It seemed that the social hall of the Ascent was getting far more use of late. Not that such a thing should come as a surprise, but it did nonetheless. The Council wasn’t known for their parties. But there was some changing of the guard. First with the Regency, now the Fist had changed…well, hands.
Darth Renatus, or Thane as he was more generally known given his distaste for titles, was initially alone in the room. As most had come to expect from the Firrerreo, he didn’t bother raising the light level. His eyes didn’t need it and, rather, he found the bright glare bothersome. He had taken up a chair near the wide viewport that overlooked Arx and the city below. Thane nursed a clear glass of amber liquid in one hand while perusing a datapad in the other. He knew who was coming. In fact, he had had a hand in selecting them. Still, it would be…nice, he supposed, to see Uji again.
After all, it was about time.
Uji’s pace was deliberate as he walked the hallways of the Ascent, the soft tap of his cane echoing against the flooring in rhythm with the footsteps of the two armored Royal Guards escorting him.
As he neared the offices of the Dark Council, a smirk tugged at his lips. He couldn’t help but recall the state in which the previous Fist had left the office—it would take hours to clean the fur from nearly every surface and to replace the… peculiar luxuries that past Fists had deemed essential.
When they reached the doorway, the guards stepped forward. Their gauntleted fists rapped against the door in measured politeness before announcing his arrival.
Kamjin slid into the room via one of the other access doors behind Thane. The Justicar gave a nod to the Firrerreon. He knew his former boss was not a man of many words and Kamjin was busy tapping away on a datapad. While the Chamber kept itself busy with the day-to-day judicial work he had taken on reviewing credit values to be helpful.
Without really looking around he took a seat adjecent to the Deputy Grandmaster and continued to tap away.
The door slid open as a uniformed Chiss walked into the room. His glasses covered eyes never left the datapad in his hands. His stylus tapped away on the screen as he reviewed various reports and assessments.
Without a word, he took a seat and continued his work. He was far more invested in the going-ons of his Shadow Academy than whoever was the new FIST. He did, however, respect decorum and his role within this brotherhood, so after sending a final message he turned the datapad off and placed in on the table.
The main doors to the hall slid open a few inches, just enough to allow some smoke to billow through the crack. Its intensity grew rapidly, spreading across the floor. The doors snapped shut before rapidly opening completely. A wall of smoke fell into the hall, along with the sound of heavy breathing. A silhouette emerged in the smoke. There was a distinctive and familiar crackle of a lightsaber being activated.
Idris Adenn, Voice of the Brotherhood strode into the hall. He looked around, deactivated the lightsaber, and pressed a button on his vambraces. The smoke stopped billowing.
“Too much? I was trying something new,” he asked.
“It’s just nice to see you not swinging from the lights,” Kamjin offered without looking up from his datapad.
“I heard about that. Clips are going viral on the holonet. Absolute madlad that Xen is,” Idris replied as he took a seat.
Kamjin turned his head, pulling down his hood. “Oh, sorry Idris. Thought you were someone else for a moment,” Kamjin said, before going back to work.
Thane merely cast a sidelong glance at the others as they intruded on his quietude. Then his senses tickled at the back of his mind.
“He is here.”
That was enough said. The Deputy Grand Master turned towards the doors as they opened for Uji.
<@272527052396298242>
Walking past the guards stationed outside the hall, Uji surveyed the three individuals inside. He was familiar with Thane, had a passing acquaintance with Rhylance, and knew the others only by reputation. He gave each a nod of recognition as he entered.
He rested idly using his cane to hold himself up as he considered. “I received your summons and the conditions of the offer… So do I get a drink and take a seat? or is there something formal that is expected?”
“As long as you’re not really a Hutt in disguise I’m sure Idris will let you get a drink,” Kamjin said.
Black-gold eyes appraised Uji in silence. Then he sighed and took a sip of his drink. “Ténama should arrive with drinks…shortly?” Thane tilted his head with a raised eyebrow to punctuate the question in his words.
“Mhmm.” Thran affirmed into his earpiece communicator.
“Yeah. Page 17.” He added, tapping at his datapad.
The doors to the hall stood before him, flanked by two sentinel guards. They blocked his path, crossing Force pikes before him.
