Duty and Sacrifice (Natasi Fortan)

[Madelyn Lowe]

Primeday, Month 2, 852 ABY.
Wroshyr Tree Hotel.
Avalonia.

The afternoon was cool and peaceful, as was often the case on Avalonia, the shining jewel of the First Order. This would Madelyn's fourth trip to the planet of Dosuun. This time it was on official business with the Grand Moff. They would be meeting personally to discuss the situation on Varonat, which her peers seemed to dismiss as irrelevant, despite the fact the problem was days away from spiralling out of control.

She'd had a busy few months since the Alliance had been beaten back from her home planet. In the aftermath, she had become so overwhelmed with her duties that she forgot about her plotting, even pushing aside the issue of Deputy Director Shephard and her lackeys hovering over her. It felt good in a strange way, to get lost in her work. The sickness inside her, the hunger for power, was suppressed, pushed aside by a more immediate desire not to lose her job, and of course to protect the people of Varonat. The good feelings didn't last long. The effects of the attempted invasion had become clear barely a week after her official inauguration as Governor.

It was to be expected, she supposed. The illusion of safety had been shattered. In the weeks following the attack major businesses began to pull out, closing shop on Varonat and moving to new locations elsewhere within Order space. Primarily they were the other planets along the Ison Corridor, that had mostly forgotten they had faced an identical threat only a few years prior. Before her very eyes Varonat's secondary industry crumbled into dust. What little factories remained were expected to fill the usual quotas to go to the war effort, resulting in an economy strained to the breaking point.

Madelyn had taken the necessary actions to alleviate the stress. She'd introduced government subsidies, borrowing as much as she could from the State's coffers to keep the remaining industry afloat. Civilian rationing was introduced to maintain quotas of goods for the war effort, but still the economy was suffering. She'd reached out to the governments of the Ison Corridor with little to no success. The consensus was that she was exaggerating the problems in order to get special treatment in the form of aid and funding. What's more, her cabinet was tearing itself apart, each adviser unable to agree with each other on how to fix the worsening problem.

Desparate, she'd come here, to Dosuun, to appeal personally to the Grand Moff. Perhaps the First Order would be merciful to one of its planets struggling in the wake of Alliance aggression. She could only hope so.

Fussing, she adjusted her collar, fanning herself with a menu and straightening non-existant creases in her sensible skirt. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She could not afford to make a bad impression. Suppressing a sigh, she waved over her assistant. "How long until Grand Moff Fortan arrives?" The man nodded in response. "I have been told she will be here any minute now, Madam Commissioner."

[member="Natasi Fortan Vitalis"]​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

The arrival of the Grand Moff was a parade in stages: first, the advance security team arrived, fanning out through the public spaces of the Wroshyr Tree Hotel to do a security sweep; next, the technical security team came through with scanners, examining the space for listening devices, recorders, toxins, explosives, or other threats; then, four men in black suits with visible sidearms appeared, flanking the doorways. At last, with no fanfare at all, the Grand Moff herself arrived. At any other time it might have been worth all the theatrics, but now, the woman was a shell of her former self. Like Varonat, the cost of war had taken a particularly devastating toll on her. She looked thin and drawn -- the black dress she wore hung on her shoulders like a hanger when revealed beneath the black cloak as the hotel manager swept it off her shoulders. Natasi took off her large sunglasses to reveal a similar story on her face; without makeup, she looked shocking, all dark circles and prison pallor.

Varonat was a sticky wicket; Natasi wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation, but there were only so many official duties she could duck. Plagued by economic woes after the invasion, the planet was in trouble, and she had a sneaking suspicion that she was about to be asked for a bailout of some kind. Natasi frowned inwardly; she wasn't sure what the centralized First Order could do for Varonat; every planet touched by the war would want some kind of handout or another. But the least she could do was hear the woman out.

"Governor Lowe," said Natasi, in a voice as pleasant as she could muster, as she approached the table. She tucked her sunglasses into her black patent handbag, then reached across the table to offer a gloved handshake. "Welcome back to Dosuun. How was your journey?"

[member="Madelyn Lowe"]​

 

[Madelyn Lowe]

She wasn't sure exactly what she'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. The cadre of security experts and staff was normal. Anyone of the Grand Moff's standing needed to be paranoid about safety. Madelyn's own security consisted of a few plain-clothed personnel, standing against the wall, out of the way of Fortan's small army. Their presence was little more than a formality in here. Madelyn understood better than most that if the Grand Moff wanted to get rid of her she need only point a finger. There would be nothing that Madelyn, or anyone else, could do. What was somewhat shocking was the appearance of the woman herself. It was clear times had been hard. Her face was sallow, eyes tired. She retained an air of dignity, but seemed almost ghostly in appearance.

It was an interesting development. Public opinion had changed little since the outbreak of war, but it was clear that some internal force was effecting the politician. Perhaps it was only through the virtue of the First Order propaganda machine that the status quo had been maintained. After all, no trashy tabloid would dare speculate on why Natasi's hair was not its usual proper perfection. No doubt the technology was sophisticated enough that the Grand Moff needn't even be alive to maintain appearances. It was unsettling, Madelyn herself had taken great care to make sure she appeared professional and in control. The woman before her, vastly more powerful and influential, hadn't even bothered to apply makeup.

Regardless of whatever demons the woman faced, she was here now, so Madelyn had an opportunity to help herself, her cabinet, and her planet. She took Nastasi's gloved hand in her own, feeling the quality material beneath the whorls of her fingertips. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency. My trip has found me well."

