Private The Trade Route of My Enemy is My Friend

[Darth Strosius]

There was quite a stir in the Formos Dresuoti this day, a recent communication having been relayed to the world and intercepted by the ever-vigilant communication officers of the Order of Wonosa. After the constant crackdown and near extinction of smugglers within the Formos system the planet had been largely left alone, in the hands of its Sith protectors that had initiated such a crackdown. As such a message requesting a meeting with the planet was fairly odd, and the anonymous sender even more so.

After some deliberation with the other prominent figures of both his cult and Formos itself, Alisteri sent the order to accept the request. He had the meeting coordinates sent out and set the destination far away from his cult's settlement, just in case. If this message had come from pirates or some other such criminal group then he wanted his people far away if and when a conflict broke out. The Knight set out from the Dresuoti in a transport speeder, a squad of his Legionnaires with him. Guests tended to like seeing guards after all.

A short while later the speeder arrived at the designated meeting area, an otherwise unremarkable plains that was perfect for landing on. He stepped out of the transport and his soldiers fie out after him, quiting for their mysterious guests to arrive.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

The well-being of the Naivian family has always consisted of several, flowing into each other cornerstone political and economic values of successful intra-family and external activities aimed at the establishment and development of long-term relationships, grouping and developing each in itself the whole postulates of correct and verified by ancient traditions charters of behaviour both in the environment of representatives of elite cultures and the top of social hierarchies, and more neutral, and in some situations more radically archaic and strongly united not the brightest, at first glance, ambitions and goals of groups and organisations, in the framework of a potential agreement with which, on the example of the agenda of a visit to a little-known cult on the planet Formos, lost in outer space, Selona on an individual basis planned to get to know, literary speaking, "feel" the spirit of the individuals whom the misty past with whom the ex-vice admiral had thrown into and used against all her best both intellectual and living resources of the fleet in order to fulfil the next order of the top military leadership of the galactic alliance ,this time on more muted by the force of time, but no less intriguing for the purpose of opening a secret door into the inner worlds of whole societies, hitherto hidden from Selona by her own status and the duties of her military oath, sitting on her shoulders and pressing on the living organism's ability to explore and renew in a new way the quality of the psychological, cultural, aesthetic picture of the ordinary everyday life of sentient beings like herself, speaking, feeling races and creatures, who by an oversight of fortune found themselves in the category of targets for destruction and are now presented in a completely different, warmer light, and despite the not the most solemn appearance of the local habitats of flora and fauna and geological embellishments, looking much more ready for a meeting and communication on one topic or another, though wary, for reasons objectively understandable and accepted by Selona's brain at the moment of landing of the light spaceship. Dressed in a more informal light cloak over an almost street style outfit of long grey trousers and a white top .When Selona came downstairs, she first made a slight bow and then, in a light voice, informed the recipient of her message of her position, her name and the reason for this sudden visit in the status of an anonymous person. "Caeilia Selona, ex-vice admiral and born into the great trading dynasty of Naivia of the planet Brentaal IV, under authority of the Galactic Alliance on a position of personal interest and mutual respect, has decided to visit this faraway world, little known to her homeland in order to study and become personally acquainted with the amazing personalities and knowledge that has grown in the hearts and souls of the honourable members of Order of Wonosa." She then walked over and leaned over to Alisteri and kissed his hand calmly, even though it was probably in glove, and said. "Pleased to meet you Alisteri Haxim, I hope I have not disturbed your privacy and time with my surprised arrival."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri watched as the fairly casually dressed woman descended the stairs of the ship that had landed before him, his fingers idly drumming at his side where his lightsaber was hidden within underneath his cloak. His sword on his other hip was far more obvious with his left hand resting on the hilt in a display of a relaxed yet guarded demeanor. His mask hid any obvious displays of emotion or intent of course but in general he did not appear too tense. This was his territory after all, regardless of who this apparent guest was.

Said relaxed form rather quickly fell to tension as Selona introduced herself however.

His hand clutched at the pommel of his sword to hide its clenching into a fist at the mere mention of the Galactic Alliance as his head inclined slightly. His Legionnaires had a far more profound reaction in the form of snapping to attention and training their blasters on the ex-vice admiral with their fingers hovering over the triggers. A quick hand gesture from the masked man however did make them reluctantly lower their weapons as he stared at his apparent guest. "It's not often anyone aside from the Jedi venture out of the Alliance's borders...unless they're on a warpath."

