Shoring Up The Defenses

[Eugen Aker]

[SIZE=14.6667px]

Recent events had left had left many in doubt about the survival of the Republic. More than half of Republic territory now lay within the clutches of the Sith over a string of losses stretching years. The shuffling in the Senate and Chancellery was so constant that one would think there was a game of musical chairs being played. Then there was the latest shock of a coup attempt by a megalomaniac at the head of a clone army (that would have been otherwise useful in the defense of the Republic). On top of that, aggressions had been reignited with the Mandalorians through a series of foreign policy blunders. Now the Republic risked war on two fronts. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]People were beginning to see the writing on the wall, but Suravi wasn't going to just sit around helpless. That was what had led her to make her latest visit to Eshan. The Compact was one of the few powers remaining that had the facilities for manufacturing the things she had in mind for the defense of Kiribi.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]A politician who favored discretion, the Senators's arrival was a low key affair. She traveled by a small corvette, guarded by a flight of interceptors. After landing, she and her small entourage made niceties with government's envoy for the day. Then the next morning, she was at the headquarters of EIC for her first meeting of the trip. Out of her original entourage, she only brought her bodyguard Arisa, Kiribi's State Secretary, and a few high ranking officers from the Kiribi Security Forces. Together, they had arrived early, seated in a spacious meeting room. [/SIZE]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"Janira, the Republic Senator from Kiribi is here."

She'd been doing a little reading ever since she'd been contacted about the world making a defensive order. It was, as far as she knew, still a part of the Republic, which made it a part of the problem. For a while she had thought about refusing the order. The Republic needed to fall in order for the final corruption to be removed. Still, this senator had contacted them after their announcement of secession, knowing full well that the Echani had no desire to work with the Republic. Perhaps there was some ulterior motive?

"Thank you, Javin. Are they in the conference room?"

"They are."

Janira tapped her fingers together once or twice and then stood. Grabbing her vibrosword, she strapped it to her back, the hilt of the energy sword at her waist. This was a planet full of warriors, and she rarely went anywhere without these things. In addition, she had every intent of seeming aggressive with these people. It was a message, that she could more than likely end them if they crossed her, regardless of her security.

After grabbing her datapad, she left the room and made her way to the conference room. She stepped in and did a quick survey without breaking stride, heading to sit opposite of the woman that she supposed was the senator. Removing her vibrosword, she lay it on the table in front of her, and then looked at the woman across from her.

"You come here even though we have stated that we will no longer support the Republic. Why do you think we will sell to you?"

@Suravi

 

[Eugen Aker]

The Echani certainly didn't mince any words, jumping right to the point with her first words to the Kiribian Senator. Suravi gave her a small smile, unperturbed by her brisk manner, or that bit of posturing with her vibro-sword. More importantly, her posture remained relaxed as she sat with her arms tucked underneath her cape. Born of a martial people herself, the Thyrsians, she understood the importance of body language in Echani culture. The veteran wouldn't be so easily cowed by this child.

"As discussed in the correspondence for arranging this meeting, I did not come here as a Senator of the Republic, but as an ambassador of the Kiribian government."

She shifted her head slightly from side to side, briefly glancing at her own delegates. Only months before, they had been part of her own cabinet as she ruled Kiribi as President. She took the moment to gauge their initial reactions to Ms. Fenni. None of them seemed particularly bothered, all having experience with their Echani neighbors. However, she detected a mild case of annoyance from Arisa. She knew her aide would have found the gesture with the vibro-sword incredibly disrespectful.

"For the record, I was a vocal opponent of the Republic's mass seizure of private assets. Not a single Kiribian entity was allowed to be ceded to the Republic under their rash usage of eminent domain."

The wealthy Kiribi system of the Colonies maintained a sizeable military on par with the Echani themselves. Specifically for reasons like the central government becoming oppressive against its member states. Day by day, it was growing even more formidable as some of its generous contributions to the Republic had been diverted toward bolstering its own fleet and army.

