Vardos was an odd planet.
It was a core world and it had more credits than it knew what to do with but it was still somewhat tainted by association. Association with the Galactic Empire at first and the First Order after that - that the planet still bore the scars from the actions of both organisations was something that was so often forgotten by the general public at large. They saw only that Vardos had grown fat and rich from the association with the Empire, that it's punishment by the Imperials and the First Order was somehow justified because they had profited in the past.
It might very well have been but that was now a long time ago.
What was more was that Vardos was still flush with credits but now had such a bad reputation that they were falling over themselves to actually invest their credits in projects that would hopefully restore their lost status. It was probably very un-Jedi-like to manipulate the peoples of a world desperate for acceptance to open their pocket books but Carrick didn't much care - he wasn't a Jedi any longer and the Mercy Ships project could use all the credits it could get