Private The Crimson Flower

[Suhara Villow]

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Tag: Kel Se'Taav

Coruscant, the great Galactic whirlpool into which all the credit-lenders, fatcats, and desperadoes are inevitably sucked into. Its skyscrapers reached into space allowing their inhabitants to ignore the plight of those below them. The difference between politicians and lobbyists in their ivory towers to the gangsters and bounty hunters that stalked the neon-lit underbelly was minuscule. Decadence and piety, despair and hope, stubbornness and compromise. An ecumenopolis of contradictions and urban insanity. A place where the fate of trillions could be decided by a single ten-minute meeting.

Where the fate of her planet would be decided. To live under the boot of tyranny for another hundred years or to join the Galactic chorus of liberation?

Whatever the case was, just being here made Suhara sick to her stomach. Wherever she went there was no end to the crowds, even the out-of-the-way walkways and the alleyways were on the verge of bursting. Every step required tremendous effort not only to find a spot to squeeze through but also to defend oneself from the neverending onslaught of pickpockets and con artists. It was like trying to paddle up a stream of liquid flesh.

Somehow she eventually made it to Senate Plaza where the throng finally parted. If her second-in-command, a thin wiry middle-aged human going bald named Pierre, hadn't been there she would have succumbed to the mob a long time ago. He had been her paddle. Suhara stared up at the great statues that lined the avenue of the founders of the Galactic Republic and the later Alliance. Faces that everybody in the Galaxy knew, but were alien to her. They were figures of life, liberty, and prosperity that her people had never experienced.

There were no tributes to such heroes on Chantemer, only unmarked mass graves.

They navigated the Atrium of the Senate, full of richly garbed politicians and their constituents. The pair of them stood out, with military-issued plain black greatcoats and peaked caps. They had hidden the insignia of the Chantemer Defence Forces just in case the Vanguard Party had embedded agents on Coruscant. Suhara could easily have been mistaken for Pierre's daughter as she barely came up to his shoulder, and he was that tall.

After observing the Equal Rights bill proceedings to make sure their target was in attendance, they found a side entrance where Pierre got to work with his Data Spike. "Are you sure we should be doing this? We are sneaking up on a Senator without security checks. I wouldn't be surprised if we're shot at on the way."

"There's no other way to get his attention," Suhara muttered as she watched Pierre's back, "He's already swarmed by petitioners and lobbyists the moment he leaves the chambers. His Holomail would be so waterlogged with requests that I'm sure ours would just be mass-deleted by some algorithm. If we go the old-fashioned case of raising awareness, the Vanguard Party and that bastard Poutine would know exactly where we are."

"As if he doesn't already."

"I'm willing to make the bet that he doesn't. That's why I sent the rest of the fleet into the outer rim in the opposite direction to keep his attention there, not here."

"You don't need to justify it to me, ma'am. The men knew what they were getting into."

"It's just it doesn't feel right to risk their-" The door opened, interrupting her. The two of them shuffled in.

"How do I like, Pierre? Presentable?" Suhara licked the palm of her hand and ran it through her hair.

"Frankly, ma'am, quite the opposite. But that should hardly matter, it's the message that counts"

"Sorry," Suhara could feel her heart punching against her ribs, "It's just that this one talk decides the fate of our planet. If doesn't hear us out, I don't know who else will. Maybe we should think of another way-"

"Too late. Here he comes." Pierre pointed towards the senate chamber as a Bothan began to leave.

Suhara swallowed and suddenly wished she wasn't so short. Blood pounded at her ears. She approached the man, praying she could pronounce his name right, "Senator Kel Se'Taav, I am Captain Suhara Villow of the Chantemer People's Liberation Army. If I could have a moment of your time?"

 

[Kel Se'Taav]

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Tags: Suhara Villow
Location: Senate Building, CORUSCANT

“Senator Se’Taav, what are your thoughts-“

“No questions, please,” Kel said as he pushed his way through the crowd. He was always strong-willed in the Senate, willing to hold his own and maintain transparency for his constituents, but today he looked quite distressed. And for good reason: it wasn’t every day that he helped bring the Galactic Alliance once step closer to true equality.

Usually, he was fighting just to keep things from falling apart. Between the Corporatists of yesterday, the Trade Federation today, and what looked like Imperialists on the horizon, the Senate is always stagnant. It truly was a joyful moment when he got to make actual change.

“Senator! Over here, Senator Se’Taav!” a young Rodian woman called. Kel regarded her with an apologetic smile, but that was all the attention he could spare. He was well aware of Rodia’s plight in the wake of the Mandalorian crusade - he’d gone to great lengths to convince his colleagues to spare emergency supplies to her worlds - but there was little more he could do or say on the matter right now.

