Vox Populi

[Darth Empyrean]

The council’s murmurs grew louder as the congregation lay still. They were getting restless, all waiting for the newly elected High Chancellor to come speak to The Dominion’s elite; a young and somewhat mysterious man that had only just recently started his political career on Lorrd but managed to grow it exponentially. In only a moment's notice, he went from unknown in their area of space to one of the most influential members they had ever seen, to the dismay of many the more elderly partakes.

A silence rolled through the crowd as the alabaster politician came through to the slight swoon of the grouping; his words meeting microphone in a subtle elegance that didn’t betray the persona he put on.

“Welcome, my colleagues, Senators, and more; to our meeting.”

“To begin, I’d like to send my condolences to the Archlord and his family. He struggles from injury in these desperate times of our empire.”, his eyes panned the crowd, a scintilla of sadness permeating his tone.

“In his place, today we have his Regency; Roger Martin. He will serve as a direct line to keep our lord up to date in these times.”

Paxton motioned to the man in the seat next to him, forcing him to stand and bow before sitting.

“On today’s agenda, we must discuss our future goals and investments, our diplomatic relations with the various factions of the galaxy, the supposed controversy of our actions during the crusade, and finally various laws that govern us today.”

Shuffling papers, Paxton Bon brushed his hair aside before speaking once more.

“Firstly, we must decide if we intend to keep looking outwards with our expansion, or focus our budget and manpower inwards. Personally, I seek the latter; -”

He paused, taking a moment to breath before speaking once more;

“With the chauvinistic behavior many of us have taken on our neutral neighbors, I seek to bring those of our less colored variety into the folds of The Dominion through more peaceful means. By showing them the works we can create outside of war, through the beauty that is our construction.

Perhaps it is selfish of me to propose, but I propose funneling funding to our most developed societies, those the like of Ession, Lorrd, Neelgaimon, Mirial, and Serenno.

By making these the flagship planets of our great confederacy, I think we can usher in a golden age for the Outer Rim, and with it an influx of both substantial economic, but cultural scale as well.”

He leave off on that with a smile, waiting for the next to stand and make their point in turn. Although, deep down he somewhat detested the idea of people becoming combative to his ideas, but now wasn’t the time to let petty squabbles ruin his grandiose plan. He had things to do, after all.

│ [member="Dilbert Zambino"] │ [member="Grace Darkson"] │ [member="Adron Malvern"] │ [member="Alyson Halle"] │ [member="Darth Exode"] │ [member="Svetlana Y'Vari"] │ [member="Marrik Axiom"] │ [member="Bartic Myth'rand"] │ [member="Dune Rhur"] │ [member="Drox Fuga"] │ [member="Causstik Rahn"] │

 

[Drox Fuga]

A man in senatorial dark grey and sleek attire rose from his pod as it disconnected from the walls of the Senate Chamber. The Dominion symbol worn broadly on both shoulders of the suit. It was a simple long single suit that had a dark grey for the center of the body, flanked by lighter grey sleeves. He only stood there with the presence of a soldier, stern and steel eyes stared for 1,000 miles. That was until his focus was broken by the jolt of the pod stopping and flouting. This was the Lord Minister Drox Fuga, Ex-Commander of the 1st Dominion Army and Head of the Fuga Family. He had made many allies in his time as Lord Protractor as well as showing his loyalty to the Archlord during the award ceremony for the Hero's of Atrisia. His father died in the battle for the space that fateful day, leaving the Fuga Family name loved by many of the refugees. He was a military man and didn't want to enter politics, but he was offered a position on the Archlord's Cabinet as Lord Minister, a position he would not turn down.

The tall and young man stood before the senate, he faced the center of the room and look the new High Chancellor directly in the eyes. He measured the man, as this was his first time meeting the man. He broke the gaze and spoke to the Senate. "The Dominion has been fighting since day one," He paused to let that statement sink in, "we offer the worlds that join us a chance to free themselves from Tyranny, how are we to protect their freedom without a proper military,"

The Lord Minister pointed his finger on his terminal before him, tapping the metal to show urgency. "I propose the creation of a 2nd Army and a further expansion of this great nations boarders, we must free these neutral worlds of their oppressors and allow them to choose a life for themselves."

