More than just your average meeting

[Priscilla Utorna]

​

Orbit of Randon, ​

Non-descript diplomatic vessel​

​

"What's taking so long?" A loud and screechingly sore voice could be heard throughout the cabin of the starship, sending both assistants and guards alike into a state of verbal defense by covering their ears. Of course, the pilot responded back in a calm and courteous manner, but was cut off as soon as he opened his mouth by Isabella again. "I don't care if you can't make it go faster, make it faster!"

A sarcastic tone could be heard whispering from the cockpit, "Maybe if you didn't take so long picking out that karking dress we would have been there ahead of time, but instead we're going to be on schedule..."

Her fist slammed on the now closed door. "I heard that you imbecile! Mouth shut or you'll be out of a job in a week." Strutting back to the circular table where all of her assistants, regular guards, and even her specially assigned Imperial Knight, [member="Tevro"] was, she opened her mouth while she viciously snatched her drink off of the table. "Honestly; what can you do about the lackeys these days now that they have unions and "workers rights", it's ridiculous really. 20 years ago we could have punished this incompetence with a blaster bolt to the head, but apparently now making an example of people is illegal.", afterwards a grunt escaping her lips.

While she pulled up the datapad laying dormant on the table, some of them nervously laughed in agreement. She began to write a quick message, stopping midway through and looking up.

"So how are we all doing?"

[member="Tevro"] I [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] I [member="Toran Fel"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Jessica's experiences with diplomacy were more geared towards getting local populations to resolve their policy issues: Ord Radama, Bimmisaari, Chandaar. Since I know from experience that most inter-faction diplomacy is nearly entirely geared towards public security and jurisdiction over planets, how would the Fel Empire actually fit issues other than public security into diplomacy? she thought, realizing that she was left out of any joint SJ negotiations with the CIS, Sovereignty, the ORC and the GA at the onset of the Great Galactic War because the focus was on security. But this time around, [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] brought her along to meet with [member="Isabella LaFleur"] and [member="Toran Fel"] on Randon. What is for sure is that, while she arrived on time, she didn't know the Fel Empire that well, but she also knew that the Silvers would do better to avoid gouging the fledgling Empire despite being in a relative position of strength relative to it. She was patiently awaiting the coming of the Fel delegation, as well as Rozalyne: hopefully she didn't arrive too far into advance.

 

[Kyrinov]

Tevro looked up sharply as Isabella's voice nearly deafened his heightened hearing. By Ragnos, the woman could certainly project her voice if need be. Though, unlike the others around him, he didn't make a move to cover his ears. He simply leaned back against the wall behind the circular table, opting to stand instead of sit. He placed the majority of his weight back on his heels as he inclined his head. His black cloak, draping off of his shoulders and dangling behind him, lightly kissing the cabin's durasteel walls. It was clear that, while she was a diplomat, Isabella was a type of disciplinarian if he'd ever met one within the Fel Empire. He admired that about her, at least. It almost made him smirk. The closest he got was a grimace of wry amusement. A dry twist of his lip and an involuntary twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He shifted his weight to his left side as the woman turned on her heels and began walking back towards the group of attendees at the table and, by extension, him. He watched her, though he saw her figure in blue. That simply indicated that she was an ally. Her steps, much like her voice, were loud and high pitched due to the clicking of her shoes. Her stride and posture held annoyance and barely contained disgust, aimed at the pilot of the vessel from what he could gather of their "conversation". He shook his head as another outburst came from the woman he was meant to protect. He watched her pick up the datapad and look on its screen for a few moments.

A question was posed. One that was likely a formality to break up the tension of the previous moment. It was delivered in an unusually mirthful tone considering that the woman just gave a rant fit to startle the crewman, which it had by the nervous laughter that followed.

"So how are we all doing?"

A simple question that took about four complete breaths for the first of them to answer. Following suite, the others answered rather cautiously, as if they feared of arousing her ire if they said the smallest syllable incorrectly. Tevro was the last to speak, his voice ringing out with minimal effort.

