Ask Bold Ideas

[Annelyn Lerytel]

When Kalist mentioned the necessity of settling the funds that would be used to make the clones, Annelyn contemplated how she and Gatalenta would be able to help. While her homeworld was part of the Core, it wasn’t among one of the richest. With the economic crisis plaguing the New Republic, the situation became even worse.

"Unfortunately, I don’t think that Gatalenta will be able to help the creation of this army with many resources. We aren’t rich like many of our close neighbors, neither we are capable of producing ships and weapons.” economically, her homeworld was closer to an average Inner and Mid Rim one. “Most of our economy comes from agriculture.”

“At the moment, I can offer a small number of credits and have its production to be used to feed the soldiers. After all, they will be organic beings and are going to need food.” for now, it was the best that she could do. “I’ll need to discuss the details with the Council of Mothers, but I believe that this help will come. Senator Kalist and Senator Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl, would any of you two be interested to participate in this meeting? There is a chance that together we can convince them to also offer more credits.”

“As a Gatalentan, empathy and charity are prized values. Previously, we invested in the GHO. However, in face of what is happening in the Galaxy, the resources of my homeworld would be better used by aiding the Jedi and preparing Gatalenta for a possible Sith retaliation.” Annelyn expected that her decision would be frowned upon and that she was going to be called as a warmonger, but she was being pragmatic. The GHO made nothing to the Core Worlds.

“While we help one or other charitable institutions, the Empire continues to expand. I don’t believe that they will stop doing it, even when they overrun the independent worlds. Not all charity in the Galaxy will save us from them. At the moment, military measures are the best destination for our money and resources.” it was painful for her to ignore the suffering of several sentient beings, but it was a necessary sacrifice. Everything for the great good: the safety of the Galaxy.

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[Caliban Drast]

While the Senator from Champala was suppressing a desire to strangle him, Caliban was focused on what everyone else was saying. Considering the situation dealt with he had already moved on to matters at hand. But yet again he was forced to speak up against the Changrian Senator, and Caliban almost had to wonder if he intentionally trying to press his buttons. This time though, instead of trying to more tacitly countering his proposal he opted for a more direct approach.

"Any secrecy you might offer would have its own costs. Unless you have a private army of smugglers and pirates who can support this endeavor without seeking any additional payment, you will have to pay for such...secrecy as you call it. Saying nothing about the fact that Senator Kalist was right in suggesting transparency as a solution to allaying any concerns this clone army would raise among the general populace. Secrecy, underhanded maneuvers, illegal operations, that is not the solution. And if that is to be the direction we want to go in," he paused, looking around to gauge everyone's opinions on this matter, "well then Coruscant will have no involvement in this endeavor. So I would using funds in a more direct support of the creation of this army, one in line with the Senator's proposal."

That of course left him with having to provide his own answer to the key question, his standing on supporting the creation of this army. Years ago, as a rookie Senator, he would have thought only of the moral implications, of the direct impact on the people of Coruscant. Then his answer might have been different. But over the years he had learned to play the game that he once abhorred as political showmanship. He could not achieve the idealistic ends he wanted without playing the game, and it was with that awareness that he had to choose. Senator Kalist had strong public backing behind her, her actions in the Senate had earned her a degree of goodwill that the rest of them could ride on and face any backlash that might come from such a proposal. But they would have to play their cards right, a single misstep could spell ruin for the lot of them, and any chance of supporting the Jedi. Which only supported the need for transparency.

"Coruscant can financially support such an endeavor, if we go ahead with this then I am sure the GHO and the Star Guardians can do without us." He left out the fact that given how little of a presence both GHO and SG had on Coruscant, and just how vast the planet's population was, the vast majority of his constituents wouldn't even care if he didn't support either body. A decent chunk of Coruscantis didn't even know what GHO stood for, so it was the PR on galactic scale that he had to worry about. But he was willing to face what might happen on that front. He had faced worse and survived, he could face this. "While picking a donor is important, and would have an impact on the optics if and when we try to recruit more planets to this plan, it is not critical at this point. Right now we need to decide if this is the way we need to go, and whether it is financially viable with those present here if we cannot recruit others. An open book approach, centralized around one location to make best use of our finances, and ensuring that checks are put in place to ensure that the clones are treated humanely and that they are not treated like programmed drones. I believe that is a solid framework to build around, one that I could support."