The man stayed in the center of the chamber, letting those who wished to appose him know they were going to face him personally in doing so. Drox believes only those who could speak their mind to someones face could spout their opinion, no matter how wrong they were.


@Dibert Zambino | [member="Grace Darkson"] | [member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Darth Exode"] | @Svetlana Y'Varl | [member="Marrik Axiom"] | [member="Bartic Myth'rand"] | [member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Causstik Rahn"]

 

[Nyos Val]

Standing in one of the upper rows of the congregation, Marrik, adorned in violet robes, similar to those warlocks of Dathomir wore during ceremony. He was accompanied by two brethren he'd recruited from Dathomir. The Nightbrothers would rise again, with the aid of the Dominion, Marrik would ensure it. Here, now, in the Senate, Marrik was standing idly by, watching, waiting for his moment to strike. Like the Hunters they were, Nightbrothers were patient, never rashly acting as it was an ill fated move.

For now, he'd be an observer, gathering information and waiting for the right moment to speak up.

@Everyone

 

[Darth Exode]

Countess Ravana Ardat, the Arch-Wych of Dathomir, looked on out at the Senate, the Night Mother on her Left, the Mountain Mother on her Right. After helping Conquer Dathomir, she had put herself in Power, but made it an Offer the denizens of the Planet couldn't refuse. By allowing her into power, they kept a woman leader, the Book of Laws would be upkept, but the exiles were allowed to join the Nightsisters if they wished. There were two representatives. The Night Mother, Leader of the Nightsisters, and Representative of the Night, and the Mountain Mother, leader of the Singing Mountain Clan, and Representative of the Day. Thus the two main clans were allowed to have say over their planet, but Ravana was usually the Tie-Breaker, and a Fair Tie-Breaker at that. Ravana wore her usual garb, but she had the robe of a Dathomir Witch over top, a nice Royal Purple in colour, edged with Red, though it wasn't exactly Gaudy.

"I, The Arch-Wych Ravana, and the Witch-Council of Dathomir is in agreement, that we need time to secure Dominion Presence on Dathomir, and that we do not have the time for helping in Waging war, Just yet. In one Standard Dathomirian month, we should be able to join the front lines and the armies of the Dominion. The Witch-Council believes, that this time will also allow the Arch-Wych time to continue her studies in Dathomirian Magics, so she maybe a better general, and better overall help to the Dominion." Ravana said in an authoritative voice, much different then her usual Flirty voice that she had. Apparently she could be serious. Occasionally.


[member="Dilbert Zambino"] | [member="Grace Darkson"] | [member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Alyson Halle"] | [member="Drox Fuga"] | [member="Svetlana Y'Vari"] | [member="Marrik Axiom"] | [member="Bartic Myth'rand"] | [member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Causstik Rahn"]

 

[Alyson Halle]

Alyson entered the senate hall, as empress, and therefore representative of her people, she doubled as the senator of the planet as well. The High chancellor had brought up the talking points for this meeting, the first of which happened to be expansionism. Alyson was quite dissapoitned that the archlord could not attend, he was one of the few people keeping this confederation together, hopefully he could return too. When it was Alysons turn to speak, she did so.

"First off i would like to extend my condolances to the archlord, he fought well over Irn, and he was an excellent fighter and is an even better leader. Now, i have seen the good that our expansionism, has done for the backwater worlds of the outer rim, when the dominion troops came through, it brought immediate and positive change to those worlds, i have first hand experience with the good that the dominion can bring, as just a few short years ago the people of my planet were living in mud huts, now they are building factories, using datapads, and engaging in interstellar trade. I think that expansionism does more good than bad for those on the worlds in question." She said.