"I am fine. Yourself?", he nodded to her.

[member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Toran Fel"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

Prospect Tower, Randon ​

Rozalyne arrived at the boardroom not too long after Master Med-Beq, aiming for an early arrival to the repurposed office suite to ensure everything for the diplomatic visit was in order.

As per usual, she was dressed conservatively, sporting a high collared dress of a midnight blue so deep that it appeared black. Aside from a thin silver band on her right hand, she wore no jewelry. The imbued ring radiated with the invisible energy of protective charms infused into the alloy, a defense from direct influence by the Force.

"Master Med-Beq," she greeted, offering a hand as she came up to the tall blonde. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

The two Assembly members hadn't interacted much, but Master Med-Beq had caught Rozalyne's attention with her diplomacy skills, which was why she had tagged her in for this gathering with the FE delegation.

The Caridian still wasn't quite sure what to make of the Fels yet, but they did have a functioning parliament, which put them light years ahead of most other Imperials in her mind. With the fall of the Iron Empire in the Unknown Regions, the Silver Order had a vested interest in seeing another moderate group fill the power vacuum in the area.

With this meeting, she hoped to see whether or not they were the right stuff for a long-term partnership.

​

Once Randoni traffic control confirmed the credentials of the diplomatic barge, they were cleared to descend planetside and provided with directions to Prospect Tower which possessed its own landing pads.

While not a full-blown state visit, there would still be delegates present at the landing pad to welcome the Fel Imperials once they reached the tower, and then lead them to the boardroom to speak with Rozalyne and Med-Beq.

[member="Tevro"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Toran Fel"]

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Isabella's eyes peered up, curious to who had just opened her mouth. Usually when she asked questions, they were rhetorical. She just assumed everyone was doing splendid with her mere presence in the room, and usually nobody returned her own questions on to her, since they always thought she was annoyed at having to do her job, although it appeared to be the Imperial Knight who had chosen to open dialogue. There was something in his file about him - not official or anything, she always did research on any personnel who were joining her on diplomatic visits so as to assure they both had a pleasant time.

Isn't he deaf? Or is it blind?

Crossing her arms and leaning forward on the table, a simple response escaped her lips that didn't made her sound as obnoxious as she normally did.

"I'm doing splendid personally, thank you for asking."