He had plenty of experience with the infamous Galactic Alliance in that regard, but for the sake of keeping the peace his tone was not one of accusation but rather than observation. If his cult had been noticed by the Alliance then he would need to play his cards close to his chest and stay civil for as long as possible. It wasn't like anyone from the Sith Order would venture all the way to Formos just to help defend his personal domain after all, only a handful of Sith even knew of his presence on the former smuggler world to begin with. As such he reluctantly allowed Selona to kiss his hand despite his better judgement.

"Disturbances are simply a fact of life, lady Selona. I am not one to shy away from them." Alisteri returned her respectful tone and actions with a simple deep nod of his head. It wasn't like he had any other ideas as to how to proceed with such a potentially dangerous situation after all. "I do hope you don't think me rude for questioning your intentions however. The Alliance and my order have little in the way of positive contact after all. How did you hear of us all the way in Alliance space?" Perhaps his more recent spring of pirate crushing and slave liberation had been too bold after all. He'd have to pull back his efforts from the edge of the Mid Rim then.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

For Selona this question was in the category of the expected and partly urgent, for which she had not been preparing for days on end, but with the content and pitfalls of which she was well acquainted, from which it was to be expected a fairly quick answer, which would clarify both approximate knowledge of the coordinates of the planet in question, and even more so a certain degree of familiarity with the organisation itself, its leader, leading ideological and cultural principles of conducting activities and even more so of building contacts with external players of both local and galactic scales within the framework of further development of its orbit of influence and loyal supporters and quasi-state parties of local underpopulated planets. So, without adding a degree of tension to the planned "nourishing" conversation for both sides, Selona, as soon as she returned to her full height, answered Alisteri's question in a very detailed and somewhat friendly tone. "On the contrary, such questions are mandatory and require a detailed and immediate response on my part as both a member of the Galactic Alliance and a representative of my family. To begin with I will give a couple of statistical and factual data, which will help you to understand on what exactly information channel the information appeared in the hands, or more precisely it will be correct to say in servers and archives of my family. Having the ability to directly control about a third of the planet, which is the only one in the galaxy, circulates on the paths of two key transport and trade hyperlanes of the galaxy, from which it follows that we collect quite a variety of information of the most diverse level of secrecy and stuffing, as checking different spacecraft , as well as conducting a short-term registration of any engineering ships, one way or another crossing Brentaal IV, whence actually became known about the freedom-loving deeds of your order and you separately, but due to the lack of personal interest of the head of the family and low priority of studying this organisation out of hundreds of other no less extravagant and veiled from the point of view of their fates and affairs, I personally decided to take a cultural walk through the worlds of outer rim, as well as the new emerging concept of semi-autonomy of our planet from the central government of the galactic alliance, today I met with you to discuss the most pressing points of contact with my past military superiors, as well as generally consider your Order for establishing closed channels of communication, invisible to the Galactic Alliance and Brentaal IV trading families. I hope I have answered your question and quenched your intellectual and not only intellectual thirst" replied Selona, turning her red'n'black ish gaze towards Alisteri, expecting a "healthy" reaction from him.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri listened to her response with his fingers drumming on the hilt and pommel of his sword, his own tension and unease mirrored in his Legionnaires as they shuffled and glanced between one another. "So you caught wind of us from hyperlane traffic then? Hm." Of course their existence was no secret, especially amongst the scum and villainy of the Kessel Sector, but for such information to be freely offered up in transit was worrying. He would have to ensure that the liberated slaves and other citizenry that he came across were either inducted into the cult at a greater rate or paid off then.

He pondered on what the woman said for a few long moments and picked apart each of her words in his mind. Searching for true meanings and veiled threats alike as he did with most conversations he had with his fellow Sith. Such a thing was second nature by this point. "You've answered one question and opened up several more." The masked man replied after being satisfied with his internal scrutiny of her remark.

"So someone from the Core Worlds, even a high ranking officer of the Alliance Navy in the past, gets word of our actions against the parasites of the Outer Rim from some archive and decides to take a trip all the way here to see us? I won't lie and say I'm convinced but I shall accept it...for now." It wasn't like he had much else to go on aside from her own word after all. His intelligence network and contacts didn't even touch the Galactic Alliance.

