Ask ISC Agenda: Forming The Military

Emryc Thorne

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Christophsis was one of the first worlds that came over to ISC, along with Thyferra. The capitol building in Chaleydonia now served as the site for diplomatic meetings. Emryc thought back to the days when he had been lobbying to get the support of the planet’s Governor. He had to jump through multiple hoops and work hard to convince her, and now she served on his executive council.

The President of the ISC sat in a large meeting hall with him sitting at the table up front. There were many other tables set before him with one representing each planet on the council. The crystalized planet always gave off a turquoise hue that bled in through the glass of the building. Emryc had arrived earlier than the others, dressed in a suit again. He had been dressing down more often now since his stint at the village, but he thought it prudent to be formal for this meeting.

While his proxy had held some meetings with ISC while he was away, no critical bills or decisions had been brought up outside of the continued AMS support. The agenda item for today was to discuss the formation of a unified military for the ISC. It needed unanimous support from the council in order to work, and the logistics and structure also needed to be defined. Emryc had cleared out his schedule for the next day or two as he knew this would take some time to deliberate.

The half Sephi’s silver gaze was frosty as he looked up every now and then from his datapad. No one needed to know that while he looked enthralled in work, he was actually scrolling through his fantasy Huttball app and checking on his draft picks. Emryc briefly switched over to his texts, firing one off to @Darth Stolas, who was currently preparing to lead an invasion on another planet.

He would relax until the others arrived.

@Nommie @Raydo @Nor'baal @Isen
 

Soygun York

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While it was a modern city and the crystalline structures certain had a sense of geometric symmetry and natural beauty to them, York found then to be...bland. There was no artistry here. As a real estate and construction mogul, York appreciated fine architecture, the blending of styles to create something new. But this? This was the same look, the same feel. From one end of the city to the other, the skyline may change, but not significantly. The great architectural marvel here was the Cristophsis Double-Towered building. Even the name was bland, and it looked like every other crystal-shaped building in the city...but with two towers instead of one. Double the bore.

Primitive clans had more diversity in their straw huts than this state of the art city.

But, there was a job to be done. While York couldn't be much help on what the ISC actually needed militarily or how to use that military, he knew it was an important step. All the more important with the Five Syndicates right next door and Preef Callo getting froggy and putting more and more systems and planets under his control. If he will jump on Nar Shaddaa, there was no limit to what he might try to pull. Where York could be of service is finding...."creative"...accounting methods to pay for these armies and navies. In many cases, he could get the product now and pay later...with that later date never actually coming if the shell game is played right.

He walked into the chamber and seeing President Thorne obviously hard at work on his datapad, no doubt currently making important decisions that would decide the fate of the ISC, York elected not to trouble the leader of the Independent systems. He sat down at his table, pulled out a datapad of his own, and began to look over real estate prices across the galaxy. You never know when a land grab could be cheap and profitable.


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Lucas Rinn

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The workload of the ISC had grown and grown over the previous months. He had begun to delegate many of his responsibilities of running the shipyards to those under him so he could focus more and on his political aspirations. He had thought he would not have liked it when he first met with Emyrc on Gyndine but he had grown to enjoy his political work and while he still thought they were too friendly with the Republic, he believed in the ISC cause.

"I know. I have to go. I'll check in later." he said on his communicator before hanging up. There were never any shortages of fires to put out. He walked in the door, and strode to an empty chair. "Gentlemen." he said with a nod to both Emryc and York.

They usually met remotely but their presence had been requested on Chaleydonia. The agenda of the meeting made it clear why they needed to meet in person. He had cleared out several days in case the meetings went long.

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Tyris Thanewulf

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As soon as Tyris had been summoned to Christophsis, he knew that it was something so important that he and others had been summoned for an in person meeting. Immediately the Governor cleared his schedule until further notice incase this is something that will take up all of his attention for a number of days.

Stepping through the doorway, Tyris entered the room. The turquoise hue in the room certainly is interesting. But they aren't here to discuss the curious setting of the planet Emryc had summoned them all to. Walking over to an empty table he nodded to everyone in the room before taking a seat. Tightening his tie a tad. Of course Tyris knows why they have all been gathered and hoped this finally means that they will sever ties with the Republic.

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Mazeryl Xiron

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Christophsis. A crystal orb floating in space and hanging upon nothing. It was a fitting foundation for the future and its dreams. The Independent Systems Consortium had no ego holding it back, no reputation to refashion but a new one to forge, and the fact that many of its worlds came from the Outer Rim was not lost on one of those worlds and its leaders.