Noticeably, they were the only two who appeared calm in the entire shuttle. The Zabrak, something she had never seen before, leaning nonchalantly against a wall, and now Isabella retracting in her seat to look once more at her datapad.
~~~

The shuttle finally landed, and the various assistants moved forward to stave off the need for Isabella to speak to any delegates who were present at the launch pad. None of them were important, at least to her. Snapping to a 180 degree angle, she would look the Zabrak dead in the eyes - not that he could tell - and return to her regular loud voice.

"The only person to be joining me will be the Imperial Knight. Unfortunately, nobody else holds the intellectual capacity to be of service to me; I'm sure there's a cafe in here that you can wait in till we're done." Turning another 180 degrees to begin charging into Prospect Tower, and rather wait for the dignitary supposed to be directing them, constantly asked for directions until she finally found the correct room.

Before the woman entered, [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] and [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] could probably hear the harsh footsteps stamping against the floor, building up to her climatic entry in which a huge grin slapped across her face, immediately moving to shake both of their hands. Somehow her voice got even louder than before.

"I apologize for our tardiness. It's so hard to find a good pilot nowadays, wouldn't you agree?"

[member="Tevro"] I [member="Toran Fel"] I [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] I [member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Yes, Rozalyne. This is quite different from the Chandaar diplomatic mission, however"

So her last diplomatic mission with [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] on Chandaar was pretty much Jessica's doing all the way. Most Jedi usually thought of diplomacy as a strictly external thing, and leaving the internal stuff with local populations to either their own devices or to non-Jedi; she practically did the stuff on Bimmisaari and Chandaar out of mercy (Ord Radama was instead a mission of necessity, so as to allow them to fight the then-Resurgent Empire). Diplomacy being beneath them, probably not. Perhaps it was just because people became Jedi mostly with the expectation of fighting crime, Sith, or otherwise ensuring security one way or another. [member="Isabella LaFleur"]'s tardiness is made clear by the footsteps whose intensity increased until Isabelle actually entered the boardroom. Perhaps [member="Toran Fel"] would be entering after Isabelle, it was entirely possible in her mind that, with Imperial factions, participants entered the meeting in ascending order of protocolary rank. So, other than the usual security stuff, maybe Jessica could see fit to introduce a free-trade clause in the resulting agreement.

"Or rather, it's entirely possible that orbital traffic around Randon was denser than your pilot expected. I'm Jessica Med-Beq and this is Rozalyne Kurganova; we are the Silver Jedi representatives. Now, if you could please introduce yourself and any other representatives before identifying the main issues you would feel are most important to the Fel Empire, it would be well-appreciated"

 

[Kyrinov]

Tevro nodded and pushed himself off of the wall, following a few steps after Isabella, eyes scanning the delegates up ahead. He noticed that Isabella stopped and turned to face him, looking at him with a steady gaze that he returned in kind. And then...there was her "beautifully" loud voice once again. While she spoke, he thought about this meeting they were about to walk into.

"The only person to be joining me will be the Imperial Knight..."

The corporate building that stretched above them was a sleek, and rather bright, projection of any and all sort of professional state business on the world. It was as clean and inviting as one would expect such an office building to be. The air itself was clean, too clean for his liking, His nostrils burned as he took in a single deep breath that filled his lungs to the brim. He coughed a few times. 'If this doesn't go well and sabers are drawn, it'll be the air that does me in, not the flash of pain and heat before death.' He chuckled to himself.

"Unfortunately, nobody else holds the intellectual capacity to be of service to me; I'm sure there's a cafe in here that you can wait in till we're done."

As expected, they would be the duo going into this exchange. Well, not exactly. Supposedly, Toran was to join them. Perhaps he arrived ahead of them. Tevro hoped not. It wouldn't reflect too well on them if they kept potential allies and their Emperor waiting. Another spin from Isabella and they were walking at a brisk pace once more. Granted, two of her steps were equal to a single step from the Zabrak. But, the woman was walking quite fast which made it a bit difficult to keep up. His eyes scanned the fleeting offices and clean cut corridors, each one identical to the previous hallway. From what he could tell, the offices were identical as well. The only distinguishing factors being the numbers beside the doors and the furnishings inside each room. How people ever navigated these sorts of mazes with any general sense of direction was beyond him. Within what seemed to be a moment, they were walking into the conference room where their meeting would be held.

