Getting to work

[Empress]

The inauguration fairs had continued through most of the day. Though at this point it was purely for face, and to woo the major corporations, supporters, and other members of the bureaucratic elite. Naturally it would be expected of the Chancellor to arrive, shake hands, and indulge in well crafted small talk that hid the well woven words of political flirtations.
She had done this all before, though as one of those forced to smile and play games with the current chancellor. Being the one to be pandered to was something the new Pantoran Chancellor was less than thrilled about.

Hisako stifled a yawn as the elevator doors to her new office opened. Having just returned from her searing in, and the vast amount of preparations leading up to it she was understandably exhausted. Yet even though the celebrations continued outside work began right away. Taking a moment to gather herself, the Pantoran paced about the office recently restored to a " default" red colour scheme. to her there seemed to be no refuge from the colour save for the wall length window overlooking the city planet.

Upon the desk Hisako spotted a lone datapad containing her agenda for the remainder of the afternoon. It was traditional for the Supreme Chancellor to receive military, and intelligence debriefings, and often meetings with the former Chancellor. However traditions were thrown off slightly this time. Hisako sighed slightly as she wondered the ill omens of such an unconventional start to her administration.

Finding it best to waste no more time, the young cerulean hued leader of the Republic forced herself into the chair, resisting any urge to think of it as anything more than another day of work. Her to do list for the day was fairly simple, to start she had to appoint her new cabinet, a position of two individuals tasked with aiding her at the administrative level. She had candidates for both positions open already in her mind, but convincing them to take said posts was far from over.

Senator Barrington, Autumn, and one shock she did not expect to see nestled in between the two. Ahdam Bac had requested a moment. Given the circumstances, and who his father was it made sense he would be allowed a scheduled appointment, however for it to be on a day dedicated to business was more than a little curious.

 

[Will]

Barrington tried to get comfortable in the chair, uncomfortable being on the 'wrong' side of the desk. He eventually found a modicum of comfort. He smiled as he finally regarded the Supreme Chancellor. She seemed haggard already. The incident had left everything a mess, it would be a while before they were running on even keel again.

Barrington was wearing one of his nicer suits, pinstriped, with a burnt orange trim that would be flashed occasionally as Barrington moved. Fluidly, he pulled a case from one of the deep pockets in his jacket. He removed a tube from the case, opening it to reveal a cigar. Expertly, he cut the cigar, placed it in his mouth, and lit it. He held out one to the Chancellor.

''I've been saving these for a special occasion. THe leaves are picked from one plantation that only produces a tonne of the finest product a year, due to the rigorous bio-screening, and is rolled by the tongues of female Twi'lek virgins.'' He puffed on his own.

''You can taste the quality.''

He kept his grin on his face as smoke curled into the air.

''Now then, Supreme Chancellor, to what do I owe the pleasure of your summons?''

 

[Empress]

Hisako arched a violet brow as the Senator spoke of his choice in cigars, tentatively reaching across the desk to take the one offered to her in hand. " I'll save this for the events tonight" she stated, a warmth to her voice that managed to betray her appearance of formality. The day was already going to be a long one, and the Office was private enough to allow her shoulders to sag. Taking the datapad in hand, the young Pantoran reclined back and scrolled past a few notes before returning her gaze to Barrington.

" You are well known to be an ass...cold...separated from the fighting and childish name calling of the senate majority" she stated matter o' factly " You keep your mind squarely focused on the task at hand and command the committees you over see as if they were a corporation rather than a political body" The pantoran quirked her lips as she looked past her brow at the man wondering if her bluntness had caused him any discomfort, which she admitted would be quite amusing given the amount of times the two had butt heads in the past. " but you're also very well connected through out the chamber, and seem to know well what is going on to a level that many of your constituents are ill aware of. You're constantly calling for inquiries and probes into almost everything that comes to the floor, and it seems values information just as much as one does credits. and it's because of this that I need you..." The pantoran paused and took a full look at the man across from her as she allowed her vague statement linger in the air for a moment to gauge his reactions.

