Those Above

[Aela Talith]

Bestine

The Galaxy was an ever increasingly interesting place over the past few decades.

The Elders of her Clan had often told her stories of when things had not been so complicated, when galactic governments were a long distant memory and the worry of most people was where their next meal would come from, not who would invade them next. Rina couldn't imagine a time like that. Her Clan had been relatively isolated, but even they had heard tales of the One Sith, the Galactic Republic, the Fringe, all of them. It was a testament to just how erratic the galaxy had become, to how much things changed and shifted within only a short number of years.

Governments rose and fell, Empires, Republics, all seemed to come and go.

She supposed that even the Alliance would fall one day.

For now however, at least they seemed secure, or this party certainly made it seem that way. The Alliance, unlike other galactic governments, was really only structured in a loose way. There were dozens, if not hundreds of planets within the Alliance, but unlike with The Republic none of them were directly represented in a Senate or some sort of council, instead each world effectively ran itself. It was more fair to say that the Alliance was a defensive and economic union rather than an actual form of government. The worlds within The Alliance worked together for a common goal.

Of course, that didn't mean their goals didn't sometimes differ.

Rina had noticed it more and more as this party had gone on. It was hosted by the Governor of Bestine, a portly and rather happy man who was more than happy to talk to...well anyone and everyone, yet his guests weren't exactly the same. Certain Governors flocked to one another. Those of the border worlds tended to stay in the same circles, those within the core tended to stay to themselves, and those near Sullust all seemed to hover around each other. It was telling.

The Alliance wasn't by any means fractured, but there were parties even here. Everyone wanted something, more defenses, more trade, more...whatever. She could see it with how they moved around the party, who they spoke to and what they said, it was all simply...fascinating.

This was Rina's first exposure to such a party, and although the fancy food and the slow music was nice, it was the politics that she truly enjoyed. Seeing what each of the Governors wanted and how they tried to achieve it. It made the night far more entertaining that she ever could have hoped.

Watching, she took a small sip as a diminutive alien woman approached a group of people from the Border Worlds.

 

[Mya Jesel]

[member="Rina Bal'el"]
---------------

It had been a while since Mya had played a role in intergalactic affairs. She'd been focused mostly on internal affairs, but internal peace required time spent focusing outwards as well. Ones internal state depended on the nature of one's friends. Mya, newly elected as president of the Susefvi Republic, was here in her role as a head of state. Essentially, as far as she could tell, that made her Governor, within the context of the Alliance, but she wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps now was when she would find out.

At a party of all places, with the many governors of the Alliance. It was almost uncomfortable, being surrounded by so much wealth and power. She definitely wasn't used to it. Not growing up by working aboard freighters with spacers and the like, only getting involved in politics to make things better for her fellow tramp pilots, citizens who, in most cases, didn't have a voice in politics.

Her support had swelled from there- to the shipyard workers, the factory workers, and the working people. Not that others hadn't listened to their concerns and addressed them as best they could. They had, and had done remarkably well. But Mya was one of them. That meant something more and had helped carry her to the top. Now, well, she wasn't even sure what to do. She had her plan and her vision- but this was something else entirely.

Her diplomatic aides had prepared her for tonight by assembling profiles and information on the many governors who would be in attendance. She couldn't remember them all, but at least she could tell who was from which region, and which one Susefvi technically fell under. They were a border planet, but that was because they were way out in the middle of nowhere by themselves. The only Alliance world in the sector, in fact. It meant they were on their own when it came to defenses and reinforcements, but it also meant they were a prime trade world given the stability of the Alliance and how much economic influence it wielded. They just needed to capitalize on that fact.

She strode over to the group and nodded a welcome, hefting a glass of champagne from a serving droid.

"Hello, nice to see all of you here," she gave a small nod, "I'm Mya Jesel, president of the Suarbi system. I don't believe I've met any of you before."

 

[Jaius Sovv]

Swarmed. That was the best way to describe the way he was feeling at the present moment.

Of course, it was not an uncommon sensation for Jaius Sovv, President of the Sullustan Council and highest ranking civilian representative of the Alliance capital world. But these Governors had a habit of presuming he possessed more sweeping powers of the executive than reality would bear out. The Sullustan people were governed by no one individual, but a civilian Council in consultation with the Board of Directors of SoroSuub Corporation. In principle they ruled as one, governed Sullust as one. In practice, there was a byzantine system of checks and balances patched together over centuries of power struggle between the elected government and the megacorp, which at the moment left the Council in charge of internal affairs and legislation while SoroSuub shared certain civic and foreign affairs responsibilities. It was not a perfect system, no government was, but the enterprising Sullustans made it work surprisingly well while acknowledging and ever seeking to reform its rougher edges.