Sitting at the table marked “Karazak” was its representative. Maze sat in the center chair flanked by her assistants, Karazans both, and she would introduce either man if anyone had the curiosity to know their names. Likely not, though, so for now they were content with their place, as was their boss and their world, though not quite.

Karazak could never be content with its place in the galaxy. Some leaders would make that statement as a prelude to invasion, a precursor to conquest, and really were not factions doing that very thing as with the Sith Order?

For Karazak, however, its place was still a bad memory; a slaver world the likes of Zygerria still going, though the former world had long since broken the chains and freed those trapped between them.

Karazak had become a free world and Maze had become its governor. She and hers were gathered here today to continue that pursuit of freedom and help extend it toward those other worlds who wanted the same without having to suffer for it. Maze was here to promote that unity for the member worlds of the ISC, her own having only recently joined the team.

If expanding that team even further meant forming a unified military then so be it. The chaos in the world between the stars had warranted it. The Governor of Karazak had watched the news, had heard the pledge of Emryc Thorne, and if he was a man of action then he would shortly be showing it in this very chamber.

Till then, Maze sat with her hands folded on the table, spending her free time looking between this table and that table, eying anyone and everyone and maintaining eye contact until the other person looked away. Not much reason for that. Idle amusement, perhaps?
 

Julia Hipori

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This is tremendously inconvient, Julia kept her thoughts to herself as she took her place in the meeting room. Who takes three days for meetings? she thought, as she sat down and poured herself a glass of water. Briefly, she shuffled her papers and re-read through the agenda.

The formation of an ISC Military.

"One for the history books." she muttered to herself, as she waited for the meeting to be called to order.
 

Queen Parnelli

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Militarization… the last step to becoming recognized as a Galactic Power.

Emilia might have come from Naboo, a planet famed for it’s love of Democracy and peace, but she knew well enough that, sometimes, peace could only be ensured through force of arms. It was regrettable in the extreme – would that the security of freedom and democracy could be bloodless. But she was the Queen of her people and she did not live in a fantasy land where violence was not a constant threat that the powerful could use to cow the rest.

And while the ISC had grown to become something of a rival to the Mid Rim of the FWA in terms of an economic power, they would never receive the full weight of respect due to a growing consortium of their size without the ability to defend themselves. As it stood, their planetary defense forces were all that they had and with their size tiny in comparison to the FWA, the New Republic and even the new Sith Slave States?

They needed to be able to defend themselves on a greater level – from the virus and from larger threats as well. Emryc had expressed his desire to bring more planets, more peoples, under their aegis and guidance but to do that they needed a sword with which to defend those same peoples.

And part of that was why she was late.

“No, I don’t particularly care if they don’t like it.”
She admitted bluntly into her com unit as she entered the chambers and raised a hand in acknowledgement of Emryc as she hovered by her seat, “We need it to happen so we’re going to make it happen… yes… okay… yes… Goodbye Colonel.”

Ending the call to the Colonel of her expanding Royal Guard, Emilia smiled brightly as she took her seat at the table.

“Terribly sorry for my tardiness.”


Expanding the Naboo Royal Guard to serve as a potential model/starting point for an ISC special operations division was one of her pet projects currently. If it took off, she would be proud of Naboo’s specific contribution to the ISC military.


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Emryc Thorne

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Emryc stopped playing his tower defense game when everyone arrived. He set his datapad down and sat up straighter, taking in sight of the desks and noting that Naboo was missing. He checked his chrono, eyebrow raising slightly. The Queen was not known for being the tardy type.

He leaned forward to speak into the mic, “Thank you all for-” His voice rang out through the chambers right before the fiery haired Queen strode in. Emryc’s face remained neutral, staring at everyone collectively until the Queen took her seat.

“Thank you all for coming out here in person,” Emryc began, “Ideally we will not need the full extent of the time allotted for this,” No one wanted to be stuck here for three days, so he hoped there wouldn’t be too much debate.

“As you have seen on the agenda, today we will begin discussing the formation of a military force for the ISC. I will come outright and state that I absolutely do not agree with the concept of individual planetary militaries, not when some of our worlds are very impoverished. We see the Free World Alliance using this model and it has not been serving them well,” Emryc glanced at them all, “But if I am strongly outvoted in this approach, I will yield.”

