TKR: The March of Progress

[Lyanna Drast]

Lyanna was of the opinion that if you wanted someone to work for you, fight for you, then you needed to be something more to them than some distant figure.

You needed to either know them on a personal level or you needed to be larger than life - something, someone, so much their greater that they felt there was no other way for them but to obey and adore you.

It was the first part that brought her here today - she was here to speak to a figure within the Imperial Republica who needed to be met in person. Reports said that they were a mover, a shaker, and Lyanna found herself in need of people of such skills.

Sometimes it was hard to reach people but when you were the Empress people tended to make the effort and come to you - or they didn't get seen and they didn't get what they wanted out of the meeting. Because she knew as well as they would that whatever was going to happen, it was going to be a mutually beneficial agreement between the two of them.

You had to be able to show people that helping you, serving you, had benefits for them as well because, as a rule? People were greedy and selfish.

She would meet them within the royal palace, in the throne room, with her royal guards flanking the room.

@Danee

 

[Vritoria Coruna]

These past seventy two hours had been a rather hectic couple of hours for Vritoria, recently her father had come down with an illness that had been ailing him for a few weeks and while she hadn't gotten the full name of the disease or how dangerous it had been, she had known it was a serious one, as only two weeks after having received his diagnosis he had been moved from his office on Loronar and sent to Corsucant to be hospitalized while he was getting treatment. The movement also allowed him to be closer to his daughter who had been with him whenever she had had free time. Although she tried to keep a rather optimistic look at the situation, the rate in which his health declined had told her that he was probably not going to see the end of the month. So, preparations had been made in advance of his eventual passing so that his assets wouldn't go to waste if it looked like he wouldn't recover, and in the end, he hadn't.

That was the reason for her meeting with someone who she hadn't expected to meet in person for another few years, however, deaths, timely or untimely as they were had a way of moving things forward a lot faster than they should. Dressed in her finest official outfit she approached the Royal Palace on Coruscant, a building she had seen from afar many times and was finally going to enter. Upon entering the palace she stopped momentarily, glancing around at the people moving around, presumably servants and guards of the newly self-acclaimed Empress of the Empire. Things moved too fast these days, though how long this move had been in the works was unknown to Vritoria, but, at least a few months of planning would probably have gone into it, just like what she had in her head, tucked away beneath the recent grief.

Her right hand moved up to her chest, fingers grasping the insignia plaque which denoted her rank as a Judge advocate, straightening it out a bit as her hands grasped one another behind her back again. Moving through the hallway she made her way towards the Throne room, glancing at the flanking guards momentarily before she pressed in. Looking from wall to wall, the Royal guards flanking the back of the room to protect the newly appointed Empress from would be assassins. Walking down the path towards the Throne she stopped a few meters away from it and the Empress sitting upon it. With her left hand across her stomach she bowed. "Lady Lyanna," Vritoria spoke as she straightened her back again.

While she had never spoken to an Emperor or an Empress before, she knew that it was probably best to let them take the lead when it came to initiating conversation, though one thing that stood out was that she looked younger in person than she had done during the holonet news that had been broadcast across the galaxy, perhaps even younger than herself. Whether or not she had what it took to lead the Empire would remain to be seen however.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

The throne was, much to her surprise, rather comfortable.

Weird considering the thing was made out of stone and metal and the like - but she wasn't about to complain at all. Meeting with someone in her throne room was a new experience for her without having to deal with the fact that the throne was uncomfortable to sit on. Vritoria arrived with little fanfare but that was to be expected.

In the Imperial Palace only one person ever received fanfare.

"Vritoria Coruna." she greeted the Imperial Agent, standing from her throne and nodding to the Imperial, "I have had your name come across my desk in recent days. Walk with me."

Lyanna would begin to walk towards one of the balconies, not looking to see if Vritoria was following.

"I seem to recall reading somewhere that you have naval ambitions... or am I mistaken?"

@Danee

 

[Vritoria Coruna]

Vritoria wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to be surprised or pleased to hear that the Empress herself not only knew her name but not only that, she also had had her name at her desk for a few days at least. At first she wasn't sure how to respond to the realisation that the Empress knew who she was. She had figured that the Empress, considering her so recent ascendancy to the throne hadn't had time to acquaint herself with her subjects, let alone someone who was as far down the Imperial hierarchy such as Vritoria.

However, her attention snapped back to the present as the Empress asked her to walk alongside her. Nodding she stepped up towards her and folded her hands as she walked beside the Empress, walking on her left so that her reduced hearing wouldn't get in the way for anything that the Empress might say, as she hoped to make sure she remembered it all for a mental review of the day when she returned to her abode. As they began to head off in the direction of one of the balconies she glanced towards Lyanna as she spoke up, mentioning Vritoria's 'Naval' ambitions. This was the first time that Vritoria realized the lengths that the Imperial Security Bureau worked without others finding out, this was a disturbing fact, but, it was also strangely reassuring that the Empire had a bureau that could work so well that not even its own citizen's were aware they were being observed and noted.