"Thirdly, i think that funding already rich and developed would be a mistake, we should focus on developing underdeveloped and unpopulated worlds, making them into powerful assets to be used by the dominion. Many undeveloped worlds have numerous natural resources, and if we can develop them we can use them to both improve the economy and contribute to the military. Why sink money into worlds that are already greatly developed would give limited returns, a small amount of money goes a long way on a world that does not have much in the first place."

[member="Darth Exode"]
[member="Marrik Axiom"]
[member="Drox Fuga"]
[member="The Slave"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

The IGBC had no significant presence within the territories of the Dominion, but a curious Suravi had deployed one of her agents by proxy, Vice President Mellany Baker, to attend the Senate session now occurring. The Moff still didn't know what to make of the fledgling empire, so this would be a good time to observe and see if there could be a future with them.

After a little mingling with some Dominion officials, Mrs Baker would sit quietly and observe the session in person, while Suravi herself followed along via an encrypted holo feed transmitted by Baker's cyborg assistant, a modified biot embedded with a biocomm for instantaneous quantum transmissions free from the threat of eavesdropping.

She couldn't lie and say that she didn't feel a twinge of nostalgia for her days as Senator while watching proceedings, which had been the last good years of her old life. Here, she would give the Dominion credit for at least trying to be democratic, when autocracy seemed to be the rule of the land these days.

She took note of some of the proposals offered by various representatives, the most interesting to her being the call for the development of the Outer Rim. As both Moff and the secret leader of the IGBC, she had began similar projects in Wild Space. In the development of infrastructure, she could help the Dominion a great deal. Military matters didn't interest her as much, but within the Collections division, she had all the seasoned mercenaries ready and willing to bolster the Dominion's forces currently on hand.

[member="The Slave"]
[member="Cedric Grayson"]
[member="Alyson Halle"]
[member="Darth Exode"]
[member="Drox Fuga"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain had arrived with Dune to witness the senate's session. Her own experience was lacking in matters like this and she was quite curious as to what was going to happen. She listened patiently to the others speak and held her silence. It wasn't her place to speak to the multitude here.

However, this being a place to debate things, there was something she wanted to bring up with Dune. Turning to him and tilting her head to speak to him quietly she wanted only him to be aware of.

"My people on Eraton dealt with those that fell to the dark side with destructive and evil tendencies rather harshly. They were executed in front of everybody at the school."

She had noticed how the Sith were allowed to live within the Dominion with no real regulations. Remember exactly what Abraxis and Antherion had done were the best examples of this. They could also do as they saw fit in a situation. This was not something she was comfortable with and felt something should be done.

"Master Dune, I'm not suggesting that extreme here, but there should be some sort of limitations as to what they are allowed to do."

Her violet eyes without sight grew even more distant as she considered exactly what she was proposing could be done. Nothing other than very broad ideas came to mind, but the thought of just expelling or banishing them was there too.

"Perhaps limit them to specific locations or forbid them performing certain rites. If they kill somebody or go full chaos, then they should be killed, no question there."

Her voice trailed into silence as she waited for Dune to respond and maybe expand on her ideas.

[member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Grace Darkson]

Grace sat, listening to the others as they spoke. She wore simple robes, the black cloak on her shoulders pinned together by a golden broach. She was dressed proudly, like someone of her station, nevermind that she controlled two of the poorest worlds in the Dominion. Granted, Krayiss Two had no population, and the only reason it was valuable was the location it held on the Nache Bhelfia hyperlane. And that only mattered if the Resurgent Empire to their south began to act up.

No, she wasn't here to represent the jungle laden world hiding an old Sith temple. She was here to represent Vjun. The world was still poor, and though it was no Krayiss Two, or anywhere near as backwater as Meredies or Dathomir. Still, it was nothing like her homes on Ession or Coruscant. Grace often found herself wondering if the rain on Vjun ever let up. The castle was sorrowful, depressing even. It felt good to be out of it, even just for the occasion. Proposals were thrown out, and as [member="Alyson Halle"] spoke, she found herself nodding. "I agree with the Empress on the matter of Finances. Pouring money into the capitol, and the juggernauts that are Ession and Neelgaimon is a lot of cost to little reward. Much of Vjun is open, and the cost of building infrastructure there would be dwarfed by the returns. Build Factories of Meredies. Turn Vjun into a fortress world. Make Dathomir a trade hub. Give the poor worlds the ability to contribute to the Dominion's armies. You want a golden age? Let the other worlds become more than poor backwaters."