He pressed a button and a holoprojection displayed for them all to see. It contained charts and numbers from research he had put together, but also with the option of toggling and changing variables into formulas to spit out results.

“I propose that we form a unified military. The variables to consider are how it will be funded, how it will be structured, who will lead it, and others that come up through discussion.”

Emryc swiped through the projection to focus on the next panel, “I propose that we appoint a Secretary of Defense to oversee this military force. We have existing contracts with Blackwell to mass produce droids for various worlds in the ISC, and I believe they can be part of the base corps that rolls up immediately under the military.”

He looked over towards Lucas Rinn, “If you think your shipyards can support it, perhaps Gyndine can serve as the headquarters of our navy.”

Emryc paused there, leaning back slightly in his seat, “Those are my initial thoughts. Let’s discuss.”

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Julia Hipori

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Julia was nothing if not prepared, and she calmly opened a ring binder she had pulled together ahead of this meeting. Years of working for one of the largest droid and arms producers in the modern galaxy, it turned out, prepared you well for such discussions as this, and Julia was keen not to disappoint. "Mr. President, if I may have the floor?" she asked, before commencing with the bulk of her contribution "In advance of this meeting, I have conducted an investigation into the present capacity, both logistical and strategic for a full rollout of military integration across the ISC worlds. Before I outline those findings, however, I want to make it clear that I consider this to be a good use of resources, one that will enable the ISC to protect its citizens in a rapidly changing galaxy. In the past, a 'Minuteman' approach has existed, namely where 'call-ups' for support are issued from the central authority, to the member worlds. This is deeply ineffective, and as history has shown us, often a 'too little too late' response."

She paused to turn the page "However, taking the worlds represented in today's gathering, Karazak, Bestine, Gyndine, Kattada, Naboo and Lahsbane, we are already boasting of well-resourced worlds, each with unique capabilities within the context of a larger military operation. It is my view, that partnered with the economic prowess of these worlds, and the shift away from 'mass warfare' that we saw in ages past, it would be optimal for a rapid response 'deep space' force to be created. This would move us away from mass warfare, mostly built toward large open-pitch conflicts, and instead toward more specialised, naval and technology-focused responses, in which infrastructure damage and civilian casualties can be minimised."

Julia quickly looked up, grabbed her water and took a sip, before pressing on "Mr. President, the capacity of each world represented today must be taken into account as well. Naboo, famed for its highly skilled pilots, as well as plasma reserves, could form the backbone of a rapid response fighter cell, stationed at key areas along the ISC border, to react quickly to incoming threats. Karazak, with its considerable population and shipping base, would make for an optimal logistics centre, potential as storage for the droid elements of the military, whilst Bestine, which lies along a major shipping route, and therefore could find itself as the nexus of any conflict into which the ISC was drawn, ought to be upscaled to a fortified ingress station, a bastion if you will. Mr. President, your observations on Gyndine are without fault, and it would, from my research, be most well-suited to a naval hub, whilst Kattada, with its diverse climate, would be an ideal training ground and muster for the organic elements of the forces. My own Governorship, Lahsbane, is remote, with a low population, ideal for a communications and holonet security hub, now a practical must-have in modern conflict resolution."

Julia looked up from her folder, and put her pen down, aware she had been speaking for some time. "Mr. President, I am very supportive of this move, one that will safeguard the security of the ISC and her people, and am at your service, and the service of fellow members here today, should they have any questions, or seek points of clarity, as to our current capability.
 

Tyris Thanewulf

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When the senator of Lahsbane finished speaking and took a seat. Tyris buttoned up his coat then tightened up his tie as he took a stand. The governor of Bestine nodded to the President, " Iwould like to begin by stating that I am of full support for this move to create a unified military. It will provide greater safety for the ISC and it's citizens than as, the senator if Lahsbane showed, a minutenen approach provided." He paused briefly to nod at Julia Hipori, "As governor of Bestine I will aee to it that Bestine's defenses are improved and upscaled." He pulled up a map of Bestine, "Due to large expanses of Bestine being unihabited there are resources that can be put to use for the ISC as needed." All the uninhabited areas were then outlined in red.

Tyris took a sip of his water before continuing on, "I will also point out for everyone locations that can be served as bases, shipyards, or however these areas are decided to be used. There are also many islands that dot Bestine's oceans." All the islands were then outlined in green alongside areas of the mainland that can be used for bases, shipyards or however these locations are destined to be used. However others want Bestine to be used, especially Emryc, Tyris will see all of them met. The governor also wanted to show that Bestine can provide more than just upgrading it's defenses to defend itself.