A sea of people and voices swept around him. Not everyone was there to see him in particular, of course; every senator had to wade through their own fair share of questions and concerns from the public. But he’d learned it was easier to treat them all like hungry Nubian ray fish and swim fast to avoid being eaten by the crowd. So the old Bothan kept his eyes low, looking up every few moments only to make sure he hadn’t been swayed off his path by the torrent of reporters and lobbyists that had surrounded the chambers.

He was only meters away from the private exit that’d take him to the landing area. Kel’s driver, a bright Togruta who’d be better off as his administrative assistant than his chauffeur, would be waiting for him with his speeder.

"Senator Kel Se'Taav, I am Captain Suhara Villow of the Chantemer People's Liberation Army. If I could have a moment of your time?"

“I’m sorry, I-“ Kel started, issuing her another well-rehearsed dismissal. But the words ‘liberation army’ struck something in him. He halted and turned heel, pausing just long enough to be sure he’d heard her right.

“People’s Liberation Army?” he repeated, eying her curiously. Kel wasn’t a superstitious man, but when lightning strikes the same place twice you’d be a fool to walk away. He had so many questions that suddenly sparked in his mind, but here wasn’t the place to ask them. Too many eyes, too many angles. No, they needed to meet in private.

Kel slipped a furred finger into the breast pocket of his senatorial garb and procured a thin holo-card. A digital image of his name, station, and feline face glowed dimly on its surface. He tapped near the bottom with his nail, bringing the Chandemerian’s attention to the address of his office in the Executive Building.

“This evening,” he said sharply.

“Come by my office to see me. Chantemer…” he grumbled, stroking at the fringe of white hair that framed the bottom of his muzzle. A familiar world but not enough for him to know their plight by name alone. The presence of a liberation front - an army, she said - meant there was much to learn and plenty to do.

“I’ll be glad to lend you my ears. Yes, yes, but here is not the place - I’ll see you soon.”

His wheels were already turning. The old senator turned to leave again, but stopped a few steps away. He looked back to the Chantemerian pair with a reassuring smile.

“Bring everything you have, and a bottle of anything Corellian. We’ll see what we can do,” he said, then finished the stretch between him and the exit door.

 

[Suhara Villow]

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Tag: Kel Se'Taav

Suhara blinked, unable to respond. Was this it? Was this the moment when the wheels of revolution could finally turn and the people of Chantemer once more have hope for a better future? Her heart froze in her ribs for an eternity as she processed what had just happened before it resumed.

Before she could stutter out a proper reply the Senator was already gone, tuttering as he went.

"Well that went well," Pierre noted, "I spotted a nearby winery on the way here that the Senators seem to appreciate. Shall I fetch one, ma'am?"

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Quick frankly, she never thought she'd get this far. Story of her life. She hadn't really been thinking in the long term when she had made her speech of rebellion to the people of Chantemer and exposed the true extent of the Poutine Regime's crimes. She hadn't expected to live, honestly. She had been expecting her words to fall on desensitized ears, beaten numb by the truncheon of the Vanguard Party, and nothing to change but instead, her act of defiance had been that spark to relight the fire in their hearts.

Now she had to turn that fire into an inferno.

Of course easier said than done.

"Shame we had to leave those bottles of Château de l'Étoile Rouge on the flagship," Suhara said as she held the bottle in her hands, "This Bottle of Corellian is a mere pretender to anything made on the slopes of Fournaise."

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Pierre said. The towers of Coruscant became a blur as the glass elevator accelerated. "The Senator asked for a bottle of Corellian and he shall get one. We're not here to show off. If anything quite the opposite."

Suhara glared, "What makes you think I'm going to mess around on something as important as this? He's our only way of getting actual outside support. I'll do everything short of throwing myself on my knees in front of him... maybe even that..."

"I'm sure we won't have to go that far. I'm the one who suggested him anyway so if it does come to that, I'll be the one doing that."

A moment of errant silence as the pair of them watched the sun begin to set.

"Do you ever think we made a mistake with this whole-"

The elevator doors opened before she could finish. Walking down the hallways and passing by the nameplates of many other Senators, Suhara had to fight the urge to not double back to spit on Casteban Mecetti's name until they arrived at Se'Taav's office. The secretary seemed to recognize them immediately and told them to wait as they called up the senator.

Suhara took in a deep breath as they waited in the lobby. The first hurdle was cleared. Now for the next hundred...

 

[Kel Se'Taav]

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Tags: Suhara Villow
Location: Senate Offices, CORUSCANT

The senator took in a lungful of fresh air - or at least as fresh as it could be on an ecumenopolis - as he watched from the balcony of his office suite. He felt like the proverbial man in the high castle, but that sentiment hardly matched Kel’s service record. He was a man of the people, and only the people. His politics never centered around his pocketbook and that methodology had kept him out of more trouble than he could ever know. It was certainly more dangerous, though, serving the little guys. Such moves have painted him a target for bolder, braver, darker senators. He feared this business with Chantemer would be yet another open door for his adversaries.