She turned her eyes to [member="Drox Fuga"], studying the man carefully. "The Dominion has been at war since birth. And there are those who wonder if we should take the time for respite, to lick our wounds and heal. To those I ask this; What of the Primeval? What of these cultists on our borders, who will raze planets and kill civilians for the worship of their twisted god?" She scanned the room, looking from being to being. "What do we say to the worlds to our north, our neighboring worlds without the protection of our armies? Do we risk these cultists dogs razing another world like they did Gravlex Med?"

[member="The Slave"] [member="Marrik Axiom"] [member="Darth Exode"] [member="Suravi Teigra"] [member="Jairdain"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

“Let me be clear, the addition of a well funded space station, elevator, or regional and standardized stock exchange to any of the more developed planets would do our empire far better than spending the outrageous amount of credits on bringing to fruition the careless hopes and dreams of bygone planets.”

The High Chancellor paused, glancing around the Senate before speaking once more;

“I apologize, I don’t mean to be rude; but the idea of turning a planet like Dathomir into a trade hub, or Vjun into a fortress world; would be extremely costly. They hold almost no existing infrastructure, and I see our funding going to far better sources by giving subsidy funding to already existing economies. Jump starting whole new ones as a means of growing our empire is nearly fruitless in returns.”

“While I do believe these planets should be utilized for their resources, why not let said businesses allow us a better hold than bringing the might of our administration in full bear against such lifeless planets? For what? A somewhat decent city surrounded by hamlets?”

“I say this, bring the money to the foundations of our economy, and with it you’ll find many of your planets visited by more and more economic ventures and public works.”

Paxton sat down once more, glancing around for the next to stand and make their point.

│ [member="Grace Darkson"] │ [member="Suravi Teigra"] │ [member="Alyson Halle"] │ [member="Darth Exode"] │ [member="Marrik Axiom"] │ [member="Drox Fuga"] │

 

[Riamah]

Ra stood in silence listening to the words of the others closely. She had never been a public speaker or one to draw attention to herself. Those few within the Dominion that she called friends were the only people she trusted fully and could be open with. Life was full of pain to her and caused her to withdraw early in her life. It taught her to be watchful and observant before speaking. However, she was now in a position where she needed to grow a backbone and speak for what she wanted to occomplish.

That being the rebuilding of Helska IV into what it once was and provide a haven for those that needed as well as the posibility of providing battle droids to the Dominion. If she could get the funds to help with that rebuilding, it would go a long way and provide another source for the forces of the Dominion.

"I am Ra'a'mah Numare and wish to point out the use of Helska IV. Right now it is an uninhabited wasteland, but it houses an old Imperial base that produced battle droids. The money that High Chancellor Paxton suggest be used to further enhance the already established world would be better used to build and rebuild those places that are less developed.
"Helska being one of these locations could be used to house refugees and if the factory was rebuilt, could then be used to produce battle droids for our forces.
"Not all of these funds would be needed for such an undertaking. I'm not suggesting terraforming or anything of the sort, just a rebuilding of what is already there.
"All that is needed are people willing to put in the effort and the funds to so.
"I will be spearheading the people to get them motivated to accomplish the goals set for Helska."

After her mission there, she had thought this a prime location to make such a retreat for the Dominion. An out of the way planet, nobody cared about in the past and had almost forgotten. A place where a few people's hard work could go a long way to provide a safe haven and droids for the forces.

As she finished, Ra let out a mental sigh and stepped away from the podium. Outside for people to see, she exposed her calm façade, only somebody that really knew her would know how she felt. Within the Dominion there were only two people that could feel her emotions. She was nervous in the spotlight, but would do what she needed to do. Internally, her intestines felt like they all bunched up and trying to wriggle free.