However there is one other matter that Tyris will bring forward since the President brought it up. He wanted to at least bring forward his interest, even if he doesn't get the job, and willingness to do what is needed for the ISC and her citizens. Clearing his throat Tyris spoke up, ""As I have always been a firm supporter of the ISC and interested in safeguarding her and her citizens. I would like to put myself forward for Secretary of Defense. If accepted into the position I will do everything in my power to improve our defenses and establish a military along with everything else that comes with it as well as to do the job to how everyone will expect it to be done. " He paused briefly for a moment, "Of course I will not argue if everyone decides against it. With that I will yield and open the floor." Tyris switched off his mic and took a seat. Even if he doesn't get the position. Tyris wanted to prove to the President and everyone else in the room that he is willing to do anything for the ISC and could be useful in other areas.

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Queen Parnelli

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Emilia did her best not to react when her entrance literally interrupted Emryc as he began his opening speech. She was terribly sorry and her ingrained manners had her forced to fight back the instinctive urge to apologize again. But she held it back - she had already apologized once and she would make sure that Emryc got a more personal apology later if it seemed as though she had caused a fuss.

So far it did not.

The ideas presented by Emryc were good but they were currently bare - no doubt so that he could fill them in later with their assistance once the initial framework was approved by the assembled ISC members. There was only so much the man could do without them approving and throwing their weight behind him after all.

She had been preparing to vote in favor of the unified military, along with raising some points herself, when Hipori took the floor instead. Emilia had been late so she yielded the floor to the senator for Lahsbane without issue and instead listened carefully. Though when Hipori seemingly volunteered her planet for increased plasma mining and pilot duty, the Queen of Naboo raised an eyebrow slowly.

In the end though, Julia Hipori had spoken at length and actually said very little in the way of substance aside from making grand statements as to the roles of many other ISC member states. Valid in some cases and presumptuous in others. Still, Emilia stayed silent as Tyris Thanewulf stepped up to speak. The main takeaway from his own speech was the desire to make Bestine a more defensive world and instill himself as the Secretary of Defense.

Interesting.

"Mr Thanewulf, it was my understanding that it was your brother with the military background."
The Queen of Naboo brought up, her eyebrow still raised, "Unless you have years of military leadership experience hidden away, I fear it may be best if we seek another candidate. Our joined peoples stand at a crossroads in history, surrounded on almost all sides by peoples at war. While I have no doubt you would learn your role quickly, I'm sorry to say that I believe we may not have time for you to learn on the job as it were."

She lowered her eyebrow at last as she turned to address Emryc.

"Naboo stands ready to support a joint military for the ISC. We are aware that our planet is credit-rich compared to some of our membership and we are happy to help share the load."
she assured Emryc, glancing at Hipori as she added, "Indeed, steps have already been taken to begin the process of forming new units to be better incorporated into the unified ISC military forces."

Tapping her datapad, she projected the symbol for the Naboo Royal Guard before the symbol was replaced with data on a steadily increasing number of new recruits. They were not just from Naboo, however, with many volunteers who had landed recently.

"The Naboo Royal Guard has begun the process of training volunteers to a higher standard than the typical militia. My people wish to help form a Guard for the ISC - a special operations division for the ISC as a whole."



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Tyris Thanewulf

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Listening to the Queen of Naboo. Tyris thought he had better defend himself. So he stood up to address the Queen directly, "Yes. My brother is the one who has the military background. If you will allow me I will lay out why it will be better for a civilian to be secretary of defense rather than someone of military background." He paused for a moment. Yes it maybe theoretical but there could be examples of what he is about to state buried somewhere in the archives.

"If we have someone who is of military background there is the risk of that person showing biase and favoritism for the military. Meaning if there are unnecessary delays or wrong doings that person at the top will most likely sweep it under the rug. They will most likely not look at operations with much scrutiny." He paused again, "While yes a person with no military background will have to learn on the job so to speak on how the military works. They will not show biase and will look into each operation very carefully to make sure everything is falling into place as it should be on a reasonable timescale. To add to it because the person is learning on the job any and all failings will be noted a dealt with rather than swept under the rug or dealt with much later." Tyris raised an eyebrow, "And do you really have the right to judge another person's inexperience when royals are elected in at the age of fourteen years old and lacking in any experience with what they are to be dealing with in the future?" He paused then finished by saying, "No amount of experience can truly prepare a person with what is to come. I yield." He switched off his mic once again. Taking a seat.