To his surprise, and relief, the Emperor was not present...yet. But, the Silver Jedi Representatives were seated next to each other. Each of them expectant but patient. His eyes went from one of them to the other. The woman who introduced herself as Jessica Med-Beq caught his eye first. Even as she stood up from her seat to shake hands with Isabella, he could tell that she was taller than he by about half a foot. She seemed to be entirely comfortable in this situation. Perhaps this was one of her chief responsibilities. Then, there was her associate, a Rozalyne Kurganova. Like her partner, she appeared calm and collected. They were both at ease, they had no reason to feel otherwise in this setting. He nodded to himself, small as it was.

He stopped a few feet away from the table where the women stood and shook hands with each other, his eyes scanned them again. He kept his cloak on, though he removed the hood upon entering the boardroom. Hidden behind a flap of the cloak, his hands rested easily as he saw no reason to be alarmed or cautious of these two. He was confident that he wouldn't need to engage anyone in order to protect either of the people he was there to protect.

Hopefully, Toran Fel would arrive soon so that they could begin with all intended members of both parties present.

[member="Toran Fel"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[grammaticus]

The Soontir was a sight as it held high orbit above Randon, its sleek freshly painted hull standing out from the other vessels around it. The system had panicked briefly when a Star Destroyer suddenly exited hyperspace, though once they were informed the Fel Emperor was aboard, they had grudgingly stood down. Surrounded by escort craft, the shuttle carrying Toran down to the surface landed on a pad a short distance from the meeting location. The first figures down the ramp of the shuttle were Stormtroopers, the grey and blue armor of the Fel Empire a stark contrast from the standard white of the other Empires. Only after the Stormtroopers had ensured the landing area was secure did Toran himself emerge.

He had forgone the usual cloak he wore to official matters, instead wearing just his Imperial Garbs. A dark blue military uniform with bright gold lining and a grey belt, something he had once seen his grandfather Roan Fel wear. Seemed only right given the circumstances. Flanking him were two Stormtroopers, their blasters held carefully across their chests as they followed in step behind their Emperor. Toran had wanted to bring more, but the security had been insistent.

Before him, a young security officer led Toran towards the meeting area, his hand nervously tapping on the pistol swinging on his hip. Toran was no force user, but even he could tell the young man was a moment away from drawing the weapon at the first loud noise. Toran also knew the young man would be dead long before he could even try to use it. The Fel Empire did not have vast armies of Stormtroopers yet, but those they had were exceptionally trained.

Finally arriving at the door, Toran waved for the two Stormtroopers to wait outside, stepping forward as the security officer thumbed the activation control before the door slid open. Entering the room, Toran gave it a brief look over, his eyes silent as he slowly walked towards [member="Isabella LaFleur"] and [member="Tevro"] ,giving both of them the briefest nod before pulling out a chair and sitting down. He turned and fidgeted for a brief few seconds, getting comfortable in the chair, before sitting back straight.

Only then did he look across the table towards the Jedi Representatives.

"I am Toran Fel, Emperor of the Fel Empire. This is Noblius Isabella LaFelur, and Imperial Knight Tevro. Sorry for my delay. your security was proving rather...tedious." Toran took great care to keep his words flat and neutral, staring across the table at the two Jedi confidently as he spoke. Turning to the side, Toran briefly gestured for Isabella to take over, leaning back slightly in his chair to observe.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Isabella glanced towards one of the two Jedi who had presented herself as Jessica, brushing off the woman's attempt at displacing her humour and went to present herself and her accomplice, [member="Tevro"], but was rather unexpectedly interrupted by the Emperor himself entering the room. She wasn't exactly sure if the Emperor would actually be present at this meeting - it seemed kind of unimportant when compared to the other duties he had assigned himself. Even if he had completed them, she half wanted him to just not turn up to avoid the pressure of essentially putting not only her job, but her entire life on the line.

Still, she moved to take her place opposite the ambassadors and naturally moved into her diplomatic voice, and while her voice was still extremely loud, it was eloquent, much less angry than it had been before. Perhaps it was because the Emperor entered the room and her superiority complex shrunk a few thousand particles, or she was feeling the performance pressure of actually wanting to make an impact on her country.

