Glance of a Crown

[Geneva Wessiri]

M'HAELI
The Office of the Foreign Ministry
Foreign Minister Geneva Wessiri's Office

---

Legend says he took it to the grave with him, but we know better...

"There are no clear records of his death," one of Geneva's employees spoke, reading information from his tablet. He was wearing a black slim-fitted suit and a black tie, looking really nice and formal. He was one of the woman’s most trusted workers, entirely loyal to her and finding it completely fair that the woman should one day rule over the planet. It was a secret he could keep well.

"None?" Geneva asked. "He was an important figure in both the Old Republic and in the Galactic Empire which followed. How... odd." She was sitting on her chair in her personal office, located in the Office of the Foreign Ministry of M’haeli, working on some of the latest problems of the planet and a possible new treaty with neighbouring worlds.

"It is safe to assume that the Galactic Empire took all of such important with them when they fell," the employee commented. "We can only guess that his funeral could have taken place on Coruscant or on his homeworld. And we could get the right to visit Champala, but definitely not the One Sith capital to check these rumours."

"No. I fear that despite all of the evidence and rumours, he did not take it to the grave with him. I am fairly certain." Geneva spoke. "I feel like he could have hidden it somewhere."

"And where do you suppose he hid it?" the employee asked. Of course he wouldn't be foolishly loyal to the woman. He just had a plan or more of a thought in mind. If he helped the woman get a great position of power, she could give him an important position as well. And the thought of that made him feel happy. At least then he could succeed in politics and fulfill his lifetime wish.

He was still young, but he was clever and full of potential. And what's truly important, Geneva knew that.

"You and I are not the only ones behind the search for it. I have spies around and they have heard whispers of it being located on the argiworld of Kinyen. It is a very likely location for hiding it," Geneva spoke with a lot more quiet voice.

"And we can go there?"

"Yes, and that is what we are going to do."

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"Shall I ask the Aurora Borealis to be prepared for a flight?" the employee asked while the woman rose to her feet and took a few of her important essentials from the table -- her personal blaster and a lightsaber, which she only showed to a select few people. The assistant she had was one of these select people.

"Yes. I believe there to be no need for hiding who is arriving to the planet," Geneva spoke as she started moving out of the room, gesturing the man to do the same as she was midway to the door. She looked at him for once again before muttering, "Ask them to bring my personal bodyguards to the mission. However, do not tell them what the mission is."

"Understood," the man said as he took his comlink out and delivered the message to the officials. Geneva didn't bother to listen to anything he said -- she had much more to do. For example, she had to take contact with her spies on Kinyen, as well as tell her spies on M'haeli about her absence form the world. While she was not the queen yet, she certainly had huge influence on the planet and people just had to know when she was not there.

As soon as she made it out of her office, she had to keep her mouth shut about her mission. The employee, Alfred, knew that as well, and that is why his mouth shut closed as soon as he made it out of the room. They both knew that the information which was told in the office stayed in the office.

And that would not change when the woman would get the position of the queen.

"Chrissy," she contacted her intelligence agent on M'haeli, "I am leaving the planet to look for it." That was the message. Both of them knew what that mean and knew how to react according to that.

At the same time, Geneva and Alfred made their way to the Foreign Minister's personal ship.

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"Sylvia, we are coming," Geneva spoke to her other intelligence agent, this time to the one located on the planet of Kinyen. She was in control of the Intelligence Agency of M'haeli, so it was not difficult for her to set up networks like these. Well yes, she wasn't directly in charge of these spies de jure, but all spies of the agency knew they mainly worked for the Foreign Minister, not the Director of the Agency. "Expect us."

"Geneva, the bodyguard unit is here. The ship is ready for takeoff. So if there isn't anything you want to do before leaving, we can go," Alfred spoke, not rising his eyes from the tablet. She didn't really care about him not looking into her eyes when speaking to her -- he did his job and he did it well. Better than anybody else could, she believed.

"We can go."

She was rather eager to get to the planet and find the item she was looking for. All these months she and the rest of her team had spent trying to locate it were just tiring and all of them really just wanted to find it. But every other time they thought they had found it, there was no sign of it. This time, however, not only Geneva but everybody else was certain they had really located it.

The two stepped into the ship along with three bodyguards and took off. Geneva smiled while Alfred said, "To Kinyen."

Geneva knew she would find the item there. Her Force Sense abilities rarely lied to her even though she was still an adept at using these powers. Nobody other than Alfred knew of her powers, meaning the assistant knew exactly why the woman was so sure of her success.