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Queen Parnelli

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She had honestly believed that they were going to move on to other parts of the meeting before they resumed the discussion as to who should end up as the Secretary of Defense. After all, it made sense to her mind that they have a clearer idea as to what the Secretary of Defense would actually be expected to run before they could have an in depth discussion as to who should lead it. However, she had taken a shot at Thanewulf's credentials for putting himself forward immediately so she supposed it made sense that he defend himself.

"Your argument against having someone with military experience becoming the Secretary of Defense is that the position would be beyond even their experience so why don't we have someone with no experience at all?"
she countered with a raised eyebrow, "Or is it that the person with military experience would be attempting to push their bias that defense is important... while acting as Secretary of Defense?"

Before he could answer, Emilia would push forward with her own answers to both questions and defend herself against his attack against her own credibility. It was old hat for the Queens of Naboo to have to fight back against the age comment so she barely even thought about it.

"There is wisdom in being able to say you are not the best person for the job - and making sure you have someone in place who is. I do not claim to be a military genius or veteran, even after serving as Queen for almost a decade; instead I appointed a Secretary of Defense for Naboo... a former admiral, actually."
she countered smoothly, "Just because a career military Sentient does not have experience as a Secretary of Defense of the ISC, which no one currently has, does not mean that we are better suited by someone who has literally no experience in matters under the control of said Office."

And lastly?

"It would be a poor Secretary of Defense who did not favor Defense as the most important part of government. Quite simply, it is their job to not only co-ordinate our military but to remind us, regularly, of what they need to keep it going."
she gestured around the table, "Then it falls to the rest of the Government to decide if they are being reasonable or if they are not. This is the work of Government, Mr Thanewulf."


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Mazeryl Xiron

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Finally, the silence was broken by the one voice that mattered more than most. If not as much as most. Emryc Thorne’s was given to the room to soon give way to the room, and for now Maze was content with listening.

She heard the President strike a match by comparing the ISC with the FWA, igniting an ember that was as small as it was bright, and why not? So many eyes that peered upon the Independent Systems Consortium did so with one eye on the Free Worlds Alliance, the former much and more the model of the latter, if much and more. Or little and less.

Maze was not skeptical enough to have never joined the ISC in the first place, but perhaps she was as conservative as she was liberal. She believed in freedom as much as control, and it was up to Emryc Thorne to strike the balance as much as he might strike a match. That goes for all of us.

As the charts came up, Maze studied them silently for a moment, keeping her hands folded on the tabletop. It was an assistant beside her who isolated the results based on one sort after the other. Major among them, at least for this table, was Karazak.

After President Thorne’s voice there came Senator Hipori’s, and truly both voices were the foundation of the voices and the speeches to follow. That was not Maze’s style. She remained content in simply sitting and listening, her eyes dancing between one speaker and the other, and her body as still as a statue.

Amid the political jargon of the Senator, she was quite on point with Karazak’s specialty: logistics was its way of the day; where once there were slave transports there were now transports for all kinds of legal goods across the galaxy. “The trade of slaves has ended,” Maze’s father would love to remind her. “Trade, however, has not.”

The spiel continued, the governors and senators droning on and on as was typical of their station, and Maze chewed on their words like chewing gum. “It’s minty-fresh for the moment,” her father had taught her. “But the gum loses its flavor sooner or later and then it’s time to spit it out.”

Cue the debates. Cue the counters. Cue the rights and wrongs of this person and that world and watch how they clash like two teams in a game of Huttball…

“Karazak.” Maze interrupted behind the Queen of Naboo. “Secretary of Defense.” Just in case the first word was not enough. “Oh, no, I am not proposing myself, Governor Mazeryl Xiron, for Secretary of Defense, but I am proposing my government as a member of the Department of Defense.” Check and balance.

She looked left, looked right. “After all, isn’t the body more important than the head? A unified military, President Thorne stated. To me, who will lead it is less important than how it will be structured, and how it will be structured is by a backbone; the spine that supports the head.”

Maze gave her shoulders in the most modest shrug she could afford. “Decide amongst yourselves, dignitaries of the debate, and rest assured that the Governor of Karazak will not put herself forward for Secretary of Defense.” She cast her gaze toward Emryc Thorne.

