In A World Without Gold [Negotiations on Ascension]

[Aran Finn]

ASCENSION CITY, ASCENSION

We could have been heroes..

The thought lingered for a second before it was dismissed with an almost imperceptible sigh. There had been no chance of that for Alen Na'Varro. In his time, well before anyone else in this room had even been thought of, he had learned violence and learned well. He tried to be a good man, an example, but when push came to shove that was what he fell back to. He prayed that would not be the case.

The other Hegemons mingled in small groups, murmuring quietly in anticipation. For the most part, they were representative of what was wrong with groups of privilege ... all were well educated, more intelligent than the average man or woman. And yet they had no leadership, no drive, no passion. That was what separated them from men like him. Na'Varro had broken the system of a single Hegemon, reconquered his homeworld and allowed his defeated foes to take part in a more egalitarian government, but that had presented him only with problems. But it was the right thing to do. Now with a Council of Hegemons, Alen still ruled ... but the others had a say. They always had a say.

They waited in a circular meeting room, with floors and surfaces of stainless steel and three hundred and sixty degrees of glorious vista through massive glass walls. Behind the Hegemons lay the fjord, with the lights of fishermen's homes dotting the cliffs that led down to the frozen sea. To their front lay the tundra, and the mountains that gave Ascension its name.

Clad in a dark suit, and with good friends close at hand, Na'Varro waited. If the Techno Union wanted Ascension, they'd have to make a deal.

[member="Tmoxin Temi"] [member="Lucien Cordel"] [member="Draco Vereen"] @TU Reps

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Mask? Check. Black, tasteful, simplistic.

Qey'tek? Check. Force signature gone baby gone.

Armed? Check. One lightsabre, hanging from the belt of her black Ke'dem-patched Sasori bodyglove.

Bodyguard duty comprised standing two paces behind Alen and to his left. It felt much like this was the position she'd taken since the Techno Union first came to Ascension. She didn't give much of a good gosh darn about the planet, didn't know a thing about it other than the spot where she'd parked the Vagrant's Pride, but it meant everything to Alen Na'Varro. Ergo, two paces behind, two paces to the left, hands at her sides.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Knocking dust off my boots, I straightened the leather and hide that I wore over my armor and returned the helmet over my face. There was a single warrior with me and a dozen more on the little black corvette, but it was simple. The ruler of this world wanted to make sure his people didn't get the shaft and that the government didn't get over turned for something else. I didn't expect a problem from him as far as I knew. Evil Neutral as I was, I had a fairly simple code. Kill when you can gain from it, and there was nothing to be gained out of overthrowing one government to install a new one if the planet didn't need it. I had a few questions, but beyond that, this a was simple talk. The Union was coming in and supplying a fleet and defenses, Ascension was supplying tax money and a work force for the corporations that made up the union.

"Alright, lets go have a talk." I said allowed walking down the ramp of my ship and into the meeting place the main man had requested we visit him. This was probably the worst thing about being the Foreman. The talking that had to be done. How odd it would be for the Foreman of the Techno Union to be a raiding, mercenary, space viking from Mandalore. It didn't scream corporate master mind when you laid it out like that. It might scream practical man with simple desires and needs.

The lone Mandalorian following behind let his Force Aura show. He wasn't trying to hide, and neither was I. I was Dark, I wasn't Sith. There was a difference in the two, and with any luck, this guy would understand that. I walked into the room and gave a nod to the man in the suit. "Morning. I'm Draco, the Foreman. Having a good day so far?" I introduced myself politely, but with a thick trace of down to earth country boy in my voice.

[member="Ashin Varanin"]
[member="Alen Na'Varro"]
[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Tmoxin also accompanied Draco to this meeting with Ascension ruler Alen Na'Varro. She had traveled to the oceanic planet with the intention of going to the Blackmoore/Kallisto wedding as she was a friend to Sith Lord, Xander Blackmoore. She was happy for his union. He was marrying a Princess and getting an heir to the Crown Worlds throne it seemed. But the Dark Jedi had been running late and heard that there was an attack at the estate where the wedding was being held.