“Halt!” They said in unison.
“Bzzzzzzzzz.” Thran buzzer waving them off. “BZzZZZzzz!” He added emphatically at their interruption.
The guards looked at each other, at the door, then back at Thran. They repeated the process twice more.
“BZzZZZzzz!” Thran stamped his feet again.
The guards stepped back from the doors, which opened obediently to the Regent’s Buzz.
“Damnit, Janice! You speak basic. Read that press release and tell me if you should think we publish that…Newsflash…We absolutely cannot. Get it back to the copy editors and get it right. We’ve got to think about the freggin stock prices, Dank farrik.” Thran dug into his pocket, passing a credit chit to each guard, and strode into the room.
“What? Why would I care if they have families?” Thran paused “holidays? Holiday pay? Ha! That’s a good one. Tell them they can get it fixed or they will be fixed. Now!”
Thran looked up at the other assembled Councilors, scanned the room, then briefly at his datapad, then back to the group.
“This gonna take long?” He asked
As if on cue, the door opened behind Thran to reveal… nothing. Then, it shut.
A few moments later, it opened again. This time, Erinyes was there, with hovercart full of refreshments and horse dovers in tow. “Hi, everyone. We’ll have full meals here shortly, and snacks and drinks in the meantime.”
After maneuvering the cart around Thran and pressing the buttons for it to deploy its trays of finger food, she went around the room, tallying everyone up with a finger. “Whiskey, whiskey, anything Mando, Chateau D'aarmont 1734 XO with one drop of water… and if memory serves correctly, both of our new arrivals are also whiskey aficionadoes. That makes things easy.”
A half-dozen glasses floated out from the bar section of the cart. Two bottles of Kasiya Estates Dark Elixir whiskey—aged with the finest moagwood barrels and Sith sorcery—filled four of them. The fifth was a Mandalorian black ale, and the sixth was a namana cognac with the requisite drop of water.
“Thran, you might have to start bringing your own. Your staff keep buying it before I do.”
“It’ll take as long as it always does,” Kamjin said, eyeing Idris and hoping it wasn’t going to be another repeat of his absurd fantasies that he was in-fact a Hutt.
“It’s supply and demand, Erinyes. I demand it and they supply it.” Thran smirked, before turning back to Kamjin.
“Does that mean we have to do more of your ‘team building exercises’? There are literally millions of more useful things I could be doing instead…” Thran took a small sip of his beverage.
“Counting grains of rice… dissociating…building a model of a model ship…watching a tree grow…” Thran counted each out on his fingers
“If you had applied yourself to them when you were Proconsul you’d already know how to solve the exercises and engage with other people,” Kamjin retorted.
“Take Terrence to the park…learn how to make cheese…Eat glass…Hey, that’s your apprentice’s favorite pastime!” Thran continued.
With a wave of her hand, Erinyes distributed the six drinks to their corresponding owners. A tsiraki and tonic started pouring itself as she turned to Rhylance and Uji. “Welcome to the Council, gentlemen. I don’t think I’ve met either of you in person before.”
<@272527052396298242> <@206692046424113152>
Kamjin resituated himself in his chair. “My apprentice decided to test himself. He learned a value lesson. I hear they finally got the list pieces of glass out of his system this week,” Kamjin said, reliving the ill attempted antics of his apprentice.
Rhylance watched as the glass of whiskey at down in front of him. Burying his slight jealousy over such effortless power, the Chiss adjusted his glasses before responding.
“Erinyes, fellow former Consul of Clan Taldryan. Your reputation is well known to me. I followed your efforts closely…or at least as closely as safely could. It is not often that I am impressed, but you may consider yourself an outlier in that regard. I forsee our comraderie within this Council to be a lucrative relationship.”
Thane sipped the rich liquid from his glass, closing his eyes to allow the slow build-up of the burn from the high alcohol content to hit before finally swallowing. At the same time, he inhaled slowly to enhance the flavour. Then he turned to look squarely at Uji and Rhylance.
“Welcome,” he intoned, feeling no need to make it elaborate. “Your skills have been recognized. Do not dissappoint.”
“Why are we being so formal?” Kamjin asked, taking an ungentlemanly like swallow of his drink. “Thran has pushed not once but three times his conspiracy theories about Jenni III.”