 

[Will]

An arse, she had called him. He'd heard that in the past. He puffed on the cigar, savouring the taste. This all seemed to be leading somewhere, he thought.

He took the cigar out of his mouth as he spoke, smiling thinly.

''Well, knowledge is power, Chancellor. And he...or she who holds the knowledge, holds the senate.''

He tapped a bit of ash into the tray on the desk.

''Everything can be equated into the laws of business. It keeps everything...efficient, neh?'' He said, his smile curling. He knew the Pantoran didn't believe in his view fully. They had clashed over the idea of how the senate should be run many times before.

''I presume of course, this ego stroking is leading somewhere? Or am I getting a dinner out of this?'' His smile became a grin. A small glimmer of light-hearted banter to ease into the meeting.

 

[Empress]

The Chancellor allowed a slight grin to cross her lips as she rose from her chair " Come now Senator, we both know where I stand on inner office relationships." The irony in this was that the Pantoran herself didn't actually know where she stood. Dating, passion, romance; they all seemed so foreign to her. She was not even sure if she ever took the time to appreciate the oppisite sex, or members of her own. The whole thing felt to be a distraction and so never addressed.

" the Situation is this" she continued, returning to business. Hisako began to pace in front of the massive window, hands cupped together at the chest as she chose her words. " The Republic is in disarray when it comes to passing along information, commands...something that should be known by person " A" from person " B" somehow passes through persons " R" , " Q" and a person " 4 " but rarely gets to " a" as it should. this comes on a domestic, as well as military level, the intel reports that I've now been given access to are a mess, there is no straight line to the structure...To combat this Im establishing two new positions here in the Chancellor offices to help combat this. One to aid in military affairs, the second to take on the intelligence community, as well as the domestic affairs about the Republic."

Hisako stopped in her place as she turned and returned to the desk, leaning across the table braced on open palms. " It is YOU Senator that I would request fill the role of one such position in my cabinet as Secretary of Affairs."

 

[Will]

Streamlining. They always came to him about this. He didn't mind the work. He wanted this republic to become more efficient. Efficiency brought change. To have such a seat at the high table. It would be useful. He could deal with those fools trying to throw spanners in the works.

Of course, the main draw was the intelligence community. There were whisperings of behind the scenes action, of course. There always was. Barrington had not been foolish enough to pursue those rumours. They led to messy 'accidents'. To have such a power in his hands. Using it, he could certainly make some changes.

With the approval of the good lady Chancellor, of course.

''An offer I am tempted to take, good Chancellor. I have a few gripes, though.''

He drew in a long breath, puffing the cigar.

''I need to know about this 'intelligence community' I'd have control over. You obviously know little of its workings, you're only in today. Another problem is the extent of power. How much is done within my jurisdiction?''

 

[Empress]

The Chancellor returned to her full height and resumed her methodical pacing, eyes watching her own feet as she listened the the Senator. " This would more or less make you the chief director over all internal affairs, including groups such as R.I, as well as other civil and social aspects...giving them all a central point to return to before coming to me in utter disarray." Hisako's words sounded breathy as she paused to collect her thoughts, the early days fatigue setting in after the whirlwind events the past week " Of course more specific details can be hammered out in time, however getting these places filled is imperative if we look to move forward. "

 

[Will]

He would hold all information. All knowledge could be held in his grasp. A lofty height indeed. And to be the chief exponent in cleaning the Republic to boot. His smile broadened slightly, teeth just showing.

''I would gladly accept the position as your secretary of affairs, Chancellor. I will, of course, need access to all information, including that classed as 'Top Secret', to do my job properly.''

He kept his relaxed posture, but his mind was already working on solutions to problems using his new position.

