Republic Remnant Rendezvous

[Mark Crassis]

Planet: Ciomia
Location: City of Theron

Mark Crassis stood atop the tall tower at the center of Esqin, one of the seven regions that the city of Theron was divided into. Mark had been here for two weeks now and he had barely begun to scratch the surface of the city. It was chaos. The city layouts made no sense, there seemed to be no plan whatsoever as the people threw this place together.

Mark had been warned this would be the case when he first entered the city and met with delegates from the city. While many would think it an embarrassment, Crassis had found an almost pride in the voices of the men and women speaking of it. The city, originally just a series of fortified villages, had over the centuries warped into the vast walled city that Crassis could see stretched out before him. Esqin by itself was enough to be considered a city, and there were six other districts just like it.

Crassis was here to meet the shattered remains of the Republic he had once served. Crassis had not spoken with many over how he felt with the fall of the Republic. Crassis was almost 70 years old now....and in that time he had served the Republic for over 50 years. For it to suddenly be gone left a hole in Crassis....he felt hollow and lost in a way he never had before.

"Are you ready sir?" Said a voice from behind him and Crassis turned around to see the young women putting on her cloths behind him.

Crassis almost asked her her name but stopped and thought better of it. He'd drank too much again....that was a stupid mistake and one he would need to remedy soon. If this new Republic Remnant were to succeed they would need an operating intelligence community and, at present, that seemed to be Crassis. But so many of the lines of intelligence he would have been able to lean on in the past were now gone...

"Yes, thank you." Crassis said taking his coat from her as she held it out. "Which way to the meeting room?"

"Elevator to the third floor." She said smiling and leading him out of the room.

[member="Shoma Ike"] | [member="Adder Dawnracer"] | Republic Remnant Members​

 

[Adder Dawnracer]

The sound of a cane tapping on the floor was the main way someone would know he was approaching. Each slow, methodical step carried him towards his eventual destination: the meeting room where he and a few others were meeting, without the Chancellor, to discuss the particulars of actually getting the Senate functioning again. After meeting with the man on Nadiem, he had intentionally decided to say nothing of this meeting to the man, and hoped that the others had taken that avenue as well. The Chancellor was ineffectual, at best. He could barely keep his composure and had spent most of the meeting sweating up a storm and saying little of anything at all that was useful. He'd left the meeting feeling annoyed.

As he entered the meeting room, he frowned when he saw that no one else was present. That was annoying. At the same time, he did see that they had refreshments set out. Slowly making his way over to them, he hovered, both hands resting on the head of his cane as he examined the selection. Ultimately he decided on a tea, grabbed one, and made his way towards a seat at the meeting table. He popped open the tea and took a small drink from it before setting it in front of him on the table.

A look around the room showed him a facility that was just not up to snuff. It wasn't even on par with the facilities that Nadiem had to offer. But they did seem rather proud of it. Given the storms that raged across the planet, he had to guess that they were the reason things were as they were. No doubt the difficulty of building anything at all had made it so that what they did build wasn't that great. Still, it was workable. The world being as it was made it defensible as well. It was a good location to set up the new Republic seat of power. Far from the reaches of any sort of enemy that might come along and want to harm them, and a world that would be hard to take on in case someone did come.

He leaned his cane against his side, and sat back to wait, stroking a hand at his beard.

[member="Mark Crassis"] [member="Shoma Ike"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The Alliance ambassador arrived in orbit of Ciomia.

A Nebulon B7 drifted alongside the Loronar science vessel that served as Atrisia One for the constitutional monarch who ceremonially oversaw the Atrisian Parliament. As the smaller Loronar angled for planetary descent, a pair of starfighters emerged from out of the Nebulon's hangar, escorting the explorer down to the planet while the Nebulon assumed a high orbital profile over the planet.

Flanked by its armed escort, the explorer descended among the clouds, planing out as the vessel transitioned from interstellar to atmospheric flight. As the trio of spacecraft emerged through the clouds, the Galactic Alliance craft settled on the space port landing pad.

As the loading ramp lowered, an airspeeder with GADF markings pulled up to the landing pad. Emerging from out of the Loronar, the Atrisian prince was flanked by a protocol droid and his chief of staff, Fong Jiao-Li. The three boarded the airspeeder and were ferried away from the space port toward the facility that was being utilized by the Republic Remnant.

As the speeder moved through the air, the boy looked out onto the streets of Theron. It was always interesting to have a vantage point out onto alien worlds. Different cultures could be seen in the different architectural themes that emerged to the errant tourist. Each world told its own story through all manner of visual cues. It was rather its own kind of language, and Shoma wouldn't have claimed to have been fluent in it, even if he did appreciate the aesthetics.

No two worlds ever looked the same, even if their populations might superficially tell a different story.

The speeder arrived at the Republic facility, the prince and his small entourage disembarking as they began to process through diplomatic security.