“We don’t talk about that!” Thran protested
“You’ve been talking about it nonstop in every Council meeting. It’s become so prolific it’s a standing agenda item and the time allocated keeps getting increased.”
“That’s a damn lie.” Thran said. “Everyone knows I haven’t attended a single Council meeting!” He added
“It’s right here. Clear as a Krath can write it,” Kamjin said, keying it up on his datapad. “And you absolutely attend. You holo vid in every time and look distracted. I swear one of the times you were buying clothes and were in a changing room.”
“My point in case. Riddle me this, Justicar…How could I possibly be talking about something else if there’s a mirror present?” Thran raised an eyebrow
“Cause it was your report you were giving. You were talking to yourself about yourself,” Kamjin shot back
“So you admit then that I was indeed not talking about any alleged lizardry! I move to dismiss!” Thran announced
“Your report was on lizards!” Kamjin rebuttled.
“Objection!” Thran yelled. “You just said the content of the report was me talking about myself. Yet, I am not a lizard. I have no scales, nor sticky feets…foots…nor does my tongue capture flies. All the things what makes a lizard I have not, save the charm and wonderful coloration!”
Kamjin sighed. “I know,” he said, pinching his nose. “You were complaining that you weren’t a lizard. Just like you are now.”
“Me desire to be a lizard? You offend, sir. To think, me a reptile and suffer the tragedy of dry flaking skin when I so diligently care to my moisturizing processes! I bite my thumb at thee!” Thran bit at the top of his thumb.
Kamjin punched up the meeting minutes. “You were trying to get Arx to invest in a whole line of skin moisturizing products for reptilian species. You said it was an ‘untapped scaley gold mine’ or something to that affect. Then you smothered yourself in the cream to show how good it work.”
Kamjin turned the pad around to show the image of Thran’s holo-projected self smothered in cream. “See!”
Thran paused.
“I need to speak to my attorney. I know my rights. Kevin!!!!” He shouted into the air.
A small doglike man appeared next to Thran. He sighed and looked at Kamjin. “Must you provoke him? It was supposed to be my day off…” The Bimm sighed. “Here…” K'vin said, pushing a datapad into Kamjin’s chest.
“Cease and desist.” He whimpered.
“When has Thran started giving you days off?” Kamjin asked the Bimm as he read the cease and desist. “You need to date this. I know your stock C&D by now,” he added, thrusting the datapad back at the shaking lawyer.
The diminutive attorney pushed the pad back. “Look again. You’ll find everything is in order. Unless you’re just refusing the request…in which case, we’ll see you in court.”
“Tell Gable to add it to our standing morning meeting. I assume you’ll have other things to press before today is done,” Kamjin said, pushing back the pad. “And you clearly didn’t date this right. You have this dated for tomorrow.”
“You missed the retroactivity clause.” K'vin pushed it back again. “Take it or don’t, I don’t give a shit.”
“Bad dog! That’s a potty word!” Thran said.
K'vin sighed. He looked at Kamjin. “I’ll bring the donuts this time. See you in the morning.” He waddled off.
“I’ve got that creamer you like again,” Kamjin said as the Bimm lawyer left. Taking another look at the datapad he tossed it on a nearby table. “So, are you good or is this gonna be another Lizard fest? I can’t take you getting drunk and crying in your cognac about Jenni III again. I don’t have it in me.”
“No promises. You started it. Now you get to deal with the consequences of my actions.” Thran said, scanning the room.
“Thane looks…as harumph as ever…” Thran remarked. “We could…just this once…use our combined powers to really rustle his jimmies.”
Kamjin looked over at Thane and his stoic glare of perpetual annoyance. “What do you have in mind?”
“We need a fall guy.” Thran whispered, slightly tipping his head towards the Mandalorian in the room.
Kamjin tapped his nose twice with his forefinger.
Idris cocked his head to the side, having been able to clearly hear this entire conversation.
“I hear Zxyl is free these days,” he added.
“Listen Tincan, are you in on this or nah?” Thran crossed his arms
“I think we crossed into the darkest time line a long time ago, and that the Grand Master should be evaluated for his hiring choices,” the tin can replied.
“Are you still blaming everything that happened on the death of that Gundark in the Coruscant zoo?”