 

[Empress]

The Pantoran smiled and nodded her head as her shoulders visibly eased. " Very well Mr Secretary." she stated warmly, even her tones now showing some relief to have made some ground for the day. " Your office will be moved up here to the main building below, once your come in on Prime day I'll have everything you need ready for you, and waiting on your des-"

Hisako's words were cut off as she noted a message coming across her datapad, It would seem that Ahdam Bac had come early, and it seemed urgent. The message from the receptionist droid stressed privacy. Her smile faded as she wondered what could be so urgent. Surely whatever it was the Secretary should be made aware of. Then again, she thought, if it's important enough he may not wish to speek openly if others were about. It was his words that helped bring her here after all, and it was the least she could do.

" I may need to take a pause" She said apologetically " seems something came up I need to see to...but please, take time to get aquanaut with your office, or get connected with the staff here, I wont be long, and I'm not quite done with you just yet"

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Ahdam's foot kept tapping against the floor over and over. Even the receptionist droid, who one would think wouldn't have any sort of personality, seemed to be growing annoyed by it. Ahdam couldn't blame it. He was a nervous wreck; sweat was pouring down his face, and he'd have to come up with an excuse as to why.

It wasn't that he was afraid to meet the Supreme Chancellor. His father was Supreme Chancellor, after all, it was just that…well, that was exactly it, his father was Supreme Chancellor. The only reason Hisako Hoshiko assumed the Chancellery was because Ahdam killed his father and incapacitated the sitting Chancellor, yet Hoshiko would never know that she was only in power because Ahdam had blood on his hands. He could barely face the office that his father once worked in every day.

Yet he was assuming one of his father's most important jobs: informing the new Chancellor of the existence and operation of Sector 13. Ahdam wasn't assigned to do it. No one, after all, knew about Sector 13 save for agents themselves—agents like Ahdam, codenamed "One" or "Agent 1." With Alcor gone, though, someone had to take the initiative and let the Supreme Chancellor know just what she was getting herself into.

He looked down at his watch; he'd already been waiting for fifteen minutes. He was early, but he was the son of the recently deceased former Supreme Chancellor. People like him weren't meant to be kept waiting but some droid.

Ahdam approached the guards, both of whom he knew to be Sector 13 agents—Sector 13 agents always guarded the door to the Chancellor's office, regardless of whether or not the occupant knew who they were—and stopped in front of them.

"Gentlemen," Ahdam said with a sarcastic smile. "When the winds of Alderaan blow gently on your kneecap, the frog leaps over the angels on the moons of Iego."

The guards, knowing the ridiculous code phrase that Ahdam had fed them, stepped aside. Ahdam approached the door and it slid open, allowing him access. It was the first time he'd been in the Chancellor's office in years, and it had barely changed at all. This would make it all the more difficult.

It seemed Ahdam and the Chancellor weren't alone, however, as another government official stood with the Chancellor. That official could not hear what Ahdam had to say, however, so Ahdam turned towards him to speak.

"You. Out. Now."

 

[Will]

He smiled, rising fluidly.

''I'll be in my new office. I'll need to make it mine. No red, that's for sure.''

He buttoned up his suit jacket, nodding his head to the chancellor.

He strode into the office, still neutral. He tutted. No where near the opulence he was used to. And so garish. He'd have to sort this. He sat in the chair, jumping up when he found it so damn uncomfortable. Not good at all.

He would have to make changes here.

 

[Empress]

Hisako watched the secretary depart with a warm smile, hands clasped over each other at her lap before she turned her gaze to the son of her political hero, her smile just as warm and inviting as she could manage, and meaning it as well. She noted his demeanor, but did not allow it to affect her. Her mind however was already picking apart his urgency and stark difference in mood to the others about them.

" Ahdam... Unexpected this early, and shocked to see you even bother showing up at all today, I'm shocked your not being dragged through all those tedious celebrations and conventions today...is something the matter?" The Pantoran's brows knitted slightly, but not enough to wash her kind expressions away, though her shoulders did tighten slightly.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

“If I had to sit through another one of those, I’d end up kill—”

His voice trailed off. He coughed, clearing his throat, trying to avoid any mentions of death and killing in regards to himself, even if they were sarcastically said in jest.