And if she succeeded on that mission, she would also get the position of power in no time, getting Alfred to a high place as well.

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

KINYEN
Capra
Spaceport

---

The Foreign Minister's ship had landed on Kinyen and then undergone the typical security check. Geneva didn't bother too much about it -- she had nothing to hide and really, even if she had anything suspicious there, she could probably get an immunity or something. So whatever were to happen, she would still get out of there with no problem.

She was more worried about how to get the item she had gone for. Sylvia, the intelligence agent, had been waiting for her at the spaceport to greet the woman in person, but what was unfortunate was that she didn't yet have any information about the possible location of the item.

"It is a disgrace," Geneva spoke, even though her tone didn't speak of anger. She could only feel calm inside, but the fact that the item was so close yet so far was just disturbing. "Get your spies working because I need it."

"We are doing everything we can, miss Foreign Minister, but it is difficult. We have the whole planet to search through without breaking any local laws or making our presence known," Sylvia explained why they hadn't managed to find the item yet.

"Well yes, but have you actually tried to search through any protocols of the spaceport usage or the owners of any real estate here? There has got to be any information about the item," Alfred shined with his cleverness once again. "It is very unlikely that the planet would have no information about anything like that."

The three sat in silence for a good few seconds before Geneva started talking again.

"In such case, I would like to talk to your spies," she spoke. "I want to receive the item today. No excuses."

"Alright," Sylvia had to agree to Foreign Minister's wish. She would get her to her spies, but something made her feel like Geneva didn't only want to talk to them but use harsher methods instead. What these methods could have been, she had no idea.

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"Agents," Sylvia said with a strict voice after she, Geneva, Alfred and their bodyguards had made it to where her agents were located. All of them were working behind their computers, trying to find the item. The Foreign Minister had really made it sure that they wouldn't do any other work than trying to locate the item she was looking for. And her orders were like law in the Intelligence Agency. "This is Foreign Minister Geneva Wessiri. She has come to talk to you about the search."

Geneva stood still, eyeing the spies with a judgmental look. She waiter for Sylvia to leave in order not to drop her cover just yet. Alfred could stay there, though. And he was actually kind of needed there. The woman didn't know what she would do without such a great assistant.

As soon as the agent was out of the room, the interrogation could begin.

"Agents," Geneva started speaking, just like Sylvia had done. None of the faces was now attached to their computers or their works. They were all listening to the woman, just like they should have been. "I heard of the utmost disgrace today. I was told the item I am looking for would be on this world. Expecting to come and grab it, I came here right away. But you have not even located the place where to find it."

She was walking through the room, her hands clasped together behind her back and her eyes moving around the room, trying to give off the strictest look she could.

"There is no explanation to that, as I have heard, and so I shall say to you too -- this item will have to be in my hands by the end of the day. No excuses."

Alfred looked over the room as well while standing still. He didn't even look at her datapad anymore as he, too, wanted to find the item quickly. He would have to help the Foreign Minister get it as soon as possible.

"Geneva, to your right," Alfred said, pointing at the agent right next to the woman. The whole room was suddenly in a state of confusion as none of them knew what that meant. But Alfred and Geneva knew. It was a code that the two had worked out a long time ago and which they only used at interrogation.

"You, agent, stand up," Geneva ordered, looking into the woman's eyes. "Tell me everything you know."

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"Miss Foreign Minister, I only know that the item is located on this planet," the agent spoke. Her tone was a little bit shakier than it should have been. The slight tremolo was so subtle that it was difficult to even hear it, but it was definitely there and Geneva caught that. Because that's what she had been trained to do. And clearly hiding fear was not something that the agent was taught.

"Please, agent, tell me everything you know," Geneva continued on, this time swiping her hand in the air, from left to right, in front of the woman's face. She didn't know how else to do that, so it would have to do at that moment. She had the possibility to get better at Mind Tricks when she learned more of the Force.

"Miss, I don't know anything more than that," the agent kept on lying. Whatever the reason behind it, it turned out that the Foreign Minister's Mind Trick had not worked on the woman. Well, maybe she wasn't focusing enough? Maybe she needed to be more brutal? Maybe she had to stare deep into the agent's eyes?

At the door, Alfred coughed a little bit, muttering something at the same time. Geneva didn't really hear what he said at first, but later when she thought about it for a moment, she understood what the man had said.

"Tell me, do you hide anything about the item?" Geneva asked, performing a Mind Trick once again. She tried to concentrate all of her focus on the Mind Trick and stare into the woman's eyes. She had to find the item, so she couldn't back down now, nor could she be weak at using her powers.