Jaius was a part a tradition he was proud of, even if the reverence with which he and his fellows were treated simply because their world was a political and trade nexus was at times overwhelming. The Sullustans were no strangers to the art of the backroom deal, corporate culture infused into their politics such as it was, but any matters of enough import would have to be brought before the full Council for deliberation, so at engagements such as these the President's role was largely a ceremonial one. Surrounded by well meaning but slightly pandering dignitaries from nearby systems, President Sovv took advantage of a lull in conversation to glance around the room, noticing some less familiar faces. With the way the Alliance was growing by the day it sometimes seemed, it was growing increasingly difficult to maintain a familiar basis with each and every government leader.

Still, it couldn't hurt to keep trying despite the futility. As public a figure as he was here on Bestine, Jaius resolved to conspire with his security detail to attempt to covertly extract him from the throng when the opportunity arose to, at the very least, thank the local Governor for hosting them. But for now, he continued to rack his brain for relevant information as he discussed estimated mining yields with the Dorvalla representative.


[member="Rina Bal'el"] [member="Mya Jesel"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rina Bal'el"], [member="Mya Jesel"], [member="Jaius Sovv"],


The droid Baron of Abregado-Rae stood by himself by one of the corners of the hall they were gathered in. He was clad in his old ceremonial Pyre armor, adorned not only with the older medals given to him by the Protectorate by new ones of Alliance origins as well, a little commendation after the Atrisian Incident, his signature black chameleon cloak hanging off of his shoulders. It seemed that the other Governors were not letting him join their politician games as none took their time to step up and speak with the droid just yet.

The machine probably had a mixed reputation among his fellow planetary leaders, to the Core Worlds he was probably besmirched by the reputation of his planet, as backwards and poorer than the Core standard, of course this has changed drastically since then as standard of living on Abregado increased with each day of his rule and that on planets like Atrisia or Coruscant fell drastically after their occupation by the Sith. For once Abregado was a safer and more prosperous place than some of its Core neighbors. It was this newly found posh state of the planet that turned away the Border World representatives, to them HK would be just another rich world politician to look down on them, and certainly his demeanor and titles would further that stereotype, the droid had a taste for the ornate and theatrical, his official title was the First Baron of Abregado-Rae, although some would call him a King or Lord.

Indeed some gathered there would remember the time when they were made to bent a knee before him, the day when Protectorate has crowned him the Iron Lord Protector and crowds on Fondor and throughout Protectorate territory cheered as a machine was elected by the Exarchs to lead one of the major galactic powers. Of course his rule was rather short lived, only few months at most, when asked about it the droid would claim that simply, unlike an organic leader, he managed to push through all the reforms he wanted swiftly and efficiently, needing only few months to do all he wanted and needed to do before being able to retire for a while. Others, however, would claim that the machine picked up on the pattern of galactic political cycle and predicted the Protectorate would collapse in the near future and simply did not want to go down as the last Lord Protector the faction had.

All the others would either not know who he was, assuming he was a serving droid they could get their drinks at, which happened a couple of times already but HK held his temper in check and decided not to strangle a representative of the allied world in public, would see him through the propaganda against him, as a tyrannical dictator who constantly spied on his own citizens, controlled every aspect of their lives, and quietly executed anyone who opposed him, or saw him through his own propaganda, as a strong but benevolent leader who was not afraid to walk among his citizens and who turned a struggling world into a prosperous jewel of the Core Worlds. In reality, the truth laid somewhere in between.

Still, politicians from his neighboring systems would be probably glad for his ships and Iron Company protecting the nearby trade routes from pirate activity, and some of the worlds now within the Alliance would still remember the Protectorate days when the Pyre waged a campaign against the Bando Gora, and the droid was there, always on the front lines, leading his troops in person, putting himself there as a literal shield, using his own armored body to protect both the innocent civilians suffering under the Sith cult's rule and the soldiers who decided to follow him into a battle. After all, not too long ago there was a time when HoloNet would regularly show footage from the Protectorate's campaign, usually with the droid somewhere in there being seen carrying an innocent or a wounded soldier off of the battlefield, there was one instance of a Tremor Maw attack for example where HK saved a child from a collapsing column.


But it seemed that the current trend of the day was to stay away from the droid governor/lord protector/dictator, and few were brave enough to brake the status quo during a semi-important social event.

HK swished a glass with a drink in it he held in one of his hands,

Why do I have this?

He wondered to himself,

I do not even have a mouth- hey that Sullustan looks really nervous, what a dork.