Idris nodded. “He was the hero we needed, and they killed him.”
“I heard some kid fell in with it and was going to get killed if they didn’t act.”
“Look if the kid was stupid enough to fall into a Gundark cage like that, he deserved to die. What do you think he is up to now? A doctor saving lives? No way, he would never pass the exams. He fell into a completely enclosed GUNDARK cage.”
“A sentient beings life has to be worth more than a Gundarks. I blame the zoo. How does a kid even get into a place like that or, to be fair, I could blame the parents. It’s like leaving your kids on an escalator.”
“There was an escalator into the gundark pit? That’s just irresponsible.” Thran added
“No, there was one at the Coruscant mall. Didn’t you hear about the kid that got trapped in it after his parents left him alone.”
“The gundark was at the mall? That’s even more irresponsible.”
“wait…and they shot it? Do mall cops have blasters now?” Thran added.
“Have another sip of your drink Thran. You’ll get there,” Kamjin said, taking another gulp of his.
“And we live in an age where a teenager without a formal education hopped into a starfighter and blew up a battle station. Of course mall cops have blasters. These kids are a menace.”
“Woah, dude. Too soon. Those were good Imperials that died.” The Regent said with disgust
“I have been fighting against it for decades. I didn’t create the problem. I blame those holovids of the weird circus performers prancing and hopping around on holotables. Kids need to get outside more and see the galaxy.”
“Man…all this talk has me fiending for a soft pretzel. You know, like the ones from the mall?” Thran said. “There’s always a line at the pretzel stand. Probably because they smell so good…”
“I hear they pump that stuff into the vents so it spreads throughout the mall to make you hungry for them. Talk about wild manipulative practices,” Kamjin said. “Oh, <@645466919415054357>, do you stock soft pretzels in that cart?”
“And the cheesy dip.” Thran added
“Good call,” Kamjin echoed.
“We could make this a whole mall experience and take Thane to get his ears pierced.” Thran suggested
“Get a pretzel and one of those Citrus drinks…what were they called?”
“uhhh, Limoncello?” Thran raised an eyebrow
“Nah, it wasn’t alcoholic…” Kamjin furled his brow in concentration.
“Maybe the new guy knows.”
Uji took his time to savor the whiskey he’d been poured, listening to the back and forth of the others momentarily before responding to Erinyes.
“I do not think we have. Though our Headmaster is familiar to me through shared social circles and responsibilities in our past.” Uji lifted the glass in salute to the Chiss as he spoke.
“Is this… the usual candor of the Council?”
“Why, thank you. I appreciate you keeping Taldryan alive in the aftermath of Karufr. Alaisy’s spoken fondly of you once or twice, which is… more than she has of anyone else.”
Then, to Uji: “More or less. Thane is the dour one who speaks about work or not at all.” She inclined her head to the Deputy Grand Master, in recognition of his extraordinarily minimalist greeting and mandate.
“The other three are rowdy goofballs, and I’m the designated bartender, caterer, and social butterfly, which probably makes me your best option for a sedate conversation.”
She paused and squinted at Uji’s face. “Actually, you seem familiar for some reason…” A brief pause, then her eyes widened in recognition. “Oh! Do you know a ‘Miss Satsi’?”
<@272527052396298242> <@185936112441622529>
Thane took a moment to interject. “Uji and I are familiar.”
The way he emphasized the last word implied much unsaid.
Kamjin raised an eyebrow and decided to let that one go.
Thran leaned over to Kamjin, sure to keep his voice down this time. “Does that mean they…ya know…” He gestured something with his hands.
“I would say I know her quite well, though I prefer to keep my family as far from Arx as I can. The Brotherhood doesn’t have the best history with its seats of power.” Uji responded with a slight smirk.
“Thane and I have worked together in the past. I think the last time I was shot at least twice and nearly sucked out of an airlock”
That made Thane smile, though the warmth of it didn’t reach his eyes.
Kamjin gave a non-committal head nod then gave a 50/50 hand gesture to Thran.
Belatedly, Erinyes waved her hand to guide the snack carts into place. There were, in fact, soft pretzels with cheese dip—and mustard cheese dip, for that matter—tucked in among other finger foods. “Go nuts,” she said to Kam, then turned back to Uji.