Ahdam continued, regaining his composure, “They’re unbearable, yes.”

Stepping closer towards her as the Senator left, Ahdam pulled out a small device from his pocket, one that the Sector 13 guards stationed at the security checkpoint allowed him to carry through. He set it down in the center of her desk, and with the push of a button...nothing at all seemed to happen. At least nothing that could be seen visually, of course.

“This device just disrupted all recording devices and security feeds that may be in this office,” Ahdam told her. “I have men in the security room in place in order to prevent anyone from knowing about this.”

Without allowing room for further discussion, he pulled out an encrypted datapad and also set it on her desk, punching in the code that would allow her to read it...and to enable the failsafe designed within it.

“This pad contains information regarding a secret intelligence agency operated within the Republic, and the pad will short circuit once you reach the end of the files” Ahdam told her. “My father was the one to brief Chancellors Hapor, Salandra, and Mohatu about this, but circumstances obviously demand that someone else take over the briefing.”

Ahdam continued, “To break this information down succinctly, for the past seventeen years the Republic has operated a covert intelligence gathering and assassination agency called Sector 13. Officially this organization doesn’t exist. No records are kept, there is no public knowledge, and no one in the government knows about this but the Supreme Chancellor.

“It was originally created to gather information on any potential Alsakan resurgence after the war,” he explained, “but it’s become invaluable in the war against the Hutts. They also helped take down the Jade enterprises about a year ago. They specialize in information gathering and assassinations, both military and political.”

Ahdam, revealing one of the bigger secrets that wasn’t in the datapad, “I’m one of the agents. I was the first, Agent 1. Codenamed ONE. I was appointed by my father when he created the angency, and I am the only agent you will ever know the identity of. Confidentially is key. The director of Sector 13 reports to you and only you. There is no oversight. They are fully under your command.”

She would undoubtedly have questions, but those were the basics facts. He paused, giving her time to digest and process everything she was hearing, and so she could formulate her questions.

 

[Empress]

The pantoran's stomach knotted instantly as she scrolled through the first sections of the data files offered to her, though trusting what she heard from Ahdam. The concept of such an organization seemed to make perfect sense to her. After seeing the initial collection of problems, and intel reports left on Mohatu's open files left to her told a tale in which such a group would be so vital.

However the knowledge also made her feel lightheaded, and ripe with worry. The Senate was always looking for something like this whenever something happened, were it something major or not. It was the political nature, always looking for scapegoats or scandals to propel oneself to higher positions of influence.

" This ...this is big" she sighed, rubbing her temple " I'm glad the senate has never learned of this, though now that you mention it the sudden fall of Jade makes sense...and some of the basic reports about what's happened to them all fall into place....but you said I only know you, does this make you the director then? And who makes sure nobody else learns of this...sector 13. Surely there has to be someone on the inside in every major Government office to cover these things up. What about gathering agents? surely there has to be some system behind that, I mean, unless people can just ...magically vanish...."

 

[Brandon Rhea]

"It's not magic, I assure you," Ahdam said, and he left it at that.

It was quite ominous. The files would show her that there was no one else in government agencies who knew about this. There couldn't be. Sector 13 was overseen by itself, as its own police force. If anyone found out about it, an agent would act quickly and decisively.

A speeder accident here, a hyperdrive malfunction there. Anyone who had ever found out about Sector 13 who shouldn't have never lived long enough to reveal the secrets of the agency. Confidentially was too important. It was a selfish, naive view of transparency that allowed people to believe that they had a right to reveal the secrets of Sector 13, forsaking the galactic security concerns such a decision would bring with it.

"However," Ahdam continued, "I'm not the director. The last director is currently...," he thought about his words for a moment, "...indisposed. You'll be tasked with assigning a new director, who you will know the identity of as the director is not meant to be an agent. In the event you're so inclined to ask me, I must decline that request. That's not exactly the job for me."