 

[Aela Talith]

(Sorry for delay.)
[member="HK-36"] | [member="Mya Jesel"] | Jalus Sovv

It was so odd to think that most of the people in this room controlled how the Galactic Alliance moved in a very real way. None of them reigned supreme of course, that was silly, but they either controlled their respective worlds entirely, or held an incredible amount of sway in the way they acted.

Rina didn’t have the same control on Kiffu.

Her Clan had crown powerful in recent years, but the Vos still held dominion of her world. She supposed that the representative of her homeworld was somewhere here in the mix, but she had as of yet to spot him. Her gaze slowly passed over the crowd, lips thinning slightly as she tried to recognize, and then name some of the governors.

Eventually her eyes found a curious thing; A droid.

The droid itself wasn’t curious, but the fact that it was holding a drink...and seemed to be playing with it was.

She frowned for a moment, watching the droid swirl the drink in its hand a few more times before her curiosity got the better of her. Slowly Rina stood from her place on the small sofa at the edge of the room and wandered over towards the droid. She did not want to be rude, but at this point there wasn’t really much else to do.

”I didn’t know they invented synthetic taste-buds.” Rina tried to be charming, though most found her...directness somewhat off putting.

It was not politic, as they said.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rina Bal'el"], [member="Jaius Sovv"], [member="Mya Jesel"],

((It's cool, Rina, it's a busy season for everyone!))

The droid's attention towards the Sullustan was taken away as what seemed to be a Kiffu woman approached him, making a quip about taste buds, at least she wasn't one of those who assumed he was a server droid,

"They invented a lot of things that allow us to breech the gap, for example we have air-filtering chemical-receptors that allow us to detect airborne chemical patterns and their concentration, or what organics call as smelling."

He subtly motioned towards the group of representatives of the other Core worlds with his head, some of them glancing their way as the woman approached their mechanical counterpart,

"For example I detect large proportions of bantha chit emanating from a group over there, they seem to be full of it."

HK quipped as he set the glass down on a nearby table, emptying his hands and returning his attention to Rina,

"That said, the glass was more or less handed to me by an overworked servers, I kept it around because it seems you organics enjoy toying with poisonous liquids at these sort of events. Even if I possessed the ability to taste or intake them, I do not believe I would partake in something that weakens my body and dulls my mind."

The droid offered his six-fingered hand to Rina in a greeting,

"I am the First Baron of Abregado-Rae, most call me by my codename within the Protectorate regime, the Iron Knight, I am the first unit of the thirty-sixth series of Hunter-Killer droids."

It would have been much easier if the machine just had a specific name, but it seemed to be a luxury few synthetics were given, at least he didn't addressed himself with his serial number!

"You are a Kiffu is that right?"

He motioned with his other hand to her facial tattoos,

"That was one of the worlds who gave me trouble when I was chosen as the Lord Protector, the Vos did not enjoy the idea of having a machine as their overlord. I had to divert special efforts to meet with them and establish personal relations in order to quell their worrying."

Of course that didn't went very far, the droid ended up stepping away from the Galactic theater before really seeing those diplomatic efforts through.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="HK-36"]

”I believe most off-worlders dub as ‘Kiffar’.” The correction came with no bite to it, making it clear that Rina was just offering the droid a friendly bit of advice rather than being angry about the misnomer.

”We are a proud people.” She admitted. ”Stubborn, and insistent on staying within our own bounds.”

Most Kiffar did not ever travel off world, and when they did it was only one rare occasions. The Clans usually preferred to stay within themselves. Their society was an insular one, which was why Rina even being here was somewhat rare. Usually one only saw Kiffar when they were in the reaches of the Jedi Order or some other more distasteful organization.

It was simply their nature.

”I regret to say that droids simply aren’t a part of our daily lives, and thus many of us look upon them with a certain amount of...caution.” Kiffu had machines of course, even droids, but they usually weren’t capable of independent thought. Most of them were simple drones, tasked to do one thing or another.

It was no surprise to her that Clan Vos had objected to any droid ruling over them.

No matter how smart.

”I am Rina Bal’el.” She offered the droid her hand but gave none of her titles.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rina Bal'el"],

"Well I regret to say that the Kiffar are not exactly part of my daily synthetic life, at least not anymore. But I will remember the proper term, that does explain the origins of some of the conflicts between me and the Vos now."

HK quipped, personally he thought 'Kiffu' sounded better, but that was neither time nor place for such a discussion, after all the goal was to make a somewhat of a good appearance in case there was an opening for establishing leadership over other planetary governors. Always looking for some elbow room to grow.