“Satsi’s quite the character. I ran into her when Nejj and I were exploring the food expo on Kasiya. Her little girl is adorable, too.” Erinyes paused for a sip of her drink, side-eyeing Thane’s smile in the process. “That mission must have been exciting. This is the first time I’ve seen Thane emote.”
<@185936112441622529> <@206692046424113152> <@679032520699805708>
Thran reached out to snag a pretzel and some of that sweet sweet cheesy dipping sauce. Yes, it was empty calories, but to abstain would be rude after making a scene about the twisted baked goods. Plus, the saltiness would make him thirsty and he could then start putting the drinks back. He could use a chance to cut loose.
The truth was that being Regent was a lonely job. He’d been locked away in meetings for months now. It was all expense reports and hazardous incident mitigation seminars. It was profit and losses, balance sheets, costs of goods sold. It was margins and efficiency, earnings and revenue.
There was the rare trip to an arms convention, which could be fun, but the folks at KDY and Sienar-Jamus weren’t exactly bringing bold new products to market. So, they lacked any real interest grabbing kiosks. It was mostly measely four star hotels and contrived corporate chefs. All that banality and boredom brought all his more chaotic urges to the forefront of his mind. Who better to prank than the rest of the Council? The supposedly most serious of the serious.
Thran took a munching bite of the pretzel. “Thank you” he said between chews
Kamjin greedily grabbed a soft pretzel and two containers of the cheese sauce. It’s amazing that even when on the Council how disgustingly small the containers of cheese sauce were. You’d like that they’d spring for the large containers but, no, these were barely half the width of your thumb. Worse, there was no way to dunk the pretzel until you had taken a bite, which guaranteed at least one ‘dry’ bite of pretzel and then you couldn’t fully dunk. It was always this partial scope attempt with an edge and that usually led to…spilled cheese. Dank Ferrik, cheese sauce on his robes. This was gonna stain.
The Justicar looked frantically for napkins and, sure as a penny pinching Hutt, they were those super flimsy nearly see-through napkins that, yup, tore as soon as you tried to clean anything of substance.
“Erin, do you have any wet wipes?” Kamjin asked, trying to hide the reason why for as long as possible.
“Um… no? Do I even want to know?”
“Just ideal curiosity,” Kamjin asked, resituating himself so that his robes hid the cheese sauce stain.
Having paid only the bare minimum of attention to the antics around him, Thane finally decided to stand. Approaching the large window, he still nursed his drink whilst seeming to look through his own reflection.
“Rhylance, Uji,” he began. Yet he still didn’t look upon them. “Tell me your opinion on the state of this Brotherhood.”
<@206692046424113152> <@272527052396298242>
“I’ll tell you what’s in a great state….this cheese sauce,” Kamjin said under his breath to <@693983046197706842>.
“Is there wine in it? I taste wine.” Thran whispered in reply.
Kamjin took another dunk of cheese sauce onto his petzel and chewed slowly. “Maybe…there’s a hint of,” Kamjin smacked his lips again. “Is it honey? Mulled wine or a mead?” Kamjin replied in hust tones.
Rhylance sipped his whiskey as the frivolous banter between several of the Council members was ignored. The Chiss couldn’t bring himself to care about their…topics. However, when Renatus, a mind that the Doctor truly respected, posed his query, he couldn’t not consider a response.
“This Brotherhood of ours has enemies on the outside, and threats from within. In many ways we have come together more in recent history, but that may have also weakened us is some respects. My opinion of this Brotherhood right now? We are too lax in our pursuits of knowledge and power, especially in response to our constant state of threat and relative disorder. We need to develop improved measures to protect ourselves and our allies. But most of all, we need to get off the defensive line. It is about time we led with action instead of playing the responsive ones.”
Uji took his time to consider, weighing his response carefully before setting his glass down on the side table.
“I hate to say it, but I agree with Rhylance. The Brotherhood has… lost its edge in recent years. The threats from the Collective, the Children of Mortis—the list goes on. In nearly every instance, I’ve observed the Brotherhood being reactionary, responding to threats rather than proactively dealing with them.” Uji’s eyes shifted from Thane to Idris.