 

[Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl]

"I agree that security is important, Senator Staergin, but I'm afraid this is simply too big of a project to keep under wraps; especially given our desire for transparency. Especially if we limit costs by only building one cloning site, it will be important to make that planet as difficult a target as possible." Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl looked around the room. "One thing at a time, however; funding must be decided first."

The truth was that Kashyyyk had little to offer in terms of finances even if Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl had wanted to. Suddenly losing half of one's GDP had understandably tanked Kashyyyk's economy, and while the refugee resettlement program combined with some aggressive policies had managed to slowly rebuild the planet's capacity, at its current pace it would be centuries before Kashyyyk returned to the level of affluence it had once enjoyed. In the wake of the Sith's bombardment, Kashyyyk had scaled back nearly all of their extraplanetary donations, with only token contributions going to organizations such as the GOH. Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl had considered the Star Guardians a worthy cause to invest in, but that had been before the costs of a clone army had been brought forward.

"In lieu of credits, the Star Guardians will be offered land on Kashyyyk upon which to build facilities" Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl said; open land being the one thing Kashyyyk had an abundance of (@LilyNion). Attaching an arbitrary monetary figure to the parcel of land might get his planet off the hook as far as financial compensation went, should the bill discussed at the Galactic Senate meeting also pass in the FWA Senate. "As for financing the cloning site or sites, we will offer what little we can spare." Kashyyyk had invested heavily in its defenses following the Sith bombardment, leaving its defense budget nearly tapped, and part of him balked at the idea of investing in a clone army- something that surely wouldn't go over well amongst his constituents. "I may be able to secure additional financing from some other FWA planets, but this will be a difficult sell."


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[Victoria]

Victoria straightened her back as she looked around the table and saw each senator make their case for why they could or couldn't contribute towards the programme. Representing both what was right and the best interests of your own planet was a difficult task, least of all when it came to determining funding priorities.

Sourcing funding was like drawing blood from a stone sometimes, people seldom like paying taxes even when it directly benefits them let alone funding a war effort. But a war wasn't won on fanciful wishes or optimism - it was paid for in blood and credits.

"Your offers of food and land are admirable, charitable even. It does not however pay for the clones to be designed, or made, nor housed nor trained. These things cost credits and credits can only come from two places - either on credit or by taxes. It would be outright impossible for any one planet to afford the upfront cost of this operation, but with adequate revenue streams, I think it could be doable."

Victoria surveyed the room before presenting her proposal.

"Gannaria offers this programme 5% of our export tariffs already levied, increasing to 10% over the next year. Likewise, we will not be able to provide assistance to the Star Guardians nor GHO ourselves, but I'm sure the other worlds in the FWA will continue its support. Senator Kalist, if the more prosperous worlds committed to a similar idea, how far would that take us toward funding this idea? We can adjust the numbers as needed."

There were other ways to raise the credits needed, especially for the more less advanced worlds. Victoria was hesitant to consider it but working with rather than against the claws could bring a healthy increase in the amount of funding she could provide. She shuddered to think of the cost such an idea would toll, however.

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[Trina Kalist]

Trina stared at the Senator of Champala, wondering why secrecy was being brought up as a commodity when seconds prior the importance of transparency was discussed. The Kuat Senator listened to everyone speaking, hearing some that could only offer little or others that chose to offer little or nothing.

“Based on the answers from this group, our scope is limited to one facility,” Trina explained, “And I’m considering Senator Staergin out of the conception of this project because, quite frankly, he has not offered up anything presently relevant,” She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and everyone here would know it, “Material is exactly what is important right now. Food and shelter for the clones mean nothing if we do not have the funds to create them in the first place,” She glanced over at Lerytel as well. Clones could take a while to produce and they would have plenty of time to figure out the food and lodging logistics with the help of the Jedi.