"I understand the aversion, although Artificial Intelligence has been around since the days of Ancient Republic, droid independence is a concept that came about very slowly, and usually the whole process has a rather bad reputation as these revolutions often come about violently. I was only able to achieve my own independence and then establish a droid-lead regime fairly recently because I was one of the first droids who were given the ability to learn and adapt by mimicking and repeating the reactions of others under variables I have not been prepared before. I used this to befriend and ally myself with variety of organics, Jedi, Mandalorians, Protectorate, and relied on them to help me first achieve my own independence then secure my rule over Abregado."

HK explained, shaking Rina's hand,

"It is a pleasure to meet you, miss Bal'el."

The droid nodded, before looking away to scan over the room,

"Perhaps more droids would be capable of what I have done if their minds were not wiped so often. Are you here representing the Kiffar government?"

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="HK-36"]

Rina had no real comment about the mind wiping of droids nor did she really have any interest in getting a political discussion about the rights of sentient automatons. She felt a bit...out of depth when it came to that particular discussion, especially given her lack of relative experience in the field.

So instead she simply smiled, nodded, and moved the conversation along.

”I’m afraid not.” She told the droid with a smile. ”Clan Vos appoints the Governor of Kiffu, and thus it rather rules my clan out from participating within the more...official proceedings of things.”

There was no hostility in her tone. ”I’m here simply to observe, and to learn.”

It was true enough. She was rather ignorant about more than just droids. Her Clan had been...well isolationists for the past several centuries. The ways of the greater galaxy were a mystery to them, and herself. That was why she was here, to pry away the mystery and learn more about how the galaxy worked.

”An educational trip if you will.” She said it with a smile.

 

[Mya Jesel]

[member="Rina Bal'el"] @HK-36 @Jaius Sovv
---------------------

The initial conversation had been less... interesting than Mya had initially thought. It had wandered to discussions of some of more recent Core world fashions that had begun to make appearances in the border world upper echelons, but still not on Susefvi, so Mya was very unsure of what they were discussing. Then it turned to the raids that had been hitting worlds around the galaxy. First in the Core and then along the borders.

That concerned Susefvi. Even as an Alliance system, they were the Eastern border on the Southern galactic portions of the Alliance territory- the only Alliance system in the sector. If anyone went to strike them, they had decent defenses, but against a determined military offensive? Or a particiularly ruthless raid? They'd be hard pressed to hold them back. There were rumors still of the Jensaarai, but she didn't believe them. And even if they were real, what could they possibly do? She was responsible for the safety of the Suarbi system now, and she had no desire to let them down.

Then something caught her ear. Mining output? She excused herself from the discussion and made her way over to the conversation, trying to make notes of the information as they talked. Her background with mining was hauling the cargo rather than actual mining, but it gave her some knowledge, and it was a big deal for Susefvi. She'd had to get up to speed rather quickly.

"Pardon me," she said, sliding towards the conversation, "I'm President Mya Jesel of the Suarbi system. Talking about mines, yeah? What type of mining are you talking about? I might be able to make some estimates that can help you out if you want."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Rina Bal'el"], [member="Mya Jesel"],


No one blamed Rina for not lingering on the topic of artificial intelligence, HK was just ready to go off on a tangent concerning droid minds and independence pretty much off of nothing, for obvious reasons the whole discussion struck home to him. Besides, it usually allowed him to brag about how his programming was superior to that of other droids and he was never one to be above excessive bragging.

"I see, you are a student then, and an observer."

HK nodded at her words,

"Funnily enough, my first title when I was given the governance of Abregado was also that of the Observer. I was supposed to merely 'watch' the local government proceedings and 'guide' them towards remaining in line with the Protectorate agenda. I suppose, I could not keep my grabby-grabs,"

That was his word for his hand-equivalents, no judgement,

"out of expanding my administrative duties."

The droid quipped and slightly turned to look over the crowds there, noticing a representatives of Surabi chatting up some people about mining,

"Either way, I hope that you are finding this educational trip informative as to how Alliance works and the governments within it. We are somewhat unique in that there is not really an overarching federal structure to place their will upon the member-planets. Of course if one of us decided to support the Sith with military aid then I suppose the Alliance navy would be forced to step in and reign them in, but thankfully we did not had such an event yet."

I mean, they did, with Ultimatum and Mustafar, but HK likes to keep that under the table because it would most likely bring up if it's a good idea to let other droids rule as well,

"I would offer you to come to Abregado and witness our political proceedings there, but it is a rather boring system. Our senate does not function currently, instead there is a council of advisers who inform me of the consensus among general public and all the decisions are done either by me or one of my copies overseeing the proceedings."

He explained briefly before looking at Rina again,

"Are many of your Clan allowed to take these educational trips as observers or is this a rare occurrence for you?"