This is Major Tom to Sieger Ren

[Jorus Merrill]

I didn't have the private comm number for [member="Sieger Ren"]. But I spent the better part of a decade fighting the Lords of the Fringe in what's First Order turf now, so I've got a couple old files squirreled away. It's nothing huge, it's just the kind of setup where, if you send the right thing to the right place, there's a decent chance it'll bounce, bounce, bounce until someone sees it and understands what it is, decrypts it, passes it up the chain. Might take a year, might take an hour. It's not the most reliable way to do business, I get that, but it's got the advantage of...

...well, not much, it's just cheap enough I can afford it.

Anyways, the message was this: if Sieger Ren holocalled some anonymous number that bounced off half a dozen ion-scramblers before dead-ending in Wild Space, he'd get ahold of me. Face to face (ish), heart to heart(ish), man to man. Or maybe he'd just ignore the message or Force-choke me from ten thousand parsecs away, but whatever. Crap happens.

 

[Progflaw99]

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“... a strong character is one that will not be unbalanced by the most powerful emotions”
― Carl von Clausewitz​

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-​

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Over 370 times. Three Hundred and Seventy. That was how many times the message had been bounced from relay to relay, into the holonet and recast via subsbace, sometimes two or three times past that before the message terminated into endless void. Not all of them had ended that way however. The First Order's reach was wide, surprising perhaps then that the first reported instance of the subtle call had come from Coalition space, a First Order Security Bureau safehouse located in the underworld of Terminus. From there it had been sent to the Bureau, as were nearly all of the messages obtained from outside of First Order space. Endless rows of supercomputers, seen to by droids, processed the information before automatically assigning it a priority which would then be added to the queue which was processed by a Bureau analyst.

Sometimes these messages could sit for days, weeks, the lowest priority of them even a month or longer. The message sent by Jorus Merrill however escaped that particular fate. After a complex network of digital shuffles and even a few passed datapads, the transmission had found it's way into the hands of an upper Bureau official. From there it had been tight beamed directly to the Supreme Leader. The message was simple, in fact less of a message and more of a destination. Preliminary reports put it in Coalition space but after the third or fourth ping off of relays, the Bureau couldn't do much to trace it farther. Contrary to what some believed, the Coalition wasn't stupid - just loosely scattered. Even the truth in that was in question after the latest First Order expansion attempt in support of the government's mandates. The thought brought a momentary flare of anger to the surface of the Supreme Leader's otherwise placid expression.

"Jorus Merrill." his voice broke the silence of the throne room. ​

​

The displeasure in his tone echoed in the chamber, more of a sneer than a statement. None dared enter here, not at present. His own guards had been dismissed - posted outside the vaulted chamber while he meditated. Meditated or fumed, he wasn't sure what the difference was. Sieger Ren had always been something of a mystery, even to those around him - Natasi Fortan, Supreme Commander Asharad Graush, even to those among his secretive Order of Ren. His interactions with the outside galaxy largely done through intermediaries, messengers, and through action rather than diplomacy face to face. He could count on one hand how many times he'd actually spoken with any other leader - and even those of only the most prestigious or influential governments in the galaxy. There was an exception however: The Queen of Naboo. One [member="Jamie Pyne"] had managed to reach him once before, whether he'd realized it or not. The two had exchanged words, ideas, even nearly come to an agreement - but Sieger's paranoia got the better of him. The temptation to utilize the methods of manipulation overcoming any lasting truth the woman had spoken into his mind. What was the phrase... Truth is relative?

A different truth now stared the Supreme Leader in the face, one he could continue to refute or he could take another chance. Though their discussion had not ended in a manner suitable to the woman's liking, or so he assumed, the Queen of Naboo had planted a seed. No matter how small it had sat there, nestled deep beyond perception and as Sieger's eyes passed over the encoded message one more time a subtle push was all it took.

A few seconds passed, a defeated sigh as his fingers crossed the console in the arm of his throne. A small holoprojection appeared before his eyes as the call sought out its destination.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

I'm not as connected as I used to be. All I really knew about [member="Sieger Ren"] was, well, the pronoun. The guy in the holofeed looked about how I'd imagined: late middle age, same as I'd be if not for all that wonky one-time new-body stuff. Might be Sieger himself, might be someone else in the First Order. No way to know for sure.

Either way, this was a guy who'd seen just about everything and wasn't impressed. Fair enough. I looked like crap: half a week's stubble stained jacket, faded Corellian bloodstripes (lower grade), a tool belt, and work boots. I pulled up a chair and locked the door.

“I'm Captain Jorus Merrill. Thanks for calling, Lord Ren -- if that's what you go by. Don't want to step on toes that don't need stepping.”

 

[Progflaw99]

The man's voice sounded tinny, no doubt a product of the constant hopping of the message from relay to relay. Sieger's own location was largely obscured, his surroundings not included in the projection returned. As Sieger studied the man's features he committed them to memory - a face he would remember. A splash of defiant independence, eyes sunken, obvious witness to tragedy. Despite his visual appraisal, Sieger knew well enough that appearances could not be trusted. The irony didn't escape him.

