Private Tea and Shade [Tavlar & Chandra]

[Adhira Chandra]

Tea and Shade
Location: The Garden of Equality, Coruscant
Tag: Irveric Tavlar
Protected By: The Senate Guard

The afternoon sun on Coruscant was warm with the light of the blooming season and the air was filled with a refreshing breeze that whistled through the towering buildings of Galactic City. This rare combination made it the perfect afternoon for Adhira to enjoy a relaxing afternoon tea on the grounds of the Senate Building. A perimeter was created in the Gardens of Equality, beside an artificial fountain, a memorial from the first Galactic Civil War. Blue-robed figures stood in a wide square around a palisade that had been erected to shade the Chancellor, who was sitting cross-legged on a large pillow. She had her datapad in one hand and was carefully sipping from a mug of hot tea in the other.

Curiously, a second pillow sat close by and tea arrangements appeared to have been made for two. Adhira knew for a fact that they had as Irveric Tavlar had been invited to Coruscant for a few days for economic talks with the Triumvirate leaders. The Chancellor, meanwhile, seized on the opportunity to have a candid discussion with the Sovereign Imperator about the unfortunate events that took place on Ziost just a few weeks earlier. She had ordered a retreat and advised the New Imperial Order to do the same, but Tavlar in his infinite wisdom decided to ignore her advice. As did many of her own troops, most of whom had since been court-martialed for disobeying orders, a punishment that she could not similarly inflict on Irveric. The foolish decision to stay on the surface of the planet during the bombardment had cost thousands of lives.

Adhira and Irveric had always had a cordial relationship, albeit frequently strained by their difference of perspective. Even when they were essentially at war with each other, they found common ground on matters such as the Sith. What Adhira could not tolerate, however, was the level of disregard for her authority that took place on Ziost. If the Triumvirate was going to work, the two of them had to be on the same page. So, of course, tea was the obvious option. It was interstellar in its ability to bring cultures and races together. It was also calming, so it greatly reduced the chances of her clawing his eyes out.

The old woman leaned forward and lit incense that was a few feet from the tea. Just in case.

"My Lady, Sovereign Imperator Irveric Tavlar is here to see you," the guard captain clicked his heels in salute and she turned to smile at him. "Ah, good, I was afraid the tea was getting cold. Invite him over, please."

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[Irveric Tavlar]

I M P E R A T O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
GALACTIC CITY | CORUSCANT
GARDENS OF EQUALITY
GUARDED BY : that mf thang
Adhira Chandra

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Ever the shining jewel of the Galactic Core, Coruscant. He'd thought Ravelin would've adapted him better to the sprawl of Galactic City, it might've if he was ever there. Ultimately, he was still the leader at front, in spite of the scale that the New Imperial Order operated. There was no removing the soldier from him, for better or worse. On Ziost? What was the ugliness of his commanding traits reared its ugly head once more. The New Imperial military proper was...understanding. The more veteran components of the armed forces understood what this war took.

The families of the fallen, the average Imperial and now...citizen of the Alliance. They could not relate so closely. As was the case, the farm boy from Dantooine came into the center of the Galaxy to a fanfare of anger and violence. Protests to his presence, the blood of Alliance Marines on his hands. Not only the Imperial but the Devil himself, horn and all. His likeness was so endearingly depicted on posters, caricatures, propaganda of these protestors. Freedom of speech, democracy. Where they were allowed to demonstrate in the Alliance, they were beaten to the pulp in Ravelin, in the New Imperial Order.

He ignored it as well as he could've, indifferent as he approached the Senate building, the closed, protected walls isolating the machinations of this government from the rush and chaos of the rest of the Galaxy. He entered the Gardens of Equality donned as he typically was in the presence of the Alliance Chancellor, though a contrast from the immediate last she'd seen his image. New Adasta, in broken armor, in broken body, leading his army to the brink of death. His cybernetic arm was easily replaced and the wounds still lingered, though faded in his skin. In his militaristic, grey, Imperial uniform he nodded once in greeting before sitting across from her. As far as he knew, this was not how those of the Republic conducted business neccessarily and it was a far cry from the cold interactions between Imperials. But it was a welcome change of pace.

Marks of shrapnel lacerations, tibanna burns and scorching heat still remained in his skin, the pain lingering in each idle moment. It was hardly a foreign sight or sensation of the Imperator and it was certainly no suprise. The New Imperial Order's propaganda divisions spared no effort in curating his appearance, by his design. He wanted to appear as he was, the Soldier, the mortal man, a contrast to his counter parts in the Galactic political sphere.

"Chancellor..." He uttered, if this was supposed to be a relaxed environment, it would not be long until he'd plucked a cigar from its ornate metal case before tucking it between his lips, taking a long draw of the sweetened herb after igniting the cigar. He looked weary, exhausted.

 

[Adhira Chandra]

Tea and Shade
Location: The Garden of Equality, Coruscant
Tag: Irveric Tavlar
Protected By: The Senate Guard

"Irveric," Adhira beamed, gesturing to the pillow that was sitting nearby, "I am so pleased you could find the time to join me. Please, make yourself comfortable... Tea?" She did not wait for a reply before she carefully lifted the intricately designed teapot and pouring a steaming cup of cassius tea. The hot drink was popular across the galaxy, but this particularly expensive brew came all the way from Mandalore. When the cup was full to the brim, she lifted it on a small saucer and passed it to the gruff-looking man. "I trust you have been healing well?" Adhira regarded the scars that littered the Irveric's skin, reminding herself that the last time they had spoken he was crawling out from under a building - more or less.