[member="Janira Fenni"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

"The Republic really only seized the assets of a select few companies. Had they tried to take us they would have been hard pressed. Their clone army wouldn't have been enough for them here. Not against our droids."

She was not being cocky, even though it might have sounded like it. This world had its own secrets. Heck, she was one of those secrets. Several years ago Janira Fenni had been an older Echani woman who was running the Compact nearly by herself. That woman had been old enough that she'd had a child to call her own. This one was old enough for that, but not nearly old enough to have a child as old as Tatanya was. This one was a clone, and there were others like her.

The woman claimed to have come not as a Republic representative, but as someone wishing to defend her world. Well, Janira could understand that, and it was still important to have business ties, even in these trying times, but she had more to say.

"You want to protect Kiribi and the Colonies? Leave the Republic before it falls. Help pick up the pieces when it does."

Of course she knew that wasn't the answer the woman wanted. How could she not? It was the initial answer the woman received, however, because it was the simple truth and Janira was trying to get others, such as Alderaan had, to see the truth of what was coming, and what the Republic had become. Only with open eyes could they realize the failure. A failure due in part to their own shortcomings as much as those of the rest of the Republic. A failure they could fix if they worked together, and let the vestiges of failure crumble.

"What is it you need us to build?"

[member="Suravi"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"I'm preparing for all possibilities, but I wouldn't go as far abandon the Republic in the time of her greatest need. I'm not hiding my reservations, but I make my best attempt to work with what is left."

If she had believed the Republic to be a hopeless cause, then she wouldn't have bothered taking up the post as Senator. In her centuries of living, she had seen the Republic in much worse shape, like when it was only a handful of systems in the midst of a chaotic backdrop. Things could be salvaged, which a few key changes with the leadership at the top.
It was time to give her presentation. She pulled out her right hand from her cape, holding a slender black object that resembled a stylus. However, the tip would flash, and a hologram of theKiribi system would appear above the table in full-color high definition. Four planets and one yellow star, Kiribi the second planet out. A rich garden world possessing a pair of moons.

"First, we're looking to accelerate the construction of several large defensive installations by outsourcing. As it stands now, we're at about 37% complete with everything. It all starts with a network of space stations situated inKiribi orbit, with shield generators based on the surface."

As she spoke onKiribi, the hologram would zoom in on the planet, highlighting the stations she had mentioned. Beyond those, there were also hundreds of other attack satellites and smaller preexisting stations situated at various distances of orbit, but EIC didn't need to know about the complete intricacies of their defenses.

"We have a similar setup in mind for our solar plants."

The image then shifted to a series array of massive stations set in an artificial orbit around the-the Kiribian sun. The solar plants generated a great deal of energy for the system, while also doubling as production sites for anti-gravity nodes.

"Finally, we're in need of a few Capital ships. A couple carriers, and an interdictor vessel. We have some designs on hand already, but would be grateful for some technical input."

As did the Echani, the Kiribians employed a large droid force, which included drone fighters. For security concerns, all those were produced in-system.

"So that is an overview. We can go over all the specifics as needed. Any questions?"

The last images shown by the hologram were some rather radical designs for capital ships. Designs that looked to be partially inspired by Sith vessels.

[member="Janira Fenni"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Janira listened patiently as the woman spoke. Planetary defenses were not the expertise of the EIC, though certainly within their realm of work. Not so different from ships, truthfully, and they had manufactured their own shipyards so satellite weaponry wasn't far from the mark. Ships they could do with ease. That was something the Echani did rather well, though lately they'd stuck to mostly smaller vessels, strictly due to contract requests and the mass production of certain vessels.

"All of that is doable, and much easier with the designs already begun."

With some of the work already under construction, it would be a simple feat of sending some of her engineers and building techs along to continue the process with the assistance of their construction craft. They had the manpower to do that across their three systems nowadays. She tapped a finger lightly on the tabletop.

"Ships will take some time to build and test, but we don't have any major contracts for larger vessels at the moment. The last we had was with the Silver Jedi and that order has been filled. Our largest yards are available for the construction of these vessels you've put together, though I would like some time to run through the designs with my team to see if we can improve them. I'm already certain we can give you better engines than whatever you've designated. Not to be self-centered, but we've spent a lot of time in the past designing a modular engine system that can run nearly as quiet as the StealthX fighters."