But what else could he do? A representative from a liberation army travels to the Core and petitions a senator of what should be regarded as the freest nation in the galaxy for help. Is he to balance the right thing against a financial bottom line? Kel sighed, breathing in more of the artificial air that made life possible this far above Coruscant’s surface. He wished for more time to process, but the robotic voice of his secretary cut short his moment of reprieve.

“Senator Se’Taav,” the protocol droid hummed, “your impromptu meeting is here.” She was clearly unimpressed with Kel’s lack of forward planning, but he was never one for scheduling meetings days or weeks in advance. He liked handling the problems that arose the moment he saw them.

“Send them in,” the Bothan ordered. He straightened his shirt, a simple cotton tunic, and resumed his charge at the large wooden desk in the center of his office.

 

[Suhara Villow]

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Tag: Kel Se'Taav

Suhara Villow noted the frankly breathtaking view of the Senator's office the moment she entered. She had been born into wealth. She didn't deny that. Her parents were influential members of the Vanguard Regime that kept its iron grip over her homeworld. She didn't know if that fact made her rebellion easier or harder. The past few weeks of constant retreat and subterfuge, as the CPLA was forced out of the Chantemer System, had been so hectic that she hadn't had the time to process her feelings. She didn't know what had happened to them following her revolt if they were under house arrest or even dead. She wasn't sure if she cared or not. No matter what atrocities they may have committed, they were still her parents and loved her.

But once again there was no time for processing. The senator was in front of her. It was now or never.

"Senator Se'Taav, it is a great honor to allow our presence," she bowed slightly, a sign of respect from her homeworld, before handing the Senator the bottle of Corellian. "As mentioned earlier I am Captain Suhara Villow, the commander of the Chantemer People's Liberation Army. This," she gestured to the man beside her, "is Counter-Admiral Pierre Dubois, my second in command. We currently represent the largest resistance force with void capabilities."

She handed the Senator a datapad, "This holds a factbook of all pertinent information regarding Chantemer. For nearly a hundred years we have toiled under the boot of a fascist regime founded through deception and brutality. General Olan Poutine betrayed the ideals of the anti-monarchy revolution and murdered the dream of democracy in its crib. His so-called Vanguard Party serves only to give a facsimile of popular rule. Corporations, some of which I must note are based in the Galactic Alliance, are allowed free reign following the dismantlement of public services and are allowed to tread on the rights of workers. Olan may be long dead but his son Olivier carries on his legacy with an increasingly tightening grip. However, the more he tightened his grip, the more slipped through his fingers. It became too much and-"

"The Captain made her speech," Pierre spoke up for the first time, "she may wish to reduce her involvement in lighting the spark but I shall not. After all an incomplete story makes for a poor one. The Captain launched a mutiny on the Frigate Soulèvement and broadcast her words to the people, calling for open revolt against Olivier and the corporations. There have been revolts in the past but they were all easily crushed for they were too busy fighting amongst each other than uniting. But this time has been different. Those who chose to resist and defect rallied around the Captain for her defiance. That is why she is Commander of the CPLA, not me."

 

[Kel Se'Taav]

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Tags: Suhara Villow
Location: Senate Offices, CORUSCANT

The senator smiled warmly, rising slowly but surely from his seat to greet the pair with an extended hand. He took the bottle with a nod and immediately set to pouring a glass for each of them as the captain began her briefing. The dark liquor certainly poured easier than it went down, but hobbyist drinkers like Kel were able to taste the intricate flavors beneath the bite. He passed the glasses to Suhara and Pierre before taking a healthy sip from his own. He let the spirits wash over his tongue, taking in the aromatics as he processed his guests’ words.

“You’ve found yourselves in quite a predicament,” the Bothan pointed out rather unnecessarily. He eyed them carefully from the other side of the desk, weighing his words. After a long moment of thought, he leaned forward, hands clasped together in front of him.

“Let me be sure I’ve understood your situation,” he said. His voice was smooth, surprising mellowed by the Corellian tonic.

“You seek to overthrow your monarch and cut off the corporatocracy that’s build itself around him, yes? You’ve the support of your people in the form of your Liberation Army, but it’s not enough. Correct?”

Kel leaned back, placing a hand on the tuft of white whiskers that formed his beard. He scratched it thoughtfully.

“What exactly is it that you’re asking of the Alliance?” It was unlikely that Kel’s reputation had preceded him to a totalitarian state like Chantemer, but it wouldn’t take either of the rebels long to realize that the senator of Abregado-rae was very quick to the punch.

He was astute and believed in getting to the brass tax.