"Supreme Leader is my official title, but I think our pleasantries are wasted. To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with Captain Jorus Merrill?"​

​

The man's name came off Sieger's tongue with a bite, a distasteful sour spoken only out of necessity. In truth, Sieger new little of the man directly, a mention in a report here or there, again in a brief at one time or another. It was one of his downfalls perhaps though that was why [member="Natasi Fortan"] was the face of the Empire was it not? Politics rarely bode well for a man of his power, of his hubris - and while he had been humbled upon the battlefield of Lothal, only a small number knew it. He would see to this odd occurrence, perhaps there was something to gain from it. Certainly he had nothing to lose.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

A younger me woulda taken the time to banter, but that's not my style unless it'll annoy someone into screwing up - and annoying [member="Sieger Ren"] wasn't today's goal. Not by a long shot.

"Wanted to get a sense for you, see what kind of common ground we could spark. I don't figure a long-term war's absolutely gotta happen, no matter how bad we've all escalated things the last few months, and no matter how the younger folks get up in arms. I'd like to find a way to dial things back that benefits everyone. Now I'm not a diplomat, unless you count flea markets on Terminus, but I think there's room to work something out. My big question is, do you?"

Wasn't a doubt in my mind that the Supreme Leader would be recording this. I didn't plan on being someone else just because folks might see, call me an appeaser, whatever. You do what you gotta. Screw the armchair critics; if they could do anything themselves, they'd be doing it.

 

[Progflaw99]

*Is that it?* Sieger was underwhelmed by the man's reply. A person didn't usually have the compulsion to reach out to the Supreme Leader of the First Order unless there was another motive. Sieger wasn't the type to merely have a chit chat for conversation's sake. It's why he had several layers of government arrayed at his behest, a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to conducting his business for him. Well, that and the assertion of power over them. What good was power if you were unable to wield it?

"...Do you?"​

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Captain Merrill's words hung in the air for several seconds, Sieger's fingertips tapping the arm of the throne. The question posed was a simple one on the surface but beyond it could have been an endless journey into the abyss. They all wanted peace, they all wanted stability, didn't they? It certainly didn't seem so, for the Coalition as the Alliance had before them resisted it at every turn. Safety, Security, these things were possible under the First Order but they fought against it so vehemently, so violently, as if the threat of eminent domain was leveled against their very souls. Sieger hadn't asked for that. How quickly the words of the First Order and their Grand Moff had been twisted, footage manipulated - even over the skies of Skor II, it was they that had fired the first shots. Killing First Order soldiers before they even reached the ground by blasting drop pods and transport vessels. *Every man is a hero of his own story.*

"What might there be to gain from such an accord? The Coalition's intent was made very clear at Skor II. It was the Coalition who fired the first shots. It was the Coalition who ignited these flames of war. Blood has always been met with blood, and at present there is a grievous imbalance, it must be repaid." Sieger took a breath, eyes searching the man's projected features. "You must have something in mind then Captain Merrill, that might see the flames extinguished?"​

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[member="Jorus Merrill"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Sieger Ren"]

"Something you should know about me," I said after a bit. "I'm not gonna play high horse games like the Alliance did, and you won't find many that will. It's the real world out here. Whoever shot first didn't have to answer to, I dunno, a committee in a shiny boardroom on Chandrila, or some Jedi Council obsessed with the moral high ground. Just not how things work around here.

"But yeah, I got something in mind. Truce, simple as that. I don't give a crap about losing face. I go public, speaking for myself, go off the reservation like I do, beg you for a truce. You say what you need to say, go all civilized, say you'll hold off on big stuff unless we provoke it. Coalition bosses either honor it or they look bad enough even they'll care. That's what I'm thinking. You down?"

I guessed maybe a two in five chance he'd tack on an extra demand and say yes. If not, or if that extra demand just wouldn't work, I had at least one more thing to offer.

 

[Progflaw99]

"Ah, Mr. Merrill." He said, a subtle shake of his head. "What you seem to forget is that this provocation of hostilities is not aimed at an organization or a foreign government. You yourself have admitted as such. There is no governing body overseeing your Coalition, merely a collection of smugglers and bosses. Criminals and brigands. This isn't about your coalition, nor the remains of the Galactic Alliance which call these realms home. This is about order."

Sieger let that sit for a moment, eyes peering into the facsimile of Jorus before him. The times were changing, the might of the First Order had been turned away, at least for the moment. These loose groupings of like minded individuals had managed to survive, clinging on like rodents as they fought viciously against the guiding hands of the Order. Time and time again Sieger had witnessed the phenomenon, people fighting against the order and security they so desperately needed all because some charlatan had told them otherwise. While the Coalition largely minded their own business, the lawlessness of the Galactic Southwest did contribute to instability in the border worlds of the First Order. It was only a matter of time before things bubbled over again... Perhaps Mr. Merrill knew that. Why else would he reach out in such a direct manner?

"Lawlessness abounds in the Galactic Southwest Mr. Merrill, perpetrated by a great number of your flock. Malice has never been the driving force behind the expansion of my Order but I fear with noses bloodied, it would be a trespass against my own people not to seek an equal or greater recompense. This coupled with the absorption of former Alliance holdouts and assets - you put yourself in a precarious position. Do you not see the dilemma which faces me now?"

[member="Jorus Merrill"]​