“The Inquisitors are responsible for identifying potential threats to the Brotherhood. Perhaps if we had known of these dangers ahead of time, my predecessors could have acted more decisively, deploying the Iron Legion and our fleets before crises erupted.”
Between bites of pretzel, Thran chimed in.
“Our fleets are bound by treatises with the Clans. They aren’t big enough or responsive enough to defend our vassals, who I will remind you are spread to every corner of this galaxy… We maintain a delicate balance of power to keep them in compliance, while also maintaining their autonomy. ACE has been pigeonholed into limited production. Our capability will soon allow us to reach far beyond our past production limits. Its just a matter of being able to use it.”
Kamjin tossed the first depleted cheese sauce container in the trash and popped the top of the second.
“Beyond the practical limitations of our direct military might compared to that of the individual Clans, we have a conflict of priorities. The Clan’s aren’t unified against a single threat. In some cases their membership actively work against the interests of the Council. We…balance our ambitions to the fragile peace we maintain. Unless we can focus their energies we’ll always be acting with less than our full potential,” Kamjin said, gesturing with the remaining piece of the soft pretzel.
“What reason do they have to be unified? They exist in their own separate pockets of space with their own separate problems. We don’t do much to aid them in their struggles, nor do we include them in our own ambitions. We call on them to die for us and we offer up a pittance for their sacrifice. Why would they align under our benevolence? On the other hand, They don’t fear us. It would only take half of them to align to topple our forces. You talk of maintaining peace? Peace is a lie. Let the factories come alive. Let the shipyards run. Build the fleet, build the army. Create a force that the Clans will have no choice but to fear. That will bring them to heel. Unity through strength.” Thran said, shooting a fadeaway jumper with his own empty cheese container
“You’ve already touched on the answer. Fear. Fear will keep them in line. Meanwhile we have our associated societies that should be working to ensure those loyal and friendly to our cause are in positions of power. Allow them to govern themselves…but let us have influence over that government,” Kamjin balled up a napkin to make his own shot but it unraveled and fluttered pathetically to the ground by the trash.
“Believe me, I have spent the last decade dealing with some of the most stubborn—and often insufferable—opponents of the Brotherhood, frequently serving alongside them.” Uji’s composure faltered for only a moment as he spoke, before he quickly regained his usual stoic demeanor.
“Military might alone will not suffice. Arcona, Odan-Urr, even Vizsla would sooner see themselves burn than submit entirely to the Council’s will. It cannot just be about force; the Brotherhood must create leverage over the Clans to ensure their compliance.”
At that, Thane turned while folding his arms across his chest. “Elaborate.”
“Let them burn, I say. Especially the Jedi.” Thran half muttered.
Kamjin tipped his pretzel in agreement that that thought.
“I am sure the Jedi return the sentiment.”
“That’s not very Jedi of them…” Thran snipped
“I do not care what the Jedi think. They’ve always been a distraction to our ambitions,” Kamjin snapped.
“As long as they can be used, let them stay. But if they’re becoming a distraction they should be culled again.”
“None of your Force cults tend to keep the their hardened beliefs when push comes to shove. Individual self interest will always win out in the end.”
Uji leaned back, idly rolling the cane in his hand as he pondered his response.
“There is opportunity within the Clans new leadership, fresh ideas, and individuals eager to rise to greater heights. We should use our resources to infiltrate their summits, align those who share our vision to a singular purpose, and, if necessary, eliminate the most vocal opponents. Reward those who serve, and choke the resources of those who do not.”
Kamjin gave a ‘you’re right’ shrug at Rhylance.
“And how do you suppose someone like Selika would react if this little subterfuge was to be uncovered?” Thran asked.
“Honestly? From their reputation, I would assume they would be impressed. It seems like exactly what they would do in our situation.”
“I think you underestimate how petty Consuls can be. Each one a petty tyrant clutching desperately to their little empires. I would know. Were I not doomed to suffer the consequences of my actions, I would still be among them now. And if I were to uncover that treachery…the Empire would march. ”
“You usurped around and found out didn’t ya,” Kamjin quipped.
“I’ve heard similar opinions voiced about the Dark Council each of us clinging to our fiefs and fragments of power. My purpose in accepting this role is straightforward: to secure the prosperity of the Brotherhood and, in doing so, safeguard my own holdings within it.” Uji tapped his cane lightly, punctuating his words.