Now since Xander was her friend, she was all set to head over, but the meeting with Na’Varro began to take precedence in important. The ruler had noticed the overwhelming presence of the Techno Union on his planet and probably felt nervous that another Naboo would take place. But after that fiasco, and Tmoxin personally doing damage control for weeks afterwards, she felt quite certain that no hostile takeover was taking place.

The Hapan Executive, also dressed in her custom Armatech armor, entered the meeting room and acknowledged Draco with a nod and a half-smile and said, “Mr. Na’Varro, please tell me that you aren’t bent out of shape over a royal wedding on your planet? Did you not get an invitation?”

She reached out to shake his hand, “I’m Tmoxin Temi of the Techno Union Executive Council.”

[member="Alen Na'Varro"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Alen Na'Varro"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Tmoxin Temi"]

Ashin restrained a snort; fortunately, the mask covered her expression. If the ginger thought Na'Varro was going to buy that butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth routine, she had another think coming. Among Na'Varro's few weaknesses was a profound allergy to bullcrap.

The foreman, though...

Ashin was, admittedly, a fairly peripheral Mandalorian, even within Clan Ordo. The three times she'd saved their collective rears had been either debatable or secret. But even someone as much on the edge as her knew the name Draco Vereen. His personal shield generators were a blessing and a joy.

She also knew that he was more than capable of putting up a serious contention should the situation call for it. Likely not in Na'Varro's league, but it could happen. A Dark Master with the training and technology of a Mandalorian was no joke, relatively new player or not.

She stayed silent and immobile.

 

[Aran Finn]

Na'Varro shook Vereen's hand first, his expression still appropriately frosty. He wasn't unfriendly or rude, but he gave off the aura of not being interested in pandering to a dog-and-pony show. He then turned to Temi, shaking her hand as well. Her comment brought only a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I missed it. Heard it caused quite the stir." Apparently there had been some violence at that particular wedding ... anti-Force sentiment still flowed strong on Ascension.

An intense personality, Na'Varro had found that he was quite happy to hold a person's stare long after it became awkward. He applied that tactic now, still holding his handshake with Temi and meeting their eyes for a full five seconds longer than necessary. Then he smiled, wolfishly and somewhat unsettling. His eyes broke contact, flicking over to the long durasteel table and the pod-like seats that rose from the floor.

"Take a seat." He indicated, and then moved behind his own seat, waiting for Temi and Vereen to sit before he did likewise.

"Here's what's going to happen." The bearded man accepted a glass of water from one of the silver protocol droids and placed it next to him on th table. "You're going to tell me why Ascension should join the Techno Union. After that, I'll tell you why it shouldn't. From there, we'll negotiate a compromise. Sound fair?"

[member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Tmoxin Temi"] [member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to Tmoxin, my apprentice and close friend. Her presence wasn't unwelcome, but also wasn't necessarily needed. Even still, better she be here and not need her than need her and she not be here. Plus at least there was someone pretty to look at once everything got boring and working on paperwork and minutia. I took a seat and popped off the helmet, setting it on the table.

"Alright. First things first. I'm not a politician, nor a diplomat. I am a warrior. That's why I am the Foreman during a time of unrest. When peace time comes around again, I will be looking for new digs. But for now here I am. Your planet is strategically located. I need it to shore up my borders." I took a pause. He knew, as well as I did, that if the Union really wanted to topple the government and lay claim to the world against its wishes, it could, even if for only a short time before rescuers came. The point of this was he didn't want months of military occupation and neither did I. I was confident we could reach a compromise, but he needed to know where I was coming from. Total honesty was the best policy when trying to make friends and allies.

"Your government works, so its staying. I don't want to spend money on a new one, and you don't want a new one. I want you supporting our interests here to make things as smooth as possible." Plain and simple, no changes to the local government structure. He would like the satisfaction of knowing we weren't planning on making any changes.