It hadn't. In reality she'd spent the entire time in furious calls across the holonet, demanding that her cabinet members behave, and stop playing 'let's see who can rip each other's heads off the fastest.' It had been stressful, and exhausting. Right now she was mainly running on a concoction of drugs designed to remove the bags from under her eyes, smooth the lines of her face, and energise her. But it wasn't like she could tell the Grand Moff such a thing, instead she offered and polite smile and continued. "I'm thankful you took the time to meet with me. You're a notoriously difficult woman to pin down." That much was true. It had taken days of pestering, even in her position of Governor, before she'd been given the green light. Still, she was here now, so she couldn't really complain.

"Now, I'm sure you know why I'm here. Varonat is suffering. Our economy is stretched to the breaking point, and my cabinet has nearly torn itself to shreds looking to an internal solution that just isn't there." She broke off, glancing to her right, holding out a delicate hand and snapping her fingers. A moment later a dossier of crisp, cream paper was placed in her hand. "This is a document explaining in detail the specifics of our economic problems, on paper for the sake of security. Of course I already have proposals in mind for what the First Order could do to alleviate the problem, but I think it is best to present you with all the relevant information." Perhaps it was too forward to shove the documents under the woman's nose right after she'd arrived, but this was serious business. Madelyn had little time for formality in a crisis.

She was sure, or at least had confidence, that once the Grand Moff saw all they had done, and the sacrifices the people of Varonat had made, that she would approve affirmative action to fix the problem.

[member="Natasi Fortan Vitalis"]​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi accepted the woman's polite lie and seated herself across from the Governor. "Of course. The concerns of our nation's member worlds are the concerns of us all." She clasped her handbag and set it on the floor next to her chair, crossing her ankles primly, and as the woman opposite described the situation she found herself in, Natasi couldn't help but feel that though the scales were different, the reality of their situations were similar. Unruly cabinet colleagues, an untenable position, searching for an answer that was not readily apparent.

Dark eyes focused on the fair woman as she spoke. "Under normal circumstances," she said as she delicately peeled her gloves off, pairing them and laying them across her lap. "I would question the wisdom of telling me that your cabinet is in disarray. That is not the First Order way," she said firmly as she reached across the table to take the dossier. "But given that I have recently come to learn much about the effectiveness of the First Order way, we'll put that to one side for now, shall we?"

She dropped her eyes to the dossier and she flipped open the top page. "Coffee," she said, barely turning her head to one side, but the signal was understood. One of her aides immediately headed for the door. Natasi's eyes drank in the information presented to her, leaving [member="Madelyn Lowe"] in silence for a few minutes. Finally, she closed the front page and looked back up to the Governor. "You said you had proposals. What are they?" She set the dossier down in front of her; behind her, the door open, and a member of staff wheeled in a coffee tray. She waved a hand and, again, the instruction was clear: she would handle pouring it herself. "Shall I be mother?" Natasi asked, standing to move to the cart. In the contextual Galidraani parlance, this meant: would you care for coffee?

 

[Madelyn Lowe]

"Please." Said Madelyn, gesturing vaguely to the trolley to which the woman had moved. She hadn't understood what she'd meant at first, but the context of the strange phrase allowed her to understand. The Grand Moff's comment about her cabinet struck a nerve. She flinched ever so slightly, her hand clenching and releasing, putting creases in her flawless skirt. She gritted her teeth. There would be no biting response, or succinct argument to put the woman and her opinion to shame. She was right. It was not the First Order way. She took the comment personally- of course she did. But one had to move past these things.

Proposals, solutions, that was what she had to focus on. She cleared her throat. "Right... Um." Madelyn shuffled her papers, a slight rosy flush coming to her face, before she seemed to stiffen, her face becoming neutral, even mask-like. Neatly, like an automaton, she opened a file, removing a crisp white sheet. In a clear voice, she began to read.

"Proposal one: The Ison Corridor systems of Bespin and Anoat introduce policies to promote trade and cooperation with Varonat. This includes the removal of all interplanetary tariffs, and the relaxation of trade regulations. The eventual aim being to make Varonat an attractive location for new businesses to settle. The details are listed here." The page slid across the table, to the Moff's side.

She continued. "Proposal two: All government restrictions on trade to other sovereign states are lifted. This is to encourage lucrative investment from outside powers into Varonat's technology industry." Clearing her throat once again, Madelyn passed the second page across the table.

"And finally... Proposal three: The First Order government formally reduces Varonat's production quotas by 37-and-a-half percent. This will effectively nullify the economic strain, and we will be able to end rationing as soon as it is enacted. From that point, our economists predict Varonat can recover on her own."

Passing the final page along, she laid her hands over each other on the table, palms down. "What do you think?"

[member="Natasi Fortan Vitalis"]​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi raised her eyebrows as the woman laid out the options. On their face they didn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility, so she didn't reject it out of hand. She busied herself pouring cups of coffee into the fine china cups. Into her own cup she poured a measure of milk and some sugar, stirring until it turned an attractive caramel color. After placing [member="Madelyn Lowe"]'s coffee in front of her, Natasi sat down again and lifted the cup and saucer together, sipping her coffee before the china returned to the table.

"I don't see anything out of line with these requests," Natasi said. "Obviously they'd have to be scored with the Ministry of Industry and Research, and of course the Exchequer would need to be involved." She drummed her fingers gently on the table, looking thoughtful, and then cleared her throat. "Perhaps the Foreign Secretary as well. Have you time in your itinerary for some meetings at the Palace?" She turned her head and said, "Get Mr. Glass."

"My private secretary can assist with scheduling, if you have the time. We can find some time early this week."