“The stronger the Brotherhood, the greater the opportunities for all of us. Believe me, Thran, I support your vision of expanding our fleet and equipping our legions with superior tools. I want to work alongside our brethren in the Academy. Even the Inquisitors and Envoys have their roles to play in our success. What we need are allies within the Clans, partners who will find their own success through their ties to us.”
“I plan on utilizing the Academy resources to strengthen our might, develop new weapons/ defenses. Advancement is the progress I seek.”
Thane brought a knuckle under his chin, pondering all he was hearing. His eyebrows knit together as his black-gold eyes flit this way and that. It was as if he were perusing information only he could see.
Yes. There was potential here.
“Control under the guise of collaboration,” Thane said. He nodded, as if it were an answer. “Offer the clans a greater voice. Greater influence. Yet, underneath, push their desires to be ours.”
“You see it as I do, give them gifts, let them be heard, let them feel seen. And ensure those who rise to power are aligned with us.”
“Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Thran sighed as he tipped back his drink and moved to the cart to prepare another. “It’ll start as gifts. Gifts will become expectations. Expectations become greater and greater demands. And when the day comes that we can’t meet them, greed will run its ugly face and they’ll turn on us again. At least with pinning them with fear, they might find enough strength to become truly powerful allies.” Thran poured two more fingers of cognac.
“Strength is a varied thing,” Thane countered.
His thoughts drifted to the past conflicts pitting clan against clan. That had been Muz’s method. And fear often led to uprisings. Rebellion. That had befallen Pravus and Telaris.
Change. Control. It had to begin with individuals. The leaders, in this case.
“I am just saying…If we give them reason to bend the knee, they will find a way to build themselves up, to fight back. Defiance is buried in the spirit of all beings. Deeper in some than others, sure. In a way, to pressure them rather than placate them would really be doing them a service…in the grand scheme of things.” Thran waved his hands about in the anomalous grand scheme
“The only time I have ever seen the Clans truly work as one was against a common enemy. What you suggest Thran is that we be that enemy?” Uji leaned forward staring at the man.
“I am recommending that the Clans leadership be molded, shaped into what we need them to be. Whether that be due to bribes, hostages, coercion, blackmail or if need be outright force against one of the weaker sects no one tactic will work and we have all seen what your empire’s belief in leading through fear accomplishes…” Uji stopped for a moment as if lost in thought
“Remind me, what happened to the Emperor? And all his successors so far?”
“Yes. I am proposing exactly that. At the end of the day, my little branch in this broad tree is running an Arms corporation…Peace is bad for profits. Maintaining war feeds every last one of us.” Thran said, brushing aside the shot that was clearly meant to rile him up
“Frankly if it comes to gifts and causing them to bend the knee…more of these pretzels and cheese sauce. <@645466919415054357>, is this your own recipe or did you buy this from somewhere?”
“I’m hurt you think I would serve anything pre-made. Thran would never authorise my spending that much if I did.”
Erinyes retrieved a couple of bacon-wrapped scallops from the trays of finger food. Hearing the talk return to actual Council business was interesting. In cases like this, where her job was effectively to be a diplomat and negotiator, she was more apt to listen than to talk.
“Where have you been hiding scallops?” Kamjin asked, leaping up and displaying the cheese stain on his robes he had desparately tried to hide.
Thane sighed.
“At the end of it all, clans are not our enemies and they cannot feel that they are.”
He wasn’t sure what all more could be said. A lot of long standing feelings had influenced interactions for so long. Already, dissenters had been removed. Agreements forged.
Kamjin took a savoring bite of a tray of bacon-wrapped scallops. “Give them these, they’ll feel like they’ve died and gone to heaven. Erin, what’s the recipe for these?” Kamjin asked, holding a tray overloaded with scallops.
“It was metaphorical, Thane. Open conflict is foolish. I’m just suggesting we be the biggest fish in the pond. Nothing more. Clearly, my opinions on the nature of man and government aren’t welcome here. I’ll keep it to expense reports from now on. As for expenses…” Thran snagged a scallop from Kamjin’s tray.