The older woman took a long drink of her own tea, eyes studying the Imperator for a moment while she did so. He would have been quite a handsome man were it not for the blemishes. The two heads of state had spent little time together since their last gathering of Triumvirate leaders and she had frankly been giving Tavlar the cold shoulder since their forces fell back from Ziost. She needed time to cool off and she doubted he noticed her radio silence.

"I am sure you're wondering why I asked you to join me here today," she placed her cup down on the tray between them and crossed her hands in her lap. The warmth that filled her initial greeting had gone now and she looked severe. "Ziost was -- tragic, to say the least, Irveric. We both lost many people fine soldiers... and Jedi. But..."

This was it.

"I cannot help but wonder, had you heeded my advice and withdrawn from the surface of Ziost during the bombardment, how many lives could we have saved?" It was framed like a question, but they both knew it was not intended to be academic. Her own generals had already told her the cost of refusing to retreat and even now there were court-martials being conducted inside the Senate building. "We may have even seen victory over the Sith Empire."

Adhira took another drink from her tea and waited for a response.​

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

I M P E R A T O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
GALACTIC CITY | CORUSCANT
GARDENS OF EQUALITY
GUARDED BY : that mf thang
Adhira Chandra

​

He could imagine immediately why Chandra wished to speak with him, in the wake of Ziost. Immediately he felt her eyes fall on him in silent chastising and tangible judgement. He managed a façade of comfort adjacent to her, but it was difficult to imagine him in any state of comfort by the aura he'd given off and the appearance he held. He certainly wouldn't be in the Core. There was no reason he'd ever be at ease here. Allies? Perhaps but he knew well some eyes would always be on him and the more distance he had from Bastion and his organs of command only accented his stress.

This conversation certainly wouldn't help, but he wasn't thrust into the reins of command for breaking under pressure.

"I know well why you asked me to come here, in person." He replied, perhaps to a rhetorical inquiry.

"How many times have you led men into battle, Chandra? How many of your brothers in arms have you seen dying before? The soldiers you raised up into competent, fighting men grasping ahold of you in their final moments. War is no perfect art, there is no way to determine what path is that which will lead you to victory. It is a crude, morbid craft...whatever your officers determined to be the best course of action in each battle, crumbles at first contact." Irveric explains before inevitably taking another draw of his cigar.

"I know very well that the mortal cost of war is, Chancellor. Those ghosts keep me awake every single night. It's taken men and women distant from me just as its taken those...very...very close to me." Irveric admits, bitterness seeping into his voice in the final words before he speaks again.

"I know defeat. I know mistakes. I know damn well...what the consequences of my actions are...but we are far too close to the brink of victory to turn back now." Irveric states outright.

"But what truly...do you seek to gain? My admission of fault? Do you wish to be thrust into the position I hold? To make the decisions I have to? Because I assure, they are not cut so clearly in the moment when you are there with them." Irveric explains.

 

[Adhira Chandra]

Tea and Shade
Location: The Garden of Equality, Coruscant
Tag: Irveric Tavlar
Protected By: The Senate Guard

Adhira Chandra watched, without emotion, as the Sovereign Imperator extrapolated on his intimate involvement in the recent wars that the New Imperial Order had found itself at the heart of. Her dark eyes flitted between the scruffy visage of her co-triumvir and the delicate cup of hot amber liquid in her hand. When Irveric finished speaking, she smiled lightly and tipped the last bit of tea into her mouth, savoring it for a second before finally swallowing. She let the awkwardness of silence creep between them as she carefully considered his words... and then she broke the silence with her heavy rasp of a voice.

"Do you know, so many people know me only as a politician," the elder chuckled as she poured a newly steaming cup of tea into her own mug, "most people forget that, once upon a time, I was a Jedi in my own right... I watched my master die at the hands of violent anarchists on Plexis and by the grace of the Force, I survived..."

"I was -- reassigned to the Diplomatic Corp and shortly thereafter was recruited as a special agent in the Strategic Intelligence Agency... I was far from the front lines, but I risked my life every day for the good of this Alliance. I've been behind enemy lines, I've breached confidential data for the good of this faction, I've put the good of this union ahead of the good of myself..." there was a seriousness in her tone that she had not used with Tavlar before. Adhira had kept her past fairly private. While most people knew she had a history of service in the Jedi, the full details had not been discussed in years, let alone by her.

"This millennia-long conflict between the Dark and the Light has robbed me on more than one occasion, Tavlar... I may be old, I may be out of practice, but I have done my part to defeat the Sith -- and I can proudly say I never counted myself among their number," her tone grew venomous with accusation, but she did not allow the moment to linger.

"If this.... understanding is to continue, I need to know that my judgment will be respected. I do not command your obedience, but I demand your respect... had you heeded my call for retreat, the Sith Empire might already be in full surrender to our forces. As it is, they are not, and that is a reality we will need to face together. Before that though, I need to know that you understand the delicate dynamic we are all faced with." She brought the china to her lips and drank deeply of the warm liquid once again.
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