"What we want is quite simple, and given our up and coming status could be quite beneficial to both the Silver Jedi Order and citizens within its space." She paused, coughing for effect, not because she had an uncured infection, "The first thing we request is an official pact of non-aggression between the Fel Empire and the Silver Jedi Order. Neither of us has any ambition to spite each other, the Fel Empire has a policy of 'Victory without War', so of course we want to cement this in our galactic treaties."

"Secondly - we request an open trade deal, and as I've discussed with other members of the Noblius, specifically we are looking for import free tariffs from goods being sent from the Fel Empire, with this being reciprocated for any goods entering the Fel Empire's systems from Silver Jedi territory."

"Finally, as a show of friendship, we seek to establish a joint-training facility on the planet of Ilum to further build the foundations for friendship between our nations. As I understand it, we are willing to cover the full costs of constructing such a facility, and it will be open to both Fel Empire and Silver Jedi personnel alike."

The words stopped coming as she awaited feedback on their proposals. To her knowledge, that was everything both the Noblius and the Emperor himself had requested to be brought up at this meeting, though to say they are what Isabella originally wanted would be a major overstatement. As always, she was willing to play the part and go along with everything, as she had done on numerous occasions before. That's basically what a politician is, right?

[member="Toran Fel"] I [member="Tevro"] I [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] I [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[Akar Merikh]

Akar was a lot of things. Ballsy was definitely on the list. Lafleur might have relegated the rest of the folks on the ship to waiting sadly in a cafe, honestly a relief when the alternative was that harpies screeching, but one didn't rise in power or make connection sitting with the hired help sipping caf. Besides, one never knew when things could go sour, and being known by the higher ups of another organization couldn't hurt. Akar wasn't very familiar with the Silver Jedi, but most Jedi were hand-holding pushovers anyway right? How hard could it be to woo them. And apparently Toran would be present. This would be a bit of a calculated risk. The feline might get a slap on the wrist, or even be booted out on his finely tailored behind for over-stepping his position. Or, he might make a positive impression on his new boss. Emperor. Whatever.

He judged it worth the risk.

He lit a stimstick and took a deep dragging, counting silently in his head. When he judged the harpy well inside and hopefully roosting, he flicked the stimstick away and swaggered in, fine clothes keeping him from being questioned, though the tattoos raised a few eyebrows. Akar kind of liked the escort that insisted on accompanying him. They might not have been exactly friendly but there was nothing like being flanked by folks in matching outfits to ratchet ones impressiveness up a few notches.

Entering the fairly austere boardroom, he immediately, but not too quickly, wouldn't want anyone to think he was attacking, that would quite ruin the show, approached the two Silver Jedi representatives.

"Ladies, looking lovely today, though that's no surprise! So good to finally get to meet you in person, Akar, Akar Merikh. Fleet Representative." Broadly true. Very broadly. He also had no idea who either of them were, but damned if he was letting on. He'd shake both their hands, and if they seemed friendly enough to that overture, plant a polite kiss on each of their cheeks. He'd heard Lafleurs voice as he entered, and if one assumed Toran played the power games that most of those with real power did, chances were he was letting her take the reins and only chiming in to make or underline specific points. Gamble then.

"I'm sure my beautiful and capable colleague has laid out our requests as eloquently as ever, so, dispensing of a little of the formality as I hope we'll all end the day on friendly terms both professionally and personally, what do you think?" Taking a seat and leaning back, he smiled at them both, his most charming smile, hands spread.

[member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Tevro"] [member="Toran Fel"]

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

Just as the Fel delegation landed at the tower, Rozalyne received word of an Imperial star destroyer suddenly appearing in the system. If not for the destroyer immediately squawking its BoSS codes as a Fel vessel, then it would have quickly found itself surrounded by the Randoni home fleet.

In a surprising revelation, she learned that the emperor was on board the destroyer identified as the Soontir. With the news of the head of the Fel Empire now being in attendance, her whole approach changed for the meeting.

She was quiet as the first of the FE representatives made their way into the boardroom, a high ranking official and her bodyguard.

She stood up from her seat as the emperor and another representative entered the room, finally prepared to introduce herself.