Alisteri reluctantly shifted his posture to a slightly more relaxed, albeit still clearly guarded, one with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword once more rather than threatening to wrap around it. "Well I'm afraid you'll be most disappointed in this little trip of yours. I have had no interactions nor experiences with the Alliance military aside from their frontline soldiers and a handful of their Jedi nor do I intend to have any more such contact if I can help it." Better to keep far away from the Core and its inhabitants, especially with their shared history of conflict and hostility.

"As for communication channels I fail to see what you could possibly want or garner from us. Our knowledge isn't exactly something that the Alliance would be pleased discovering among your archives if they were to peek inside." Teachings of their religion and worship of the Dark Side weren't exactly something common or sought after within the Core. "We're a simple group defending our home and bringing justice to the Outer Rim, nothing more."

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"All I can say is that I've become very lazy lately, within the family having almost no straight super mega state affairs coming up and all sorts of cultural and educational programmes have fallen on the shoulders of our many advisors and assistants, hence I flew, in a somewhat happy child's way, to the farthest place at present from our world where the foot of the Naivian family had been, I don't expect applause and whole albums and volumes of useful information, especially as a person who left his military past overboard and decided to spend his mortal days in a more interesting setting collecting information in our archives and visiting the most amazing and little-known to me personally points of organisation of these or those ideological schemes, so I will be sincerely interested to hear about your views both on the issue of freeing slaves of different races, and the politics, which takes place not only in the Galactic Alliance, but also in the territories of other key and not so influential players. Anyway, Alisteri, why don't you start the story with the backstory of the origin of this order? I've eaten recently, so you don't have to worry about this biological need of mine." Selona replied, noting not so much Alisteri's particular manner of speech, but the detail about listening to and studying the internal content of the family archives, the preservation and protection of which she was fairly certain, but which she was not particularly adept at, is the quality of the information received, which is usually cleaned by various droids and uneducated individuals who magically jump to the lowest "floors" of the family power pyramid in order to get "exclusive" access to knowledge, which the family leadership does not quite like to recognise as an existing problem, but without sufficient resources, you sometimes have to trust what the droids put into the servers without any private verification by living, sentient beings. "And if I may ask another unflattering question, how many key figures of the GADF Navy do you know as personal enemies and have you encountered them personally, that is, tet a tat?"
Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

A bored Coreworlder wanting to stretch their legs made a bit more sense he supposed. Not to mention investigating rumors of potential Sith activity in the Outer Rim seemed to be a favorite hobby of the Alliance in recent days, as Elom and the conflict upon it not long ago had proven. "I see." Lucky for her that his cult had been waging war on local pirates for years now then, otherwise her ship may have been intercepted long before it arrived in the Formos system at all.

He cocked his head to the side at the questions and for a few moments pondered on what exactly he should tell her. The entire truth she didn't need to know but perhaps if he sated her odd desire for knowledge of him and his people then she would be more inclined to leave quickly and forget about Formos entirely. One could hope anyway.

The 'unflattering question' as it were drew a laugh from the masked man. "Not a one. I have seen plenty of their ships bombarding and invading the worlds I was protecting however." There was a hint of malice and spite in his tone but he swiftly moved on from the topic. No sense in getting into an argument when both parties were biased after all.

"Our order began during the waning years of the Third Imperial Civil War, as your Alliance calls it. On Dromund Kaas I rallied together a group of Zygerrian refugees and common citizens of the Sith Empire into a cult, one that I had hoped would teach the common people of the true nature of the Sith and thus help in bringing more support for the war effort as well as enlightenment to the populace." It seemed so long ago now, and he supposed it was by this point. There was a whole new generation of his cult that had never seen the old worlds of the Sith now after all.

"They learned quick and took to my teachings easily, desiring to understand the Sith that governed them and the Dark Side that held such a strong hold on our worlds. Many of them joined the military and production sectors to do their part for the war. A war that we could not win, no matter the sacrifice, for an empire that was destined to crumble." Again spite emerged in his tone, this time interlaced with disgust as if the memory itself was tainted in some way.