He savored the flavor a moment and turned to Erinyes.
“Damn. Those are good. Consider your budget doubled…” He said with a smile
“Hey!” Kamjin yelped, pulling back his plate. “Get your own,” he added, knowing full well all that remained were on his plate.
“By the Force, Is that Zax Keevo?!” Thran pointed over Kamjin’s shoulder, poised to pick more pork plated scallops from the plate
“What!” Kamjin said, pivoting his head towards the door.
Thran snagged 3 more scallops from the plate and shoved them in his mouth
Kamjin recognized his mistake a moment to late to save his precise scallops. “That’s a low blow,” Kamjin seethed, covering his plate with his hand and his four remaining scallops. He greedily popped one in his mouth. “Stop it,” he said, chewing with his mouth open still covering his three remaining scallops.
“Erinyes, as the Envoy, what are your thoughts? How would you go about encouraging cooperation with the Council?” Uji asked, turning to the one individual who had been quietly assessing the room, undistracted, since their gathering began.
<@645466919415054357>
Rhylance just shook his head watching the display before him. He turned to face the Deputy Grand Master and muttered, “I do not know how you managed to deal with them this long without going insane.” <@185936112441622529>
Thane raised an eyebrow while appraising Rhylance. Then he shrugged. “White noise.”
“To be fair. This is tame. We all still have pants on.” Thran chirped
“He’s right,” Kamjin said, popping another scallop into his mouth and quickly covering the plate again.
“So…uhhh…you guys like ping-pong?” Thran said softly, wallowing in the awkwardness of suddenly becoming a villain in the prior conversation.
Do one little Space fascism, and everyone gets all weird about it. Might not be able to win them back, big guy… Thran thought to himself as he mimed the game of table tennis
“Why are you asking? I’ve never seen you do a physical sport. What was it…‘sweat doesn’t look good on the holovids’?” Kamjin said, popping in another scallop. One left, he looked longingly at it and seethed at Thran for taking three of them.
“what are you talking about? Sweat is good. But not too much. Dewy. Gotta be dewy.”
“I honestly struggled to keep track of your hygiene regiment,” Kamjin said.
“I wouldn’t say regiment…squad, maybe. Company at most.” Thran said, counting his personal attendants on his fingers
Kamjin sighed and savored the last of the scallops. “That really hit the spot. Not your…whatever that is but those scallops were devine,” Kamjin said.
“If I tell you, it wouldn’t be a good hiding spot. The recipe is a trade secret.”
Returning her attention to Uji, Erinyes drummed her fingers against her glass. “Taldryan’s never hesitated to rebel against the Council either. The only reason we don’t do it more often is that we benefit more from staying with the Brotherhood.”
“If you can’t rely on trust or likeability, play to common interests—and remember that it’s our job to show them how it benefits them to stay. If we don’t, expect Clans like Arcona, Odan-Urr, and Plagueis to turn on us the second they think it benefits them more than staying.”
<@272527052396298242>
Thran looked around the room for a moment, before settling his gaze on <@206692046424113152>“Say, Doc…Do you remember that one time we went to that facility with the brain sucking bugs?”
“I do, but remembering the details of the facility and how it was run, I am surprised those insects did not starve.”
“First, sick burn. Second…you know the secret data we got? Did…umm…any of that survive?”
“It is stated in the official records that none of the data survived.” The Chiss responded professionally.
“Right…” Thran winked. “And what about the unofficial records?”
Rhylance pretended to not hear the question as he took hold of his datapad to “respond to some messages”. One of said messages was an encrypted message to Thran which simply read “another time”.
Thran’s datapad beeped. He scooped it up and read the encoded message.
“Meeeeeoww!” He exclaimed to himself.
“Uhhh, Doc. Ummm my request…it’s urgent.” Thran wringed his hands together.
As she and Uji talked, Erinyes started deploying more trays of snacks to the conference table. The horse dovers hors d'oeuvres came from across the spectrum, from a charcuterie board and bruschetta on crostini, to deviled eggs and creamy spinach dip, to mozzarella sticks and a veggie plate. She also tidied up the now conspicuously empty scallop plate, noting it down for the next time she needed to bribe Thran.
“Please, help yourselves. And let me know if you need another drink.”