“Senator Hipori spoke truth: Karazak has a considerable population and shipping base. We would indeed make for an optimal logistics center.” If anyone wanted proof of that then it was as simple as engaging the charts and toggling and changing variables into formulas to spit out results.

Then Maze’s gaze roved around the room. “I offer such logistics to the ISC. Karazak stands ready. We will wait.” For you dipshits to pick your Secretary of Defense so we can move the kark on.
 

Soygun York

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Surprisingly, York was not one of the first ones to speak. That was his typical way of doing of business in the chambers. He would get up, speak first, and try to get the first thoughts of the matter on his mind. However, this being a military issue, his expertise was quite limited. There were some things that translated to the business world, however.

"The answer to needing a Secretary of Defense is obviously yes." He looked over to Governor Xiron before turning his attention back to the body. "And I would strongly suggest we stay away from the committee approach. Should the Secretary have counselors that help him or her guide decisions? Yes, of course, but I've seen many a business fail because boardrooms couldn't agree and make decisions fast enough. How much more is the risk of indecisiveness in matters of war and peace?"

York would grin and shake his head slightly. "And I dare say, if we can find someone with vast military experience to lead the military, that would make sense. I wouldn't choose a short order to cook to be a foreman at a foundry. I would choose someone who has worked in a foundry or at least a factory setting. We are talking about hiring someone to lead the first line of defense between our planets and systems from tyranny and militaristic threats, of which there seem to be more and more growing by the day. And likely, the fight against the AMS infected on our worlds will also be spearheaded by the military."

He would give a sideways glance to Governor Tyris Thanewulf. "With all due respect, it isn't a position suited for on the job training." He looked back at the body and then to President Thorne. "I see no reason why we must limit ourselves to governors for this position. In fact, someone without a voice in the legislative arena might well be a solid choice. Surely, within the planets represented in this body, there lies one with a military background with the experience, leadership, and aptitude to do the job."

York would start to sit down, but remembered one more point. "It would seem that we are all on board with a unified force. I support it fully. I think the droids will do well to be the main force in the early going. The people of the ISC will see the leadership in action and how they utilize these soldier droids. If we choose our military leadership wisely, that will help build trust in the unified system. So...choose wisely."

York turned off his microphone and sat down.


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Julia Hipori

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Julia listened as the assembled Governors bickered over who got to run the military they had yet to even form, and she despaired. They do know we have to actually have an army for one of them to be in charge of it? she thought to herself, as she flicked through her papers, listening half-heartedly as the Queen of Naboo and Governor Tyris exchanged remarks. Finally, as their exchange came to an end, York chimed in with his own contributions, before Julia spoke again.

"Whilst I appreciate the haste in choosing a Secretary of Defence, I must admit we do seem to be jumping the gun here. We need to actually have a defence force before people tidy their CVs up, no?" she interjected cooly. "Furthermore, the position is a political one traditionally, with the command aspects of a defence force being undertaken by Generals, Admirals and the like, not the Secretary of Defence. Regardless," she tapped her chromium pen on the table in frustration "...it is good that there is agreement on the need for a military, and it is a good sign that some member states, such as the Naboo," she nodded to Queen Parnelli "...have begun preparations to this effect. From what I can see, our focus as a group here today should be around the formation of the central command, a navy, and a droid contingent. This requires credits."

Julia paused, thinking of how best to continue. Simply put, they needed member states to contribute financially, and when it came to numbers, things could go south, with speed. Oh well, here goes nothing.

"I would recommend a contributions system, each member state contributes a percentage of its gross domestic product per year, to a newly formed Ministry of Defence, to fund this endeavour. I would recommend," she flashed a few figures onto the holoscreen, showing the various brackets of contribution "...the following."
 

Emryc Thorne

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Consortium
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ISC President

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Sreeya
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Emryc was silent as the floor broke out into chatter. Where FWA or the Republic may have been silent and monotonous, the same certainly could not be said for ISC. There was a sense of pride as he listened to the very powerful and passionate points brought forth by the executive council, and he knew it all came from a firm belief in the system.

He first heard out Governor Hipori and the very educated response she had detailed. Emryc found himself disagreeing with very little of it, but he withheld opinions for now. Silver eyes remained locked on her with their ever calculating scrutiny even after she had finished speaking.