"All it took was for the 'leaders' of the Sith to abandon our empire and it all came crashing down no matter how hard we tried to save it. So we had to leave Dromund Kaas behind, indeed all of Sith space had to be left. Otherwise we'd be caught by the Ashlans, the New Imperials, or the Alliance." All of which were fates worse than death for their own reasons.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"In your speech there are several positions, or if it is more correctly expressed moments , that are partially present in the internal politics of my family, the others have their own charter, resources, interests and even more so their own understanding of freedom, love and enlightenment, which in my family is defined as an opportunity and even an obligation to direct a significant part of the financial , social and other instruments of influence on communities and various large cities and beyond to develop in the population, firstly, an understanding of the importance of the distinction and difference between a hypothetical situation in which an individual is deprived of certain knowledge and in which he or she possesses it, from which follows, secondly, the ability to distinguish between different levels of knowledge and its relationship both to the improvement of living standards and to the negative social phenomena and political considerations of the most influential families, and thirdly, in the ability to concentrate a sufficient amount of time, natural talents and abilities to achieve the formation of their own picture of the world, even if it has basic differences from ours and other major dynasties. This, of course, requires a sufficiently historically and socially strong guarantor of security, a source of food, information, ontological calm and confidence in the future, which is embodied by the central governing body of the planet - Brentaal houses, into the inner workings of which i am not privy due to having different sort of roles and positions, at the same time the inhabitants of Brentaal can openly oppose in their scientific and not only works to some extent the disagreement or say loyalty of some trading families to the galactic alliance in the form of proposals of other models of development of external and internal relations both between well-off and respected families, and between companies and personalities not of local origin, but which at a certain moment of fate found themselves between the hands of the dial of the history of my homeworld. I may be wrong in viewing the Galactic Alliance as some sort of empire, but on my planet we are trying to balance it and so far, we are doing well, although there have been and may continue to be some unsavoury challengers in the future that will once again remind both the big family corporations like mine and the central government of the galactic alliance that the local population doesn't exactly like to be in the role of a helpless blind puppy, incapable of making their own strategic decisions, that's why we often have to have very heated debates and draw the conclusions necessary for the development of the planet and the preservation of peace and harmony on it. But this is all part of Brentaal's life, the scale of course is different, but could I ask what for you, Alisteri, the most important thing is in any intelligent person? Values, attitudes, actions, having certain knowledge, understanding, feelings, or something else?" Selona asked, occasionally glancing around, enjoying the atmosphere of new planet and waiting for new details to fill the dark voids in her understanding of the world and the fate of the many different beings and races living in a galaxy constantly drowning in conflict and strife.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri listened to the details about the Brentaal families and houses with interest and suspicion alike, searching for some veiled threat or accidental slip amidst the lecture that he could use. Having to dissect words was simply second nature to a Sith after all. He was trying to discern some hidden meaning in her words both for something that would hint towards some hostility inbound from the Alliance and for some weakness in the Brentaal's system of houses and families. Perhaps it would offer some additional insight into the Galactic Alliance itself in some way.

It wasn't as though he knew much of his enemy after all, not the external ones at least. He had Sith to worry about before he could turn his attention to the Alliance and whoever else would seek to tear down the Sith once more but having some knowledge would be useful if further conflicts occurred. The business at Elom had been more than enough of a wakeup call for both the Sith and the Alliance to necessitate such.

"I suppose that would depend on your definition of intelligence first and foremost but I shall answer from the most traditional and common one for now." It was an interesting yet odd question, as if any of them had been normal thus far, and one that did require some thought on his part. Alisteri had only really interacted with a handful of scientists and other professionals that would typically fall under the label of intelligent, but he had met many people that he would consider capable and intelligent in their own ways.

"Action, understanding, and determination are the markers of a truly intelligent person. The ability and willingness to pursue and obtain knowledge or other advantages is a necessity, but to understand and step back from some situations and information that could prove destructive is equally valuable. The pursuit of success and improvement is an eternal one and one that cannot be undertaken lightly, but rather should be carefully yet dutifully planned and executed in order to ensure the best possible outcome. I trust that answers your question?"