"I wouldn't exactly call them naval ambitions, my Lady," she started, "justice is what I'd say my ambitions are, the Navy is a tool, a highly, efficient and deadly tool, that I wish to use to bring those who have wronged the empire to justice with." Vritoria finished and turned her attention towards the closing balcony they approached and as they stepped out onto it she looked out over Coruscant, the bustling traffic in the distance, the various starships entering and leaving the planets atmosphere. "I believe that proper naval management could help and alleviate a lot of the rising troubles we're facing, my lady. However, this, is not the reason as to why I sought to meet with you today, my lady.

Seventy two hours ago, my father, Moff Torlean Coruna, or former rather, passed away, I figured that you might be interested in knowing that one of your Moffs had passed on and is no longer around to do your bidding." She said and looked over at the younger Empress again. If Vritoria was affected by mentioning her father's passing, in anyway, she didn't show it other than the visible lack of emotion, a rather well practiced facade she had managed to put up to keep herself separated from her private life and her professional life, and now, she was here on professional business, she didn't know the Empress personally, so, emotion had no place in this conversation.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

Lyanna could tell that the agent was rather surprised that she knew who she was and she could appreciate that. Coruna was a low-ranking Agent without any real prestige attached to her record and without anything to really show her as being different, more deserving, than any of the other Imperial Agents within the Empire. Of course she could appreciate that but there was nothing that could be done for the woman's surprise - either she would get over it or she wouldn't.

And if she didn't then she was no use to Lyanna and the other woman would be free to leave.

Encouraged to do so in fact.

"Justice."

Lyanna mulled the word around in her mind for a moment longer before glancing back at the other woman as she went on the explain about the death of her father. The Empress raised an eyebrow at that.

"I open our conversation by confirming that Imperial Intelligence knows of your ambitions. Ambitions you have mentioned before, true, but in limited company." She tilted her head to the side slightly and smiled, slightly indulgently, "Did you believe that the passing of one of my own Moffs would be news to me by the time you arrived? No, my dear, I already knew about the loss of your father."

Likely before the woman did herself but there was no reason to put the young woman in an uncomfortable position. Instead she merely ploughed on.

"You mentioned about... proper naval management..." she raised an eyebrow, "Please explain what you meant by this statement."

@Danee

 

[Vritoria Coruna]

Again, the Empress surprised her, but, she didn't let it show, instead she kept her surprise hidden, to the best of her abilities. She was aware of the Drast legacy, everyone who paid attention when growing up and had been schooled was aware of the Drast legacy, Vritoria held little doubt that Lyanna had similar abilities as to the former Emperor or those before him, so, whether or not her surprise was hidden, she could only hope that it was. When the attention was brought away from her father and the fact that Lyanna was already aware of his passing, and drifted back to a statement she had made earlier she straightened her back and looked at the Empress with a smile. Finally, she had a chance at speaking her mind to someone who definitely had the power to change how things worked around the galaxy.

"I am glad that you asked that, your Highness." she started and turned to face the Empress fully. "What I mean with Proper naval management would be how we deploy our navy, currently, I believe that most of our Navy is sitting in space docks, not providing a whole lot of protection for our citizens.What I would suggest doing is using the Navy as a Sword, or a Lightsaber if you will, instead of as a shield. Currently we are facing issues with Mandalorians striking at our worlds without anyone to hinder them. What I suggest is setting up a blockade around Mandalore and Concord Dawn, the only two worlds, to my knowledge at least, to still house a large Mandalorian presence. We could even go as far as to disable the Hyperlane buoys that are giving them easy access into Imperial Republica space, thus forcing them to make a lot shorter jumps to worlds such as Wayland, Thustra, Aquaris or even Bandomeer."

Vritoria spoke and tilted her head slightly. She had put some thought into this before coming to the Empress, she didn't want to be caught off guard if she had the chance to put a suggestion forward and here it was. "However, while I would love to go into further planning and discussion about this subject with you or someone else from the Naval High Command, I don't think this is a suitable location, as the odds of eavesdroppers is a bit too high for my tastes. So, if you wouldn't mind scheduling a future meeting I would love to partake."

The Agent paused again and took a short breath before speaking up again. "But, then again, I'm just an Agent, surely the Admirals you have under your control should have thought about the previously mentioned hyper buoys already, unless... they aren't acting on purpose. Perhaps their political views have been skewed by the lies and propaganda spread by the traitors of the 'Old Empire' and the Mandalorians?"


@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

It seemed that Vritoria Coruna was a talker - she had been thinking on this meeting for some time and now that it was actually here she wanted to make sure everything was heard. She could respect that in a way, even as she also hoped that the woman was also mercifully concise.

She dealt with 'talkers' all day after all.

"Currently our navy does stand in defensive positions." she acknowledged, otherwise keeping her tone and expression neutral as Vritoria continued, "Your idea for striking the hyperlane buoys has merit, however, I must admit. I assume you have some kind of plan for how to conduct the destruction, deactivation or removal of these buoys?"

Lyanna hummed as a butler arrived to hand her a cup of tea. She smiled gratefully at the butler and accepted the cup of tea before the butler disappeared from sight again. She looked coyly at Vritoria.

"Indeed, it does appear as those the walls have ears." she sipped her drink, "And tea."

She looked at Vritoria for a moment.

"Agent Coruna - I called you here today to discuss what you have to offer my Empire." She told her mildly, but there was steel in her words, "I did not call you here today to discuss the failings of others; merely what victories you believe you can bring us. Am I clear?"

@Danee