"Greetings, your Majesty. I am Princess Rozalyne Kurganova, Director of the Silver Service Corps and a member of the Silver Assembly. Today I also represent the Tion Cooperative Organization, a trade bloc encompassing hundreds of systems within the Mid and Outer Rim in what you all may know as 'Silver Space.'"

She scanned the room with her icy blue gaze before settling on Fel as she returned to her seat.

"It's unfortunate about your experience with security, but it's always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to surprises."

The former executive never liked surprises.

LaFleur spoke again following Fel's introduction, outlining a few points of discussion. The usual offerings of neutrality treaties and trade deals. However, on the last point, the FE did reveal it had its sights set on Ilum. Not much of a surprise given the relatively close proximity of the Fels to the icy world rich in Kyber deposits. She knew her Jedi colleagues wouldn't really mind someone else running around on Ilum as long as they were still able to come and go as they pleased.

The last delegate identified himself as a representative of the Navy, with no shortage of flattering words to share with a silver tongue. Rozalyne offered a small smile a matter of politeness, but the royal was no stranger to such praises to get on her good side.

"Straight to the point, that's what I like about dealing with Imperials," she said with a nod of approval. The Caridan meant it, coming from a system that had a rich tradition of training Imperial soldiers and officers throughout the ages. "The Silver Order also sees the benefit of positive relations with the Fel Empire, we are prepared to agree to a non-aggression pact today."

"On a trade deal. The TCO is open to a bilateral agreement with the Fel Empire, on the condition that you are accepting of certain Non-Tariff Measures (e.g. licenses, protection of special domestic industries, common health/safety standards, etc.) the joint protection of intellectual property and copyrights, and the official recognization of the Galactic Credit Standard as a usable currency within the territories of the Fel Empire."

"As for Ilum. The Silver Order and its associates already have facilities on the planet, including those taken over from the Iron Empire, and we would like assurances that there will be no interference from Fel Empire in continuing to access the facilities. With that said, I believe the Silver Order would be fine with establishing a joint training facility with you."

She glanced over at Med-Beq, who would probably be the better authority to speak on Jedi specific matters like religious structures. Her area was business and politics.

"I do wonder," she said, looking back at Emperor Fel. "Do your plans for Ilum end with just that one facility?"

[member="Tevro"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Toran Fel"] [member="Akar Merikh"]

 

[grammaticus]

Toran turned his head away from the late arrival of [member="Akar Merikh"] , shaking his head slightly at his extravagant display. Toran had no issue with the man, though he himself was never one for extravegent outbursts. Unless the time called for it of course. Sometimes the Emperor had to make a grand display for those around him. He turned his head back to the Silver delegates as one of them began speaking, the air of confidence she held herself in informing him of her status even before she spoke. A princess, and corporate delegate all in one.

So, the Silvers were taking this meeting seriously after all.

As the question of Ilum was brought up, Toran tilted his head to the side slightly, remaining silent for several seconds. Finally, he came to a decision. "The Fel Empire will not stop at just one facility on Ilum. For the Empire to survive, we must take Ilum for ourselves in the future. Negotiations can be made for the Silver Jedi Order to reamin on the planet, but under Imperial Jurisdiction."

[member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Tevro"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"We shall also provide, while the joint-facility is being built, access to Silver Rest to the Imperial Knights and, once the facility is completed, enable transfer of duplicate items to the new Imperial archives, in exchange of which we ask for limited access to the joint facility by other light-sided groups, and not simply for access to the crystal caves. It's entirely possible that bilateral open access agreements may be negotiated with other light-sided factions at later dates, but, at this point, duplicate items from Silver Rest would be a good place to start"

This is proving quite different from the last three diplomatic missions, she thought, while realizing that Silver Rest had duplicate items - may as well be in good faith to give them the duplicate items in the Silver Rest's collections. For items of that nature, it was best that, in fact, not all of those items be in one place. And sometimes it was not simply duplicates; there were sometimes triplicates, and triplicates are prioritized over duplicates. Maybe [member="Toran Fel"] would understand why limited access to FWC, ORC, Republican Remnant and also GA (although the last one may be more interested in the lightsaber crystal aspect than the remaining two factions) is better than unlimited access for the time being, until the other factions are dealt with. Also [member="Akar Merikh"] and [member="Isabella LaFleur"] stated the remainder of the FE's positions clearly for [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] to address. There is one thing, however, that Jessica feels that should be addressed: technology transfers. Because there are items of interest one side could develop and the other would be interested in; in her mind, no free-trade agreement talks are complete without addressing that item.