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"From all the list you have listed, I liked two positions, about which I would like to expand our further conversation in the composition of more definite topics for conversation and their consequences for you and me, Alisteri. Let's start, perhaps, with the first one, understanding or perception and acceptance by one subject of all peculiarities, deviations, interests, weaknesses, tastes, views and other characteristics of another subject as an absolute original that does not have a second copy and has a unique worldview and is able to be responsible for its actions in the ever-changing whirlpool of events and marking its coordinates on those or other temporally spatial planes of the substantive existence of a single conscious organism and it will be useful to note the fact that regardless of the situation in which the subject finds himself, he is able to find in himself the limit of emotional and rational facets of analysing the situation, and as a result of this internal conflict to come to the second position, previously mentioned by you, the so-called caution, helping and sharpening the cold and sober analysis of the process of movement towards this or that goal, which, as you can see from my example, is not always taken into account and applied in time to enhance individual security against an unforeseen range of threats of very different scales and behavioural patterns of entire groups, from which a brief double-edged conclusion is drawn, firstly, you have fully answered my question, using a minimum of key moral categories, and secondly, it may serve as a good prelude to my planned communication in the frivolous format of exchanging opinions and sentiments about certain figures, organisations, facts and rigorous statistics." Selona answered, at the same time doing some acrobatic motion with her gaze, the purpose of which was to find the best place to hold talks on not the most pleasant and usual topics for this meeting and her next question was to cross and solve this psychological spasm in the head of the representative of the Naivian family. "How much free time do you have today and is there a place where we can more quietly discuss some things that I, as the initiator, would like to discuss with you, Alisteri?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Evidently his response had been fairly well received by the visitor, her own insights proving rather interesting and technical. He could respect the precise nature of her wording. Alisteri shifted his stance slightly at the mention of sharing thoughts and opinions on specific items of interest such as organizations and data. What exactly she wished to speak more of wasn't entirely clear as of yet though, but he doubted that it would be too long before he got his answer.

When Selona asked about moving their meeting to another location, either for more privacy or comfort than just standing out in the open, he had to think for a few moments. Obviously he wasn't about to bring a member of the Alliance anywhere near the Dresuoti or any other settlements loyal to his people, no matter how cordial she had been thus far, but that left few other options.

After another moment or two Alisteri nodded and straightened up his posture a bit. "We have an outpost nearby, tucked away on a small rocky plateau that overlooks this area. We can continue our discussion there." Not too far away from their current position and with some defenses if this former admiral wasn't alone after all, it was almost perfect.

If Selona got out of hand then her ship would be less accessible as well, regardless of whether she tried to escape or fight in some manner. For a moment he even entertained the idea of simply detaining her but brushed it aside. This situation was tenuous enough already without him aggravating it any further. He looked at her ship and then at the speeder that had transported him and his Legionnaires there. "There is plenty of open space near the outpost to park your ship, unless you wish to ride along with my forces and I."

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

Selona listened to both of Alisteri's speeches with the utmost attention, after which she looked first at her ship and then at the group of armed men surrounding the head of the order and recalling some bits of memory from her childhood, without any backward thought she calmly replied. "I'll go with you, my ship can stay here. I can enjoy the breeze at the same time, and with my daily schedule, that's a rare chance." After this answer Selona studied again the clothes and various symbols of the organisation and the Order for the next potential visit, provided that she would be able to arrange a quality and relaxing conversation after such a "dense" atmosphere, during which she would give Alisteri some invitations and documents, as well as potential information, if she had not forgotten to bring it with her, but in any case, the meeting promised to be far from unambiguous, but rather multi-layered and very informative for both parties. In the end, for a true patriot of her world and a consistent social activist, Selona never refused additional help even from past enemies, especially in such a geopolitical reality in which the world of Brentaal IV has found itself in the last couple of years and certainly demanding of the leadership of the noble families as well, and from a former military officer of the maximum degree of flexibility in solving very specific and sensitive questions about the personal safety of the citizens of the planet, which at one point felt not quite comfortable in the current terms, and became more demanding of itself and its tastes (trajectories of development of economic relations not only with entities under the auspices of the galactic alliance, but also outside its sphere of influence, and much more, which was listed under a high degree of secrecy only for the most titled members of the Naivian family, among whom Selona was listed, who with an already joyful expression on her face watching the change in the psychological climate of the hosts of this world, which she dared to visit as a guest.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri blinked in surprise at the quick agreement to be transported to the outpost but made no effort to dissuade her. Having her ship further away could only be a good measure if things went sour after all. With a raised gesture of his hand the Legionnaires began moving back into the speeder, notably putting away their blasters as they took their seats. They did share a look amongst themselves once more but voiced no words of concern. "After you, Lady Selona." He stepped aside and gestured to the transport in a rather welcoming manner.

The masked man would be the last in the speeder, idly tapping on the shoulder of the transport's driver as he sat down. "Tell Point Dune that we're en route, and to prepare a meeting room." It would most certainly be a surprise for the outpost but they would have more than enough time to set up some place for himself and their guest. "As you command High Priest." After a moment the speeder took off, carrying them away from the ship and out into the wide open surface of Formos.