"There isn't a planet that exists without an unemployment rate. Even at eight percent, that is millions out of work. The Union has corporations in need of manufacturing operations. Everyone wins when unemployment is low. The Union is about profits. If everyone is working, paying taxes, making goods for us to sell, everyone is happy at the end of the day. Lower unemployment rates have a trickle down effect. Standard of living goes up, wages go up, companies compete more for workers, and there is greater access to higher education." Simple, let us come here and shore it up, and we will make everything better by providing easy access to employment.

"The security of a droid army is nice to fall back on, however I know you would prefer not to. They would maintain a small presence, but this wouldn't be a fortress world. I need to install Hyperspace early detection systems in this area and have a small force to monitor and maintain, nothing more. You nor I want Ascension to be the target of serious conflict, but we both want it to be able to thwart stuff like pirates and raiders." Protection from an army without the intention of occupation and without trying to draw attention to it to make it a target for the Union's enemies. Mainly I didn't want an out of the way world like this to be where I built a fortress. I wouldn't serve a great purpose out here right now.

I glanced at Tmoxin and smiled. She was here to be the good cop, I was just here to say it like it is. She could fill in anything I was missing.

[member="Alen Na'Varro"]
[member="Ashin Varanin"]
[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

 

[Raziel]

Risk was an interesting game. The Spynet had burnt more cash on its social engineering projects that anything else in the last few years. As the Techno Union expanded it was far more important to ensure their policies and strategy ensured worlds came within the folds of the Union without much protest. After all, destroying the careers of a few outspoken politicians was so cheap compared to mounting a military campaign. Far better for PR too. Assassination was so unsavoury and rarely deployed any more. They were a civilised intelligence agency, not a relic of the past.

The probabilities had shifted recently and the vast databanks available had been churning through the numbers. Analysts were busy. It wouldn't matter. It seemed it came down to convincing just one man. It was relatively easy to predict the reaction of whole nations. There was so much information floating around to build a picture. Playing on their insecurities was always a good trick. They'd recently pulled that one on Sullust to sow the seeds of discord by arranging a rather bloody hostage situation. Now they were thinking: Is being in this Alliance worth this? Who was responsible? The clues had been left pointing towards the One Sith. A nation galvanised against an external threat, was better than one paying attention to the diametrically opposed politics of the Techno Union.

Raziel stayed close to events, waiting for word. He'd have been far more interested if he'd known [member="Ashin Varanin"] was present. After the incident on Coruscant he'd often wondered if he could play a game with those two.

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien was late to engage in this little meeting (Curse you Law Assignments) but he had been there from the start. He had been rather surprised to see [member="Alen Na'Varro"] again it had been a long time since the fringe. HE also had a nagging feeling that the man's bodyguard was familiar but he couldn't be certain. Lucien being a proper aristocrat betrayed nothing however remaining stony faced beside [member="Draco Vereen"] the new foreman. Council Draco's sledge hammer. Then of course there was Lucien who was here because he wanted to be and this seemed like a legal issue. He had let the other two do the talking. They seemed to be getting on fine , Lucien would speak if needed.

He had taken the offered seat sitting on the foremans left. Let the Councilor sit to the right, she could look important then. His eyes drifted out to the view the fishermen's houses glinting in this distance giving the planet an old world charm. It reminded him of Zaadja and the fringe. It had been so long. Was that were he knew the bodyguard from? The force was whispering that the woman was [member="Ashin Varanin"] but that must have been wrong. The woman could topple entire planets on her own, surely she could do better for herself than bodygaurd. No his senses must have been wrong ... perhaps the woman had once served Lady Varanin. Yes that was much more likely.

Having resolved that he knew all he needed to of the guard lucien returned focus to the former Fringe Lord. Defiant to the last that seemed about right. He continued his silence opting instead just to drink the offered water.

 

[Aran Finn]

"Interesting argument. However.." He paused, sending Varanin an amused mental prod through the Force. A smile settled on Na'Varro's lips; this was not his first rodeo and he had a feeling that they were trying to take him for a ride here. His gaze settled on Vereen. A warrior, and not a diplomat indeed.

