, which meant only Grievous, Tyrannus, and Sideous had it.
Tyrannus' bearded hologram projected from her wrist. Probably nothing fatal, then.
"Darth Tyrannus, what do you need from me?"
"I want a report. My master has returned to Coruscant again, and he let me know to contact him when the negotiations are complete."
"They have not started, your excellency," she replied. "Neither the Council members nor the Vancor representatives are ready to begin."
Tyrannus looked down, consulted a screen, most likely, and looked back to her. "My master has become impatient and has given new instructions to you. You are to speed up the negotiations by whatever means necessary. He wants the allegiance on Vancor finalized no later than tomorrow afternoon."
The Sister ran a few numbers through her head. Initially, the negotiations were supposed to last two, maybe even three rotations. She would have to force the meeting to run faster than that.
"It won't be pretty, but I will make sure that it is done."
"Are you sure that you can accomplish this? Politicians tend to move quite slowly, as per my experience."
"As in mine, your excellency, but I imagine they will talk much faster with a lightsaber to their neck." The Sister smiled. The Sith returned the grin and closed off the connection. She looked up and saw the Vancor politicians from earlier standing in the doorway, and her grin grew. This was going to be fun.
"Take a seat, all of you," she instructed, destroying the political hierarchy in six words. "There's been a change in plans."
They scurried to their assigned seats as the Council members followed them in. San Hill spoke up as he took his seat, much less rattled than the Vancorians. "A change in plans? May I ask what you mean?"
Again, with the niceness. What favor would they earn from treating her so well? "Darth Sideous has given explicit instructions that the negotiations must be concluded by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Your timeline has been narrowed to one rotation."
"One rotation?" Emir Wat Tambor repeated. "We were supposed to be given at least two!"
"And now you have one. I suggest you get started," she said menacingly.
"Yes, we shall begin," said Gunray. "Let us-"
"We can't finish the negotiations in one rotation!" exclaimed one of the Vancorians. "It's not possible!"
The Sister rolled her eyes. Clearly, she would have to put the matter into plain and simple terms for these idiots. "Then I will take you to Lord Sideous, and you can explain to him personally what prevented the negotiations from being completed by the given timeline." She stared coldly at the Vancorian. "If that doesn't sound like fun, then I suggest you get started."
Of which they did promptly. And fearfully, don't forget that.
Two hours later and steady progress had been made, thankfully.
There were forty-three topics that needed to be negotiated, and so far, ten of them had been agreed upon. The Council members had been very on-topic and efficient since they had done this plenty of times before, but the Vancor politicians wanted to stop and try to work their way into the upper hand every single time they thought they could. It was in these moments that the Sister glared at them or cleared her throat, and the chatty Vancorian would shut up and get back to the point. More than once, she reminded the group that their time was dwindling, especially when she could tell that the conversation had nothing to do with policies.
After four more hours (six hours total), the entire group dismissed themselves to eat. The Sister used the Force to disappear into the shadows, and both the Council and the Vancorians left without her. She unveiled herself and went to the desks of the politicians to see what had actually been accomplished for herself.
They were about two-thirds of the way done and had twelve topics left to discuss. Unfortunately for their timeline, they were all of the big ones. The completed ones were things like propaganda, funding, and allegiance terms. They still had the military resources to discuss, and the Sister knew that one would take an hour at least. Especially since, as she rummaged through the mountains of papers, the Vancorians didn't know about the plans for their system yet. This ought to be interesting.
The Sister went to eat then, snatching food from the kitchens unnoticed. She ate in the conference room and waited for the politicians to hurry up.
Her comlink went off again, and this time it was Grievous. She had only met him in person a few times, but they had actually had many lengthy conversations over hologram. Out of him, Sideous, and Tyrannus, he probably trusted her the most. This was probably due to the fact that they only talked about military tactics and advancements, but the Sister liked it that way. She understood how war worked if nothing else.
His robotic figure projected from her wrist. "Sister, how are the negotiations?" He asked, coughing afterward.
"Proceeding well, but they will turn sour soon," she reported. "I do not think that the negotiations will be completed on time unless they work through the night."
"Will they not?" He asked.
"These are politicians, not droids," she reminded him. "They are very attached to their sleep."
Grievous grumbled. Being a cyborg, he didn't understand the concept of needing sleep. "I wouldn't want to be in your place, child."
The Sister didn't especially like it when he called her 'child', but she had learned to brush it off by now. He wasn't trying to insult her, she had found. "And that's why I am here and you are not. Which system are you in now?"
"I am on my way to the Christophsis system. I am told that you will be meeting me there shortly."
"Darth Sideous did mention that he had a military mission for me soon."
"Then make those idiots work faster," he instructed, "and get here. We want as much time before the Jedi show up as possible."
"I'll see what I can do," she answered, and Grievous severed the connection.
The Sister powered down her wrist and sighed. It was a shame, really. She could work better with a maniacal, destructive cyborg better than a politician. Oh, how low had she fallen of late.
Speaking of the nuisances, she heard footsteps outside the doors. She opened it and saw the group collectively walking past the doors. The Sister smiled. Time for a bit more fun.
She cloaked herself in Dark Shadow again and crept along the side of the hall, brushing against the wall. She jumped ahead of them and stood directly in front of them, still cloaked. They hardly noticed the odd shadow creeping in front of them, because they were too busy talking and letting their meal sink in. When she unveiled herself two feet before they ran into her, they jumped so high, they could have flown. One of them even fell down.
"I don't suppose you'll be returning to your quarters so soon?" She asked them. Once they stopped having heart attacks, they answered.
"We need to rest. We will finish in the morning."
"I hope so," she warned them, "for your own sake. Darth Sideous is not known for mercy when he is displeased."
Believe me, she thought as she turned on her heel. I know. I've been there.