The Legionnaires were clearly trying not to stare at Selona, instead fiddling with their armor or other equipment when not looking out into the scenery and the canyons in the distance. Alisteri had no such shame as his masked gaze rested on the woman from the moment that he sat down. "Tell more of your world, Brentaal IV. I don't believe I've heard much of it, what's it like there?" No sense in having a silent trip.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"I thank you for this question and I will try to give you the most extensive and at the same time touching the whole depth and complex nature of internal and external relations, therefore I ask for patience and a certain amount of scepticism on your part, as not all information may have actuality up to this moment. Apart from the general information that can be learnt about this planet through open sources of information and by having connections in the criminal world, there are some key factors, from which I will move on to specifics that are interesting and useful to you in terms of financial and material resources of my family. First of all, this planet is under the jurisdiction of some entities of three levels, on the third level it is of course the galactic alliance, which gives us guarantees of security, opportunities to conduct our own monetary, cultural, social and partly our own policy, without radically affecting the interests of both members of the alliance and the top leadership, the next level we talk about is the Bormea sector, where mainly foreign economic activity and expansion of families takes place, liaising with various planetary governments and active exchange of information of the economic kind, and we gradually descend to the first level, where we have the local government (Brentaal houses), which I have already been able to mention, which is made up of the most influential trading dynasties, which as a result of elections every 10 years change places with lesser known family clans to maintain political balance and a certain effect of a democratic and peaceful society, the fact of being at the intersection of the Perlemian and the Hydian hyperlanes, which play the role of nutrients and useful vitamins, is part of its fabric, updating both our technical and scientific knowledge on the most modern technologies of the civil and private sectors of the economy, but also driving, almost inspiring even the most ordinary citizens to support the free spirit of knowledge and ideas - we call this the possibility and right of any resident to recommend certain projects and, as a result of various festivals and meetings with commissions, to receive funding from companies and organisations. We are interested in turning our mostly canyon and desert filled planet into not just an economic hub on a galactic scale, but a laboratory for the latest ideas to create the most harmonious and evolving society possible today. I hope this partly helped you to understand why even people of my status can't sit still, and are constantly doing something, even if sometimes these actions are on the verge of madness, in any case for me it is a joy and new knowledge, and for my family and the planet - a new potential hope and a chance to build their own, independent future".
Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri nodded as he sat back and listened to Selona's explanation of her homeworld. He found the three levels of authority comment rather interesting in particular, having basically no real knowledge of exactly how the Galactic Alliance administered and governed their territories. The fact that Brentaal IV was seemingly allowed to operate with a fair degree of independence in regards to their planetary system of government was somewhat surprising. With all the wars and conflicts that the Alliance had been involved in he had assumed that a more centralized and organized system of rule would have naturally taken place in order to ensure their success in their various wars continued at maximum efficiency. Perhaps the Alliance was more vulnerable to the actions of individuals than he had initially thought then.

"So you operate in a merchant republic type system then? With influential trading families dominating the political sphere, varying in size and impact?" It wasn't the first time he had heard of such a thing but for it to be on a planetary scale was somewhat new to him. In his time in the Outer Rim there were more than a few stations and even entire continents that had a similar system of government, albeit many of those were based on smuggling rings and criminal organizations rather than trading families.

It would explain why Selona was here at all as well, even having simple knowledge of operations and organizations in the Outer Rim could help in keeping her particular family in a position of power even when they weren't elected into the Brental IV government. Exclusive trading contracts or knowledge and supplies of technology and equipment could help sway public opinion and reliance towards her family over others. Keeping an influx of trade in various forms was clearly essential to the world so having some connections in the Outer Rim would more than help in that respect. There were many resources and assets that were simply unavailable to the Core Worlds after all.