"You spoke of unemployment. Ascension's currently sits at a healthy rate of five point six percent; and yes, I can see the benefit in lowering that number. Yes, the personal standard of living may increase slightly. Increased chances of higher education? Well, that's moot. My problem in this environment, where we have a single planet-state contributing to a larger confederation, is this." His expression had once again become as stone, with that steely glint in his eyes. "Currently, most of the tax we collect goes towards improving infrastructure, amenities and services on Ascension. I'm sure that within the Techno Union that's the same, however, how much of that trickles down to Ascension? In order to maintain the level of services we provide, we would have to maintain our current levels of taxation, and then add extra taxes on top of that in order to contribute to the Techno Union, thus cancelling out the increase in employment. Or we could reduce local government taxation, thus lowering the standard of living. My people would be more out of pocket, and with far less return on their tax money in goods and services. And we haven't even touched on workers rights and the standard of workplace health and safety within the Techno Union. So I contend with your employment argument."

Alen cleared his throat and had a sip of water before moving on.

"Now, with defence ... currently we have no requirement for it. The Ascension Patrol Force, though small, is quite able to deal with any pirates or slavers that stray too far into our territorial space. And your early detection devices ... no matter how small or 'secret' they might be, you know as well as I do that they are HVTs. In my campaigns with the Fringe, they were precisely what I looked to target. So a 'small' force guarding a HVT installation, no good." Na'Varro shook his head to emphasise that point. As a former General, he had a good grasp on strategic warfare. Removing hyperspace early detection devices was a solid prelim move to an invasion.

"Luckily, i have a compromise. You provide us with warships for a fleet. We provide you with the manning, and ensure the defence of your north-western borders. You reduce our unemployment rates, we contribute in a way that is both tangible to you and us. To reduce your losses in taxation, we will allow to charge a substantial tariff on all exports of exotic fish and water-borne vessels, of which we have the major share in the galactic market." He shrugged. "If you insist on pulling us into intra-galactic politics, we're going to do it properly, gorramit. This way we get to maintain some sort of sovereignty and uninterrupted lifestyle, and you get to meet your political-strategic and fiscal objectives."

[member="Lucien Cordel"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Tmoxin Temi"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Raziel"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded, frowning as he shot down my points of prowess. He wasn't wrong, but his time with the Fringe was with competent military personnel planning extended campaigns. There weren't many like that anymore. For the past six years the only thing that had targeted were fortress worlds, whole fleets crashing into the heart of enemy space without a care in the world and hoping for the best. Ascension wasn't strategic in that sense, and the Galactic Alliance didn't strike me as one to invade Ascension to free it if it wasn't being oppressed. "Well, as I said before, I am not encroaching on your sovereignty. Your planet is your planet. I just need to put stuff here."

I looked at Tmoxin, surprisingly quiet. Hopefully she wasn't remembering all the work and effort I burned around her when I kick-started a war against the Hutt Cartel that hadn't culminated into anything since my raids of their territory. If she was bitter about that, this would be the time to get back at me. Granted I had done that for a number of other reasons that didn't have anything to do with hating the hutts. "Your compromise sounds fine to me. You would be surprised how much there is sitting in the treasury thanks to poor republic spending." I said with a smirk thinking of the sheer number of banks they must have sent into oblivion to pay me off to equip their grand army. "Regardless, you could have easily started with the compromise you have suggested. Its reasonable and achieves both our goals."

Patting Tmoxin's knee, I nodded to the man one last time. "I can meet your compromise. You have yourself a deal." I stood and put out a hand at the bearded man.

[member="Alen Na'Varro"]
[member="Tmoxin Temi"]
[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Aran Finn]

Na'Varro held back a smile. That had been easier than he had been expecting. Now it remained to be seen if the Techno Union would play ball, or were all talk.

"Excellent. Glad the Techno Union can be reasonable. This bodes well for future cooperation." Na'Varro stood and shook Vereen's hand. "Ascension will expect delivery of its fleet with the first contractors that arrive to start work on your early warning devices. Of course we'll have to find a suitable commander. I know one or two.."

If Ashin was sensing his feelings, she would notice that he was a little bemused ... not in the least how he expected things to go. But in the long run, perhaps this was better.

[member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Draco Vereen"]