"As for technology transfers: we would also like to propose technology transfers as part of the neutrality deal so that technology developed on either side could be made accessible to both parties"

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Great. A cat. Interrupting my debut meeting as star diplomat for the Empire. What a joke. Her eyes almost shut, followed by a smile which she simply had to bite her tongue in order to stop bursting out in a fit of anger at the rude interruption Fleet representative? Isn’t he a karking pilot? Let alone it’s only suppose-... She managed to keep the heaviest sigh she ever wanted to let out contained - for now.

“Good morning - or evening - whatever time of day it is here, Jet lag and all of that - 'my esteemed colleague'”

While Rozalyne further laid the foundations for the exact terms of the trade agreement, she thought of the most passive way of explaining they had no interest in giving the central banks even more power, unless it was owned by them.

“As the most qualified person here to talk about the establishment of economic treaties, we will gladly accept the Galactic Credit as a usable form of currency, though we will be retaining our own currency as our primary method of transactions inside of our borders.”

Well that was a bit outlandish. Slightly shocked that Toran was so open about the Empire’s expansion plans, she leaned forward and tried to remedy the situation, assuming @Rozalyne Kurganov would take offence. "That is of course not a threat to the Silver Jedi's sovereignty over the planet of Ilum, though I'm sure we can discuss exactly what you would want in exchange for the transfer of jurisdiction, if indeed you would like to. As for continued access, Silver Jedi personnel will not be restricted from use of the site so long as our relationship remains on good terms." smirking slightly.

Her head then turned slightly to look at [member="Jessica Med-Beq"], "Technology developed on the Ilum site or anywhere in the Fel Empire and Silver Order? Either would be fine, though I do like to get into the specifics for these kinds of deals."

[member="Tevro"] I [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] I [member="Toran Fel"] I [member="Akar Merikh"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Let's say that, while it's about technology developed anywhere in the Fel Empire and Silver Jedi order, with a few caveats: while minor-production items and mass-production items are fair game, limited-production items may be exchanged on a case-by-case basis, with semi-unique items being off-limits"

In fact, there were five common levels of technological restriction that were generally accepted by regulatory authorities all over the galaxy, in ascending order of restriction: mass-production, minor-production, limited, semi-unique and unique, with the items falling in the latter two categories being either artisanal in nature, containing restriced materials or specialty capital ships. She could certainly get behind the Fel Empire getting access to anti-aircraft and other SJ-produced heavy weapons, such as mortars, machineguns, but even people like [member="Isabella LaFleur"] understood that there should be limitations, to say nothing of [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"], [member="Toran Fel"] or [member="Akar Merikh"]. It really wasn't that much, but how would the Ilum populace perceive the Fel Empire vs. the Iron Empire was still up in the air at this point. Just that she was definitely more comfortable talking about transfers of technology than she was discussing the Iron Empire's relationship to the Silvers, other than perhaps the IE was more bureaucratic than they would have liked back then. And their intervention on Bimmisaari wasn't, in fact, amounting to much.

"But the transfer of jurisdiction would depend on how the Fel Empire is perceived vs. what would likely be perceived as its predecessor on this planet, the Iron Empire. I must confess that similar accords were in place regarding Ilum and the Iron Empire about us"

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

Emperor Fel admitted that he wasn't interested in just stopping at one training facility. For "survival" he claimed. He might have just gone too far in revealing his plans, if the reaction from LaFleur was anything to go by. Fortunately for the Fels the Silver Order had no interest in dominion over the world, just that they would be allowed to continue their pilgrimage and scientific missions there unmolested.