She focused her eyes back on the woman.

"Acceptable? If so, I will have a contract drawn up and delivered once you identify the full numerical range of the order."

[member="Suravi"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

She noted that this would be the Echani's first major order in a while. She understood that they may have not been ecstatic with taking a contract from a Republic system, but it wasn't so easy to snub the nose at credits.

"Wonderful, tomorrow, I'll have an engineering team come over from the Kiribian Design Bureau. They'll walk you through the details of the designs so you can begin drawing up production plans and provide us with some estimates."

"Thank you for the offer of providing input on the engines, but we're confident in our own designs in this area."

If the schematics on display were studied a little closely, then one could see that conventional engines were completely absent from all the ships. The Kiribian military had long since advanced past the need for propellant-based systems that were still so common throughout the galaxy. Almost every design philosophy about their vessels ran counter to their contemporaries.

"Now, there is another matter I'd like to discuss since I have your ear."

She had tossed out a bone in the form of lucrative defense contracts to the Echani's attention, and now she would proceed with her true objective with her foot in the door. Fenni was not just another executive, but a woman who held some serious political clout on Eshan.

[member="Janira Fenni"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Confident in their own designs for engines. They must have something really good if it was better than the EZY's. She looked a bit closer, but without all of the technical information at her fingertips it wasn't overly easy to read the design. That would come soon enough and then she would understand more about these engines. If they were as good as she seemed to believe, it might be useful information for EIC designs in the future.

It seemed their meeting was about to end, and she was prepared to bid them adieu, but the woman dropped a tease about something more to discuss. Brows lifted in curiosity as she settled firmly back in her seat and steepled her fingers in front of her. Here was a woman with many things to discuss. She would be a good addition to the coming New Republic, as would her people.

"Feel free to enlighten me."

[member="Suravi Teigra"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"As of late, Eshan has been making the political rounds."

To put it lightly. She knew that Eshan and the Republic were going back and forth on the Echani's desire to secede. On the Republic's end, there were some officials that were outright refusing to acknowledge it. As with many issues, she found herself somewhere in the middle of the debate. She respected the sovereignty of each individual system, but she a fear that Eshan's departure from the Republic would have a domino effect and encourage other systems to leave. Leaving the Republic even more fractured at a time when the Sith were still very much the dominant power of the galaxy.

"I represent a new class of leaders trying to reform the central government. Are things so far gone between the Echani and the Republic, that you can't be brought back to the table? Lasedri is gone, and Hadrix will soon follow. "

[member="Janira Fenni"]

 

[Mr. OOC]

Janira drummed her fingers on the table as she regarded the woman.

"The answer to your question is yes."

Their Queen was done. She'd had enough of the false Republic and its inability to do its job. Janira couldn't fault her. She'd barely been alive long herself and even she was tired of the so called Galactic Republic. Every time she paid attention to their politics, even going so far as to join the politicians, she was reminded of the ails of the beast. History had proven quite reliable, but people refused to see the writing on the wall until it was far too late. That was why she'd agreed with the Queen that the Echani should no longer be in support of the Galactic Republic. It had failed and they would not go down with it.

"Many people have tried time and again to fix the Galactic Republic. Many have said exactly what you did: that they represent a different class of leaders. All of them believed it to be true, and all of them have failed to do anything to fix the problems in the Republic. The problem, you see, is the people in the government and the military. They become self-absorbed and corrupt, and since they're only charged with policing themselves, they fail to do so. Each day that passes is another day that the Republic slips into becoming the Empire more openly.

"The Echani will not support them. We will not support an Empire the way we were forced to do ages ago. We are stronger than that. No, we're working with people who will actually build a true Republic. Not from within yours, but from outside of it. Starting from the ground up with people that have the right mentality for the job. Our time with your Galactic Republic is finished for good."

[member="Suravi Teigra"]