Next he witnessed the back and forth exchange between Naboo’s Queen and Senator Thanewulf. Emryc’s face remained impassive, betraying little on his opinions before he moved on to regard York and finally back to Hipori again.

There was a small pause as they likely waited for his thoughts once more. Emryc’s eyes flicked briefly over to Governor Rinn, who had remained silent still. The half Sephi looked out at everyone again.

“Many good points raised here,” He said after a few seconds, “I agree with much of your approach, Governor Hipori. The only consideration is that Kattada is located deep in the heart of New Republic space and effectively positioned rather far from us. I believe York’s contributions will be far more economically focused than militaristic. Even from an optics standpoint, amassing forces deep in that region will cause tensions with the Chancellor we’re not prepared to handle at this point.”

He thought for a moment, “I also concur that we establish the funding and logistics for the military before deciding on a Secretary. While I agree it’s not a job to learn as you go, it is indeed a political position and would need to come from a political figure. While vast amounts of military experience is a plus, it is by no means strictly mandatory. What I prioritize is strategic thinking and policy making. They would set the direction, the budget and operation efforts of the defense force. I would not expect them to be the ones making judgment calls on battles or that would negate the need for military leaders.”

Emryc turned to regard Hipori for a moment before looking to what she had projected. Funding was going to be his next topic, but she had arrived at that point already. He was becoming more and more impressed with this Governor.

“I agree with this, but we want to ensure we have factored in the backwater planets in our borders that will have scarce means to contribute. It may have to be in the form of resources to support the force in lieu of credits. Out here, we have to get a bit more creative.”

Emryc looked at York, “As your interests lie more on the economical side, I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this approach or if you’d tackle it differently.”

He looked to the Queen of Naboo, “I’m curious about this formation of a Guard for the ISC. How would this factor into the overall military force and would you be willing to surrender the authority to the Secretary of Defense for this group?”

Emryc looked again at Thanewulf and Rinn, leaving the floor open for them as well to interject. While there had been some back and forth, they were all making tremendous progress already.

@Raydo @Nor'baal @Nommie @Nefieslab @Isen

OOC: Sorry about delay. Back to normal posting now.
 

Soygun York

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Governor, Kattada

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York stood. He was asked directly to provide an opinion, and he came prepared o provide his answer. This was an issue that he knew would be raised, and being one of the more economic minded governors present, he felt that he might be able to provide an option that was best for everyone.

"Mr. President, I would suggest that many of these very rural planets, many of which have untamed wilderness and low populations, in the grand scheme of finances, they couldn't offer us anything. Governor Hipori, I believe, is on the right track with developing a funding matrix based on GDP, but we have planets and moons so remote and, dare I say...primitive, that they don't operate on credits or any currency that we would accept."

The Kattadan would punch in a few keys on his datapad so that some planets and some of their vitals would pop up on the screens of the other governors and the President. "Let's go over some examples." Heffrin, Nelvaan, S'krrr, and Tharados would pop up on their screen. It would show that Heffrin was a sparsely populated world whose entire surface is covered in mountains. Nelvaan in the Savereen sector was a cold world full of forests and glaciers. S'krrr in the Ishanna system was a hot and humid jungle planet. The planet Tharados hailed from the Onatos Sector and was a lightly populated planet of mostly ice with patches of taiga where the remote and struggling people live.

"Governors, Mr. President, I don't see backwater planets. I see potential...financial potential, and I believe that the building of our military is that potential. I'm no military man. I don't pretend to be. But I do know that we will want troops trained to fight in the jungles that are scattered about ISC controlled lands and across the galaxy. The same holds true with deserts, forests, ice planets, and mountains. These planets are the ideal places for bases, installations, and training facilities so that our soldiers have training grounds in all types of terrain."

York would turn his own hologram off. He knew the material. "We ask no money from planets like these. We simply ask for land and the freedom to build military installations on that property. Complete free use without local intrusion. Those planets would pay nothing, not a thing. Not only would we be able to train our soldiers to fight in any terrain that this galaxy can throw at them, but we would be infusing economic advancement into the planets that need it the most. Fo planets that did not want to provide land or once we had acquired what we need for our purposes, we could create a matrix for raw materials such as ores, woods, and gasses that they can offer to help build this military infrastructure."