"Mmm, Kyber-enhanced weaponry does make for a nice insurance policy," she quipped after cracking a sly grin. "In any case, whatever your reason for establishing a foothold on Ilum, as long as the Silver Order's holdings on the planet and in system aren't bothered and remain under our jurisdiction, then we will have no qualms with your Empire if and when it does finally make its way there. However, I would advise you to communicate with all the other entities that have a significant presence on there. It's a popular destination for all Jedi Organizations among others."

Her smile faded as Med-Beq mentioned the prospect of technology sharing, the implication being the transfer of advanced military tech. That wouldn't fly with the rest of the Assembly. Not with a new power they were still feeling out. Of course, the Fels were always welcome to purchase products and services from the Silver Engineering Corporation and affiliated companies like any other buyer.

"The question of technology is already covered under the proposed trade deal by us agreeing to protect intellectual property rights, and I believe that should suffice."

She turned her attention back to LaFleur. "It appears that we seem to be in agreement about the trade agreement, so I could have my counterparts within the TCO forward a draft of our agreement to your office for review to finalize the negotiation process."

"Aside from hammering out arrangements on Ilum, is there any other topic you would like to discuss today?"

[member="Tevro"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Isabella LaFleur"] [member="Toran Fel"] [member="Akar Merikh"]

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Isabella nodded as [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] explained the exact terms she was looking for, "That's a deal I can get behind, not to mention you haven't wasted any time by being succinct. I like it." Pausing and wondering how exactly they were going to be formalizing this entire agreement. ​Leave it to the Diplomatic Corps to process this bureaucracy, it's all far too tedious. "Oh the Iron Empire? There's a name I haven't heard in an awfully long time. Regardless, the Fel Empire will insure to accommodate the populace of the planet should the time of transfer ever come."

But then she was shut down. Not that Isabella was particularly concerned about access to the Silver's technology, nor was it neccesarily what she was here for. "We'll be more than happy to limit it at intellectual property rights and tariff free exports and imports so long as that's what you want. "

Truth be told she didn't know exactly why Toran had brought up the Ilum question, but she couldn't help but smile thinking about him openly announcing their expansion options. Granted, the Fel Empire was dedicated to Victory without War, so the question of acquiring it was never through direct hostile access, but rather through talks like this one. Her arms moved to wrap around her stomach as she leaned in. "As I understand it we will be looking to make special exemptions for any resident of Ilum, religious or otherwise, in order to ensure all inhabitants feel comfortable under Imperium jurisdiction."

Nodding for what appears to have been the final time, she smiled to [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] and stood up, presumably with her contemporaries, [member="Tevro"] and [member="Toran Fel"] and motioned to them to exit, unless of course they wanted to hear her send off. To say the least, she was pleased that the Ton Cooperative Organization would be handling what seemed to be the majority of bureacracy as it seemed she was the only person within the Fel Empire's diplomatic corps that had any sort of intellectual capacity. "That should be fine so long as red tape doesn't get in the way" giggling to her own joke. "To say this has been pleasant would be an understatement, it's nice to meet individuals who are civilized, and while we could stay and make eachother's acquaintaince we really must dash; Government waits for no one I'm afraid!" smiling a final time and moving to the door and waving with her right hand while she crossed its threshold "Till we meet again!"

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I guess, our role here is complete"

Succinctness is the big key element that allowed me to get the jobs done, especially since many preferred to deal with mediators that are to the point, especially the more critical an issue is, on Chandaar it had wide-ranging implications that most Jedi seemed to be unable to grasp at the time. Well, IP rights and tariff-free imports & exports are better than nothing, even though the others in the Assembly, such as Valae and Josh, are not the most concerned about the sensitivity concerns as far as I knew them, she thought, while realizing just how sensitive [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] is around any mention of technology transfers. Sure, the Fel Empire could purchase, tariff-free, ERA, mortars and other heavy weapons, just not the technology for any of those items, which may complicate their maintenance. That was, in Jessica's mind, the main reason for such clear terms for technology transfers. As for the red tape [member="Isabella LaFleur"] mentioned, thank the Force the TCO and the Diplomatic Corps for that sort of thing; to the extent she trusted each party's bureaucracy to do its job, in the end, the Assembly will be responsible for its ratification on the SJ end. But the Ilum situation was a complex puzzle that was in the Fel Empire's court.