Before long the speeder would come to a stop and Alisteri would step out of the transport once more, waving for Selona to follow him as he moved towards the outpost. It was small, with little room for more than maybe thirty soldiers at a time, and the guards standing on the walls that saluted to the masked man were slightly different from the Legionnaires filing out after the pair. The outpost consisted of a walled compound, most of it being occupied by a single building with a large watchtower jutting out from the center of it. Sheds for crates and other speeders lined the rest of the compound, with some soldiers running drills in the small courtyard.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"If you translate everything that was just me saying out loud, then yes, that is the whole point of our planetary government. Of course, at the moment we're not as influential off-planet as we'd like to be, but maybe that will all change in the near future. The first political move has already been made, the head of the family of Naivia became a senator in the Senate of the galactic alliance, after which, superficially speaking, we began to prepare various political-economic documents for further gaining both our family and our planet as a whole a greater degree of independence both in local administrative terms and in foreign trade, where it is possible to exchange not only official goods and labour products of different civilisations, but also potential illegal co-operation in those areas of economy and services that would be in the interests of both sides. Of course, at the moment this is all just theorising about an alternative future for Brentaal IV and a partial advertisement for my family, but in the future it is possible to edit this formula with the addition of lesser known elements like the one you have created, Alisteri, in the face of the official structures of the galactic alliance. I am in no way inviting to our planet at this time, even attempting a clandestine infiltration could severely impact both your interests and the preferential treatment that many of the Brentaal IV based companies and corporations on a galactic scale enjoy. Of course, we can talk and sign these or those alliance decrees and assurances, but we are not a dictatorship, but a free world for new ideas, so I hope you understand that it will not be possible to establish lines of contact straight away." Selona replied as she stepped into the small outpost, looking around briefly she went inside the not too large room and sat down at a comfortable table, feeling completely natural in the place, which was normal for such a high ranking officer in the past who had tens of thousands of subordinates. "But I will be interested to know what you are most intrigued in and where we will start our negotiations?"
Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

"I'm afraid my people and I have little to offer to yours in terms of trading and exchanges, and there is little of yours that we could not procure or produce in our own way." The last thing his people needed was a direct line of trade or communication leading back to them from the Galactic Alliance, no matter how independent its actor may be. Having their whereabouts and existence known to anyone in the Core worlds was enough of a cause for concern already. Something that would have to be addressed at a later time, after this little meeting had concluded one way or another.

The outpost's meeting room was simple, mostly used to coordinate the garrison forces or communicate with the wider defensive network, but it would serve just fine for their purposes. Alisteri chose to have his soldiers stand by outside the meeting room rather than have them in, it wasn't like he was under any threat after all. He had faced off against Jedi and Sith far above his own league before, one diplomat hardly provided a physical threat to him if things were to go sour.

He sat down across from Selona and reclined back in the stiff chair. It was built for function rather than comfort after all. "I suppose I'm still rather interested in what you expect from this meeting. Your people hold a planet near the Core worlds and mine simply dot the surface of one Outer Rim backwater world that was a smuggler route until we arrived. Aside from spare ships and material we gain from fending off pirates I fail to see what it is you desire from us aside from simple knowledge." He folded his hands on the table in front of him as he spoke, his visor reflecting her face as if to express his own watchful eye on her reactions. Alisteri was still testing the waters as it were.

Naivia Caeilia Selona

 

[Naivia Caeilia Selona]

"With all due respect to you, I am far from being mercantile and certainly not a potential trading partner or anything like that, and even if some of my words may have legitimacy and weight as a representative of a planet with a population of up to 70 billion sentient and thinking beings but certainly not here, and certainly not in terms that will serve completely different purposes later on when both of our sides are conducting their own steps and analytical methodologies during such talks. But I will ask you to mentally approach such a base terminology as simple knowledge, and based on your unique life experience to go under the vaults of my psychological horizon and try to look at it from the underside as something far from primitive and even having a great potential and value in the eyes of my family, because of which, I hope, it can be concluded that my family is not only a political-economic player, but also a certain group of deeply thinking subjects, looking into the future beyond a couple of days of their professional and personal life. At this moment I am primarily pursuing a rather prosaic, far from the literary world of miracles and metamorphoses , down-to-earth goal of outlining the principles of negotiation around which my argumentation and the entire corpus of verbal speech and physical documentation will be built. In no case, on my part I do not plan any degree of pressure and attempts to suffocate quite active and organic life of your organisation, on the contrary, and here I will reveal you a little secret, my family needs the help of personalities possessing knowledge, abilities, dignity and vision of the subject, acceptable for work on culturally and religiously forming ideas for further ideological unification of races and companies, living and conducting their activity on the territory of our planet, as well as onindividual territories and facilities under the legal protectorate and economic eye of my family's leadership.. In other words, we need help in creating ideas that will increase the degree to which the citizens vision of us, powerful families can relate more to the planet than to a distant galactic alliance, so even the experience of your organisation can be useful in trying to realise this idea for the benefit of both our sides, which is what we will be talking about next." Selona continued her part of the speech, fully immersed in the idealised world of political and social statements and agreements she had created.
Darth Strosius