[member="Adder Dawnracer"] | [member="Mark Crassis"]​

 

[Mark Crassis]

Mark Crassis entered into conference room and his eyes fell immediately upon [member="Adder Dawnracer"]. Crassis had perused the intelligence dossier on the aged Senator, but there really was not much in there. Born on Nadiem, he had made a name for himself as a farmer, amassing the largest farm on Nadiem. He had a daughter, if Mark remembered correctly, who served in the military.

"Senator Dawnracer," Mark said, leaning on his cane for a moment after entering the room, "I do not believe we've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Mark finished, cross the rest of the way to the Senator and offering his hand. Turning his attention to the spread that was left for them, he then made his way to the table and collected a large cup of stimcaf.

"I suppose that leaves the prince as the only one left to wait for." Mark said and eyed the aged senator before him. Crassis did not like not knowing much about the man, he was use to coming into meetings well informed, often digging into the backgrounds of the others who would be present in great detail. But with the fall of the Republic, many of Crassis's intelligence network had crumbled. It was rebuilding, but it was a slow process.

"How was the trip out?" Crassis inquired, sipping at his drink, "Did you make it through the storms alright?"

[member="Adder Dawnracer"] | [member="Shoma Ike"]​

 

[Adder Dawnracer]

"Senator Crassis," Adder said in return, offering a nod of his head.

He didn't k ow next to anything about the man save for the fact that he carried himself like someone who had been serving for quite some time. Adder was just a farmer, really. He knew a good bit about business, but running a government took a lot more work than that. It was a learning experience for him. Of course going to meet the Metal Lords had been a true test. In this case he was meeting allies, not another government.

He sipped his tea as he watched the man peruse the offerings. Of course he was right that they were only waiting on Shoma arrive. He was basically an in absentia senator, but he also served as an adviser with his experience in the Galactic Alliance. Adder believed him to be a valuable asset to their fledgling government. They needed his knowledge, especially now.

"The trip went well. I've never seen storms quite like this before, but it's still just a storm."

He sat back in his seat.

"I don't think I know, so do you mind me asking who you represent here?"

[member="Mark Crassis"] [member="Shoma Ike"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

Crassis sat back and smiled at the man before him. Adder Dawnracer certainly would not have had any reason to know Mark Crassis or where he was from, given that Nadiem had just recently joined the shattered remains of the Republic.

"I was the Senator for Shulstine V," Crassis said pulling out a small flask and pouring some Menkooro Whiskey into the cup and then held it up offering some the Adder.

"If you have never heard of the place, don't feel bad." Crassis said smiling, "It is a Shadowport....my citizens were thieves and criminals." Crassis said sitting back and sipping from the whiskey laced stimcaf.

"It was marvelous."

"Tell me a bit about Nadiem."

[member="Adder Dawnracer"] | [member="Shoma Ike"]​

 

[Adder Dawnracer]

"Can't say I've heard anden of criminals and the depraved called marvelous before," Adder said, adjusting in his seat.

The fact that he had just heard that made him somewhat uncomfortable. Crime was a nuisance. Ever present as it was,he was going to have to look into strengthening the Republic's laws on criminal activities once they actually had a charter in place to be the Republic again. That was another reason for the meeting. They had to write a new charter of the Republic so that they could officially be a Galactic government and not just a semblance of one. Though he did find he'd be happier if one if them hadn't been working with criminals.

Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on the cane for a moment before he focused his attention back on [member="Mark Crassis"].

"We are an agricultural planet. Primarily we produce and export food products, but also wood and textiles. We've been a part if the Republic for thousands of years until it's more recent fall. When we heard it was rising again we chose to be a part of it's base of power."

Mostly true. His daughter had been actively seeking them for ages and it was her fault he was stuck representing the world when that wasn't what he wanted to do. It was out if his hands now, however. The people had spoken and his wealth had actually come back to bite him in this case. Still, he was getting to be unable to work around the farm because of his health. At least in this position he could keep working until he was basically dead.

"Do you know if any others are coming?"

[member="Shoma Ike"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

"Ahhh," Crassis said smiling and leaning forward on his cane, "But I am a man whose main preoccupation is information....and what better place to acquire it." Crassis said sitting back and considering the man. Agricultural world....no wonder Crassis was not familiar with it. He had really only had one purpose in life for the past few decades of his life and agriculture did not typically fit into it.

"I had believed we would be met by another..." Crassis said glancing toward the windows and out at city stretched out before them. "But perhaps it will just be us." Crassis said smiling wryly to himself.

"What do you think of this planet?" Crassis said drawing his attention back to the meeting. Crassis found the people and the place fascinating. The fact that it was found and lost so many times since its settlement. The horrific storms and wildlife....and the strange, ambitious, stubborn people.

[member="Adder Dawnracer"] | [member="Shoma Ike"]​