It had barely managed to contain the chaos, the room within the halls of the Imperial capital. In their urge to expand, much had been swept under the rug, forgotten, misplaced. The Empress had seen fit to ignore things that should not be ignored, dangers in the Force that lurked within their own borders and beyond, that hunted with impunity. Strange ships that seemed to lack weaponry or normal systems, but could wipe out entire starship crews in seconds. Illnesses that left people incapacitated, unable to be brought out of their coma. It infuriated Selrik.
In fact, it infuriated him further that he was certain that the people behind the scenes were seemingly in league with Force users. While he had pushed for the Confederation to accept some form of treaty, mutual defense at least, with the Alliance given their common enemies, that had been with their government, not with the Jedi. He abhorred the Jedi as much as the Sith and anyone that could lord their unnatural abilities over others.
"Your ignoring of the immediate threat posed by the Force is going to see the Confederation consumed by those within and without," he said, standing in the room with the Empress, Liraeth Deschart. "You weaken us by ignoring them."
"I will remind you, Grand Moff Lorcas, that it is I who set the direction for the Empire, not you or the ruling council," the Empress said from where she sat in a grand chair that was far too ornate for Selrik's tastes.
"Yes, however the council serves to keep you from miss stepping as others have in the past. To ignore what we-"
"You, Selrik," she cut him off. "Only you. The others are content with my direction."
"The others content to control their sectors rather than recognizing the necessity of unity in the face of this false galactic empire. They hide behind the Knights and the Inquisitors when we should have neither. Both are an abomination."
"They do a good enough job protecting us and there are measures in place to keep them under control."
"There are few measures that can stop a psychotic with the Force, as we've seen with the Sith, who time and again take over and control huge swaths of the galaxy in spite of their personal desires. Force Users are a danger to the Empire and the galaxy as a whole. You should understand this, being where you come from. Your family was nearly wiped out by the Sith."
"Do not talk of my family," she said, glaring at him. "They are gone and I remain. I will not purge all who utilize the Force from our ranks and that is final. Additionally, we will pursue negotiations with the Alliance as before, regardless of their stance on the Jedi, and maintain a neutral stance towards this Galactic Empire until such time as we are forced not to. Do I make myself clear?"
Selrik straightened and looked at the Empress. Hidden deep inside was a welling disdain, a desire to destroy that which he had helped build. He had never been a proponent of the Inquisitors, even when the Risen Empire had been alone. Now he was being forced to watch them grow in strength, along with the Imperial Knights, and seeing a growing dependence on them and their Force utilization. In their own way, they were becoming just like the Galactic Empire, just without the Force laden warlock at their head.
"Crystal," he said. "Good day, Empress."
He dipped his head towards her, understanding that this was his dismissal, and headed for the door. It was not a good day, and already he was thinking of how to take care of this problem, or, rather, if the problem could be taken care of.
The suspicion the confederation was lost, when it should have striven for unity, was growing.