Ahdam couldn't involve himself in a position that would require him to give the order to kill. Not after what he'd done to his own father.

 

[Empress]

The chancellor furrowed her brows as she thought. " Senator Barrington...He was just appointed as my secretary of affairs, over sees RIA, and other domestic facets....Were he to be in the place of a director he could remain close to me, and more over can bury things easily enough in his own departments so even the most minor of leaks or issues arising can get passed off as something else."

Hisako let another sigh escape her lips as she thought things through. Just what she had been told was more than enough to force her mindset to a more cautious nature. However there was more on her mind.

" This...agency aside.... I trust you could at the very least help me get the persons needed into place before vanishing off into obscurity?" her smile returned as she allowed her mind to travel to the other things clawing at her. " I also should point out something, I was recently in a conversation with Queen Sundromiko earlier." she started, her jaw tipping at the mention of the Alderannian queen. " And like old friends we started bantering over the little things when Laili mentioned the lack of a senator representing your homeworld."

The Chancellor smiled broader as she casually used the Queen's first name, giving strength to her closeness to the who's who of the political reality. " We both agreed that , given the current political atmosphere it would be best to place someone there whom could generate the support and compassion of everything Alderaan stood for, yet have the support in place here to make a difference...and you were the first, and only real name mentioned, and I was asked to pass on her request..."

The Pantoran knew it would be alot for him to swallow as well, given recent events, and the loss of his father. She , however agreed that his presence in the senate could be a powerful one, not only for Alderaan's sake, but on the whole. She did not pressure him much, giving him a moment while idly scrolling through the S-13 documents.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

((OOC: +9,000 internets for the use of the name Laili))
-----------------------------------
Ahdam smiled at the first mention of the queen's name. She had always been close to Ahdam and his family, especially after his mother passed away. She wanted to make sure that, even when her job was so demanding and when Alcor was away on business as a Senator or Chancellor, they had as normal an upbringing as possible. She didn't have to, she had no real obligation to the Bac family, but she did anyway. And Ahdam always got a chuckle out of her distinctly Corellian name, somewhat misplaced on Alderaan.

But the discussion turned far more serious after the initial mention of the queen's name. She wanted Ahdam to be…w…what? The Senator of Alderaan? This was the punishment for his sins?

He'd kidnapped. He'd killed. He'd tortured. Ahdam had done so many things unbecoming of the representative of the greatest world in the cosmos—and that was before he killed his own father. Now he was being asked to take the seat held by his father, tasked with representing a world that his ancestors helped colonize and build.

"M..me…?" he asked. He still couldn't believe he was hearing, and he kept mumbling, "M…me? Senator? Of Alderaan?"

This wasn't right. It was a reward for evil, a prize for murder. And Analia…what would Analia think? She had no idea what he'd done, but he'd told her all about his time as a Sector 13 agent. Her world was already upside down; her father was dead, her irresponsible older brother was actually a covert Republic agent…and now he would be the Senator of Alderaan?

"I'll, um, thank you, Chancellor, for telling me," he said. "I'll have to talk it over with my sister."

 

[Empress]

Hisako tipped hr jaw low, and nodded slightly, the conflict in his voice was evident. To her mind she could imagine the conflict it may have caused, being the Son of such a important figure who he, himself was once a Senator long before he became a Chancellor. The Pantoran could even see how this must feel to him given her new found knowledge of his " day job" however her feelings on the matter were as solid as the Queens.

" If I may add to it Ahdam, from my perspective...given your....expertise ...in certain things, It would prove a great aid to the Republic as a whole. We have Senators threatening to Secede constant security threats... A political guest from Zeltros was even abducted in our own senate receiving room." Hisako of course was refering to the kidnapping of the Zeltron Matron Aife. " Your skills could prove very critical to us in that regard."