“With these considerations, I request that Senators Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl and Drast capitalize on their influence to bring others to our cause. With luck, that will help us secure more funding and invest in additional facilities.”

She looked at all of them, “Unless there are any objections, I will speak with the Grandmaster next to see if they would support this initiative at all.”

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[Aharon Staergin]

Aharon thought for a moment as he heard Victoria's small speech then Trina's, his lip twisted in thought. She did make a point, if this was to happen credits needed to exchange hands. It seemed no one else was going to do this besides Kuat and Gannaria, so it seems it may not be a very fast process. They had swayed the senator, something be was not going to admit lightly, but both of them were right.

"Victoria, Trina, you are right. Food and land may be useful, but money makes the galaxy go around. This plan is expensive, and I feel my previous offer may not be very effective as it seems my other New Republic constituents have more faith that the Sith will not just obliterate our planets for this..." he paused for another added effect, his voice carefully modulated to try and encourage the others to give whatever they could. Maybe if one domino fell, more would follow. "... so I will produce the one time donation for my planet and the others who have asked to the Star Guardians, then I shall put all that I can into this from both my planet and my companies. The Guardians are already getting trillions of dollars in funding from everyone, why let the ISC grow richer when they can foot the bill for this while we use our money to better ourselves?"

"I still can offer using my planet as a staging ground for this as well as whatever mined material I can offer, but I can over up to..." his eyes somewhat rolled into the back of his head as he was doing math inside of his head. He memorized last year's budget and he was going to use that to offer his projection. "... up to 9% of all export tarrifs, 3% of all licensing taxes, and finally 1.3% of all income from my corporations. It may not be the trillions the Star Guardians get, but atleast it will be fair enough to start us out. I also have some connections with the banks I can pull so we can get loans to further support this project if need be."

He was humbled by realizing that Victoria and Trina were right, and at this point what he projected was not the high and mighty he was used to. He made sure to be as authentically brought down to earth as possible. His facade admitted defeat, that someone else was right. A mutual victory would benefit the whole as much as it would him.

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[Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl]

Despite Trina's scathing criticism and straightforward words- a style Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl appreciated- the Wookiee wasn't so keen to toss aside potential allies; beggars couldn't be choosers, and the FWA was a long way from having that luxury. Apparently, though, the freshman senator knew enough about her fellow representatives to know how to get results; Staergin quickly came around and threw out some generous figures.

One facility. Aezzairrfhowrrhudrrl's heart sank as the contributions were added up; even with Staergin's added support, they still likely wouldn't have enough capital for more than one facility. "I will see what financial support I can drum up from others in the FWA" he said, already making plans for a campaign trail. "Assuming the Jedi are in agreement, one facility is too risky." Perhaps the threat of the kiliks- and the Order's sterling record in defending against them- might make this ask easier than a blanket "support the Jedi!!!" fundraising pitch, and internally the Wookiee was planning on beating his counterpart from Coruscant in fundraising; a little extra motivation never hurt.


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[Annelyn Lerytel]

Annelyn reflected about what she heard. Kalist wasn’t wrong, food would be of no use if they weren't able to make the clones. “Since Gatalenta will not need to share its crops with the army at the moment, the production that I offered will be sold as we normally do and the money from that sale will be given to fund this project.”

“Together with it, there’ll be what my world used to give for the GHO.” if she wanted to offer more, it would need to be discussed with the Council of Mothers. While they could be a bit stern, the Council was reasonable. Annelyn was certain that after a conversation she would be able to secure more funds.

“To increase the investments in the clone army, perhaps we could reach Aargau. There is a chance of their banks being sympathetic to our cause.” Annely wasn’t the greatest fan of bankers, considering them as two faced slugs. However, at the moment they could be an evil necessary. “Maybe Senator Drast with his prestige is capable of convincing them.”

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