Though she remained standing, the attention was off of her, at least for now. If she did not feel the need to speak up again, then she would remain in silent observation for the remainder of the session.

[member="The Slave"] [member="Grace Darkson"] [member="Suravi Teigra"] [member="Alyson Halle"] [member="Darth Exode"] [member="Marrik Axiom"] [member="Drox Fuga"]

 

[Dune Rhur]

From his seat in the viewing area the acting Master of the Jedi Order listened to the proceedings. With him was one of the newer Knights @Jairdain. He'd remained quiet so far as had she. Her speaking up surprised him a little.

What she said was even more of a surprise. Eraton's extreme measures against the Sith appalled him. Exactly how much was the shock. Dune Rhur was about as much of a Jedi as one could be. But that wasn't how you dealt with others.

It wasn't right. To do so was little better than what the Sith would've done themselves. Perhaps no better at all. If you acted like a Sith then called yourself something else you were a hypocrite.

But Jairdain had a point. There had to be limits imposed for the safety of the people. He drummed his digits on his thighs as he thought. If there were limits only imposed on the Sith it would seem like a witch hunt.

"What limits are you proposing?," he asked just loud enough for her to hear.

 

[Drox Fuga]

Drox stood there floating in the center of the chamber, in true Military Stature, he stared at each person as they spoke. It wasn't a tactic, he was truely trying to get a read on each of the representatives that he served when he was Lord Protector. He looked to representative [member="Grace Darkson"] from Vjun, she wasn't an ally per day, but she agreed with him. He could play to that tune. Then there was representative @Ra'a'mah of Helska, a rather new addition to the Dominion. He meet with the Archlord during that battle, but reports said both the Sith and Jedi created the tipping point in that campaign. He might also be able to play off that as well.

If seemed like most of his new colleagues were new to the political game, he wouldn't capitalize on this. The Archlord would be upset if the Minister flexed his political muscle. This was a democracy now, they had the right to speak their mind, even if nothing may be done. "High Chancellor, your proposition to put our financial backing behind our leading worlds does carry truth," He bowed his head with his right palm placed over his heart. It was a sign of respect from Hapan Culture. "Unfortunately, like my senator colleagues from Vjun and Helska IV, as well as the illustrates Empress Halle, the foundation of this nation is the freedom and opportunity that we stand behind, I mean where else in the Galaxy could you find a government that freely allow a Jedi Order and Sith Supporters freely in our boarders and conflict be nearly nonexistent?" he looked at Grand Master [member="Dune Rhur"] and then at Representative Grace.

He look out to the rest of the senators, "Some of you here may have thought my proposal in creating the 2nd Dominion Army as a military man throwing around his weight, but I promise you all I look for the brighter future of the Dominion, He again paused as he searched for the words to resonate within the Senators, "Putting money in the military opens hundreds of job opportunities for this nations economy, back waterworlds open mines for factories to build ships, armor and weapons, this means jobs on those so called back water Worlds, and chancellor, if we can get Dominion Patrols on our hyperlanes and trade lanes with our allies, it will boost the Capital Worlds without any government backing and spending, we do this my fellow citizens of the Dominion and every world in the Dominion will prosper from this proposal, and we will grow stronger in the face of our enemies."

[member="The Slave"] [member="Jairdain"] [member="Suravi Teigra"] [member="Alyson Halle"] [member="Darth Exode"] [member="Marrik Axiom"]

 

[Jairdain]

Continuing in the whisper so as not to trigger the microphone at the front of the seating near them, Jairdain carefully thought of what might be appropriate limitations for the Sith.

"Do they not have rites or rituals where a sacrifice must be made? My people had not advanced that far as they were never allowed to get there, but I have read some of the histories of the Sith. Granted those are all in the past, but the great rituals called for human sacrifice.
They don't have cool heads under pressure so should not be allowed to govern or hold a political position."

She could feel where Grace was within the Force and nodded her head in her direction.

"They could be used in the military though and be warriors on the front lines, not in any position of command though."

Placing a hand on her chin, she fell silent in thought.

[member="Dune Rhur"]