Marasiah Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notconflicted) wrote2019-02-27 06:22 am
notconflicted) wrote2019-02-27 06:22 am
Coruscant- Wednesday
Halfway through the Triumvirate meeting, Master Val barged in without so much as waiting to be announced. "We have a problem."
Sia was getting really annoyed with this sort of behavior. Actually, that wasn't true; she was continuing to be annoyed by it. "Calm yourself, Master Val. You seem to be adopting the manners of your greenest recruits."
"Asking your pardon, Empress," Val said, taking a knee before them and yet somehow remaining unapologetic, "but we have received word that there is a growing pirate presence in the Dac system, spearheaded by a Sith on the abandoned shipyards. Mon Cals and Quarren are being forced to work as slaves to build up their fleet there-"
"Where are you getting this information?" Sia asked, suspicious.
"From… Jao Assam," Val admitted.
And now at least one of her Knights was in contact with a fugitive, and taking his word on matters like this when no one had any idea why he'd really left. They'd only lost a Knight like this once before, and it was because he had turned Sith. Sia felt completely justified in not trusting this, and she didn't understand why she seemed to be the only one taking Jao's desertion seriously. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Master Val," she said coldly. "And now, if you don't mind, we'll continue our meeting. In private."
It wasn't until Val had left that Stazi admitted, "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but frankly I've been expecting something like this. To do nothing for Dac's refugees is shameful enough, but to have the entire system slip into lawlessness is-"
"I thought we were all in agreement about shepherding our resources," Sia reminded him. "We can't rebuild the entire galaxy at once." It wasn't that she liked it, far from it. But they were limited in what they could do at one time.
"It seems the Sith is much like a hydra flower," Master K'kruhk mused. "Lop off one noxious bloom and two more replace it."
"We have no direct evidence that there's a Sith threat in those shipyards. Jao Assam has proven himself to be less than reliable on that point," she said evenly, placing her hands on the table and pulling herself into a mostly-standing position. "We can't afford to get sidetracked by one man's obsession, especially after the loss of the array in the Carreras system. Need I remind you of that setback so soon?"
"The presence of the Sith is beside the point," Stazi insisted, standing as well. "We owe it to the Mon Cal and the Quarren to take up their cause."
"What cause? They're scattered across half the galaxy! We help them by rebuilding the places they are now."
"With all due respect, Empress," he said, "if you'd ever had a real home, you wouldn't say that."
That did sting more than she wanted to admit, and she wasn't sure whether he was right or not. But it didn't change the circumstances here. They did not have the resources to help every single problem as it sprang up, they all agreed on this- and there was never any problem using that justification when Sia suggested doing something- and then she once again became the bad guy for sticking to what they'd said.
"Now," she said, "should we get back to the meeting at hand? Discuss the things we hadn't already decided on?"
"I think we're done here," Stazi said, and since he was already up, just headed for the door.
Sia looked to Master K'kruhk, whose "what can you do?" expression was not cute right now.
[You know the drill, taken from Legacy volume 2 #8!]
Sia was getting really annoyed with this sort of behavior. Actually, that wasn't true; she was continuing to be annoyed by it. "Calm yourself, Master Val. You seem to be adopting the manners of your greenest recruits."
"Asking your pardon, Empress," Val said, taking a knee before them and yet somehow remaining unapologetic, "but we have received word that there is a growing pirate presence in the Dac system, spearheaded by a Sith on the abandoned shipyards. Mon Cals and Quarren are being forced to work as slaves to build up their fleet there-"
"Where are you getting this information?" Sia asked, suspicious.
"From… Jao Assam," Val admitted.
And now at least one of her Knights was in contact with a fugitive, and taking his word on matters like this when no one had any idea why he'd really left. They'd only lost a Knight like this once before, and it was because he had turned Sith. Sia felt completely justified in not trusting this, and she didn't understand why she seemed to be the only one taking Jao's desertion seriously. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Master Val," she said coldly. "And now, if you don't mind, we'll continue our meeting. In private."
It wasn't until Val had left that Stazi admitted, "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but frankly I've been expecting something like this. To do nothing for Dac's refugees is shameful enough, but to have the entire system slip into lawlessness is-"
"I thought we were all in agreement about shepherding our resources," Sia reminded him. "We can't rebuild the entire galaxy at once." It wasn't that she liked it, far from it. But they were limited in what they could do at one time.
"It seems the Sith is much like a hydra flower," Master K'kruhk mused. "Lop off one noxious bloom and two more replace it."
"We have no direct evidence that there's a Sith threat in those shipyards. Jao Assam has proven himself to be less than reliable on that point," she said evenly, placing her hands on the table and pulling herself into a mostly-standing position. "We can't afford to get sidetracked by one man's obsession, especially after the loss of the array in the Carreras system. Need I remind you of that setback so soon?"
"The presence of the Sith is beside the point," Stazi insisted, standing as well. "We owe it to the Mon Cal and the Quarren to take up their cause."
"What cause? They're scattered across half the galaxy! We help them by rebuilding the places they are now."
"With all due respect, Empress," he said, "if you'd ever had a real home, you wouldn't say that."
That did sting more than she wanted to admit, and she wasn't sure whether he was right or not. But it didn't change the circumstances here. They did not have the resources to help every single problem as it sprang up, they all agreed on this- and there was never any problem using that justification when Sia suggested doing something- and then she once again became the bad guy for sticking to what they'd said.
"Now," she said, "should we get back to the meeting at hand? Discuss the things we hadn't already decided on?"
"I think we're done here," Stazi said, and since he was already up, just headed for the door.
Sia looked to Master K'kruhk, whose "what can you do?" expression was not cute right now.
[You know the drill, taken from Legacy volume 2 #8!]