"Let us say, three years to begin with. After that time, I should have a better idea of what the immortality would look like for someone else and you will have a more solid foundation. We can renegotiate at that point."

"A reasonable duration. And if at that time we can come to no agreement?"

"Then we either end the arrangement amicably and go our separate ways, or I find a way to kill or at least permanently disable you. Depending on the circumstances."

"I would prefer to not be killed or permanently disabled. Would you care to elaborate on what circumstances might lead to this becoming necessary in your mind?"

"If you annoy me consistently and to a significant degree over the course of the three years. If you give me definite cause to believe that you are ending the arrangement in order to work directly against me."

"The second is acceptable. The first speaks to the same casual wastefulness I noted earlier. I am uncertain if I wish to serve someone who is willing to kill merely for giving offence."

"Then you will find no suitable masters among the Sith as they stand today. I will not kill while your period of service stands, and I will offer warnings when your actions displease me. It is when knowing offense becomes a habit that I take issue."

"Ah. I may have your meaning: at some point, repeated offenses become insubordination."

"I will accept that wording, yes."

"Insubordination erodes reputation and authority. It is an attack on the resources necessary to wield power. As such, it should be responded to with equal force as to any other act of sabotage. This is understood."

Vincoria's gaze slides over Soph, then levelly meets Occlus' own.

"However. If you expect that I will be your puppet, unquestioning, never engaging my mind - then you are mistaken. Though I understand this would not be an equal partnership, I am not merely a tool to be held in your hand. As such, I have my own conditions to assert.

Firstly, while I will risk my life for you, your backing is useless to me if I am dead. If you send me on a suicide mission, I will consider it a murder attempt.

Secondly, and more broadly, you will not deliberately harm me or mine. If you believe some portion of my interests must be sacrificed for a larger goal, you will have the courtesy to inform me beforehand so that we may discuss alternatives. If you do so without consulting me, you will be expected to provide acceptable recompense.

Thirdly, you will give me all necessary information for the execution of my duties. If you assign me to a dangerous mission, you will provide the most up-to-date intelligence you have available with regards to potential threats. If you send me on clandestine business, you will inform me your dealings to date in that realm. Furthermore, you will inform me of the objectives you aim to achieve through my service, such that I may execute your commands according to their spirit and not their letter. If you do not wish to reveal your secrets to me, do not assign me tasks that will require me to know them.

Fourthly, if you independently discover any new information regarding my brand of immortality, I expect you to share it with me, just as I have shared my own research with you."

Vincoria taps her fingertips together.

"Finally - over a long enough period, it will become exceedingly difficult for me to conceal my immortality. Because my body is that of a child, it is unusually apparent that I do not age. Furthermore, some of my closer subordinates know of my true nature, having spent enough time in my personal service to observe this themselves.

As such, while I will take all available precautions, it should not be considered a breach of our agreement if some third party happens to come to the correct conclusion. Even the smallest clues can add up, and even loyal servants may break under torture."

"All entirely reasonable. I have no objections to these terms."

"Good. Now, given that one of the conditions for the agreement is secrecy, it rather precludes my negotiating other offers if I wish to accept it. If I were a more suspicious person, I might well decline this tempting offer merely because it seems to preclude any contact between myself and your rivals. 

I am not quite that paranoid — but I will ask for some compensation for the loss of flexibility." 

"Will you? What more do you desire?"

"Oh, nothing that you wouldn't end up giving me eventually anyway. If you're serious about this agreement, I believe my own hyperspace-capable ship would quickly become a necessity — that is, unless you expect us to always share a planet?" 

"Done. I like you, little Sith."

Vincoria smiles, apparently genuinely. "I'm always glad to make a good impression. You can give me a written copy of our contract to review and sign anytime in the next week: while I trust your word, I would rather not trust your memory or mine for an agreement whose terms will still apply three years from now. Naturally, I will expect to sign it aboard my new personal craft." 

"Naturally. And this agreement will be binding for your apprentice as well, of course."

Vincoria turns to her apprentice. "Do you object?" 

"No, master." 

"There you have it, then."

"Good. Now as to your cover: you are still remnants of Diabolus's lost expedition, but you met with no success before your hyperdrives were damaged beyond repair. Diabolus himself is long dead of course, you two are the last remaining Sith of the colony. Without knowledge of your immortality, your apprentice appears older than you. I suggest that in public, you switch roles."

"I'm used to acting as Vincoria's public face, but I doubt that lie would work on high-powered Sith. After all, you immediately saw through me when you first set foot planetside."

"I believe my apprentice is correct on this point: her poorly-controlled force presence betrays her as no true Sith Lord. If she is to pass convincingly as my master to others of your standing, she will need immediate and extensive training."

"An alternative is that you both pose as my apprentices. To a cursory inspection you appear weak enough to suit your apparent age, and her lack of training is, as you say, obvious."

"That seems a more easily-swallowed deception. A true Sith examining me closely might still detect something unusual, but that flaw already existed in the previous plan."