"I..." the woman started. She was obviously having difficulties at fighting against the Mind Trick. Soon she would talk, though; Geneva knew that. Alfred looked really hopeful as well, hoping for the best.

"Well?" the Foreign Minister asked.

"We have the item under our control. It is in the agency."

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"Sylvia." That was everything Geneva said. She and Alfred had made it out of the room after having slapped the agent in her face. Because that is exactly what Geneva did when she was angry at people. She wouldn't do that everywhere and to everybody, though -- it was forbidden on most worlds, but not on Kinyen.

"We have decided to contact the security forces of M'haeli to arrest you for your crimes against the state and the state secret," Alfred told Sylvia everything she and the Foreign Minister had decided. "Hiding such important information is a crime."

"You've got to be kidding me," Sylvia said. "What are you talking about?"

Obviously she knew what the two were talking about. She tried to lie a little bit more, but that train was gone. Geneva and Alfred knew that the item was in her possession, no matter what the woman would do next. No wonder Geneva could feel the item so close to her when she was in the agency.

"One of your agents told us you have the item under your control. And we have all the evidence to support such a statement," Alfred continued. It was an obvious bluff, but he thought it could work out. If not, they were screwed. "We would suggest that you bring the item to us right away so that Geneva could get it and we could leave without any troubles. We wouldn't even contact the security force."

"Huh, what the kark are you talking about?"

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

"We want you to give us the item," Alfred said, managing to remain calm and reserved. Geneva, on the other hand, was about to burst into flames because of fury. She couldn't tolerate such behaviour, especially from a person so close and important to her. And even though she didn't know Sylvia on a personal level, she had thought of the woman well. Now all of that was destroyed and shattered into pieces.

She would have wanted to use her Force powers, but her knowledge was limited and she was also rather drained out of energy by now, so she decided to use other methods.

"I won't," Sylvia finally stopped backing down, admitting that she had the item. "I will not give it to you. It belongs to the agency and you have no right to get it from me unless I give it to you on my own accord."

"Sylvia, don't make things overly complicated. You will give it to us, alright?" the man continued. "Otherwise, we have to contact the security force." He didn't seem very pleased anymore, either. But while the woman was furious, he was mostly just annoyed and tired of that.

The Foreign Minister stepped a step closer to the woman and looked deep into her eyes.

"No matter what you want to do with the item, it will belong to me, whether you like it or not."

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

Sylvia was silent. She didn't know what to say. How would one even answer to the harassment of a Foreign Minister, a person so high in position? At that moment, she couldn't really come up with a way to win this case. If it made to court, she was practically screwed as there was no way she could win the case. So a really good choice would have been to give up.

"So?" Geneva asked from the woman.

One thing about the government of M'haeli was that it was incredibly corrupt. It was crazy easy to deny the law and act according to one's own desires. The Prime Minister was mostly a symbolic figure who held no power over the cabinet. The Parliament was a foolish gathering of people with no real impact on the planet whatsoever. And even though Geneva wanted to change all of that, at that moment it worked in her favour.

"With every passing moment you don't give me the item, I am going to remove you from every position working for the government that you could ever be, one by one," the Foreign Minister continued.

Sylvia was no fool, though, and she knew the woman had the power to do that.

"Alright, I can give you the item," she finally agreed. Kind of... odd even.

 

[Geneva Wessiri]

M'HAELI
The Office of the Foreign Ministry
Foreign Minister Geneva Wessiri's Office

---

Geneva and Alfred, both seated in the Foreign Minister's office once again, looked at the item they had just received that day. The long fought for Old Republic's Speaker's Staff. It was the relic of freedom, the sign of democracy. And even though it had been used by the Grand Vizier in the Galactic Empire about eight hundred years ago, it still held a lot of meaning. It was the one weapon politicians had -- it was the weapon the Galactic Republic Senate's speaker had.

Now it was all in Geneva's hands.

The more than two metres long wooden staff sat on the office's table and the two couldn't do other than just admire its beauty. It was amazing, it was godly. The Foreign Minister didn't have any other words to describe it.

She turned his eyes to Alfred.

"We can do it now," she said, to which the assistant nodded. Of course she was talking about taking the power over from the president. She would become the planet's first monarch, she was pretty sure of it. Getting the Speaker's Staff was the first step -- it was to show that Geneva can do anything when she has enough willpower.

It was the symbol of power. It was the symbol of freedom.