He sent another pack of data through their datapads. "This chart is a very elementary model, but it works. We have to build new installations for this new army of ours. We hire local workers. We purchase local materials if we can. Once the military installation is built, we send soldiers there. This means we are sending population to them, population meaning customers. Where you have a population, businesses fill the vacuum to service them. It will start with cantinas and restaurants and general goods stores. But those businesses will need people to work them. So civilian people will move in so they can work. But there is no housing for the civilians, so now housing that we don't have to pay for begins to be built by private businesses around our installations to fill that need. That's more jobs. That's more economic impact. Now we have more people that need to be served at the cantinas and restaurants and general good stores, so more of them have to be built. This requires more workers which will require more housing. Soon, the demand for other goods, including luxury goods, will start to rise. This is a model that has been shown to be true all over the galaxy for thousands of years. It would work for us as well."

He would look at President at Thorne. "I wouldn't call it creative, Mr. President. I would call it good economics, good training, and a win for all parties involved. These types of planets don't have the strong, local politics to be a nuisance for our military, and they don't have the urban areas to draw pirates and smugglers that also tend to cause problems with military installations." He started to sit down, but stood tall again to say, "And I'm sure some of our governors, not all, but some, would appreciate our military targets not being near their large population centers." No doubt, York was one of those governors. He had no desire for Kattada to start building forts and naval yards on the beautiful beaches there. Battleships and shock troopers on the beach wouldn't be good for the resort business.

With that, York would sit down. No doubt, someone would try to pick it apart. And if they did, they did. He offered a plan that could benefit the large and cosmopolitan planets while throwing some economic lifelines to struggling worlds. York leaned back, rested one leg over the other and turned an ear to listen.


@Sreeya @Raydo @Nommie @Nor'baal @Nefieslab
 
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Julia Hipori

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Independent
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Imperial Czerka CEO

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Julia had to admit she liked the approach Governor York was taking, they seemed to have a common-sense approach to dealing with the practical concerns this new military would face. She was also just a little star-struck when the ISC President aligned himself with her analysis. "Mr. President, if I may," she asked rhetorically "...your observation ties in well with the recommendations from Governor York. We have numerous worlds across ISC space, with," she tapped her pen on the table, mulling over how to say 'low-populated backwaters' in a polite way "..sparse populations, but rich untapped resource potential."

"Kattada, if tied in with a supply belt from these worlds, gives us a foothold in the Republic, one of the wealthiest economies in the Galaxy. Resources mined and sold in the rim, could be mined in the rim and sold in the core - creating greater liquidity in the process. Such a trading outpost, Kattada, would require reasonable security for certain, but a different, most cooperative approach with the Republic, could secure this."

Hipori, being something of an ambitious young woman, made something of a subtle overture, for the position of Defence Secretary, given the Presidents support for the position needing to be held by a politician.

"This is a complex process, as the President and Governor York have both accurately assessed. It's something that requires logistical expertise, political nouse, and then the right amount of 'talent spotting' in our command structure. We need to put the credits behind this defence force, match it with technology, and place this in the hands of capable commanders. If we can do this, and the economic might of the ISC is expanded upon as our defence force rises to meet the challenges of the modern Galaxy, we have a recipe for an excellent outcome."
 

Queen Parnelli

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Consortium
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Queen of Naboo

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It was best that they moved on.

Squabbling over things ad nauseam had been a hallmark of the failed Republics of the Galactic past and she was not enamored with the idea of the ISC becoming their successor in such things. Being the successor to their efforts to pacify and culturally uplift the Galaxy? Certainly. But she refused to do her part in making it feel more like the High Republic or the New Republic.

Let the FWA and the New Republic enjoy their long-standing traditions of endless debates that went nowhere before grinding to a slow, inevitable, stop. The ISC would be far more dynamic than them, even if they did seem to rely on Emyrc to bring them in line more often than not.

Still, if it took the charismatic man to drag them all, kicking and screaming, back on topic then so be it. She listened to the majority of what he said before responding to the question that was raised to herself about the new ISC Guards she had started up.

“The Royal Naboo Guard will remain under my direct control but the ISC Guard would be handed over to the legitimate ISC authorities as soon as they are decided upon.”
She confirm, threading her fingers together with a small, crooked, smile, “My General took issue with a force trained by Naboo being controlled by others… but my General will learn the importance of co-operation I can assure you.”

The purpose and fit of the Guard?

“The Guard will be limited in number and high in skill – mainly for use in more sensitive missions and those that require a greater amount of discretion by their leaders. No droids, only well-trained sentients willing to do what is necessary.”



@Sreeya @Raydo @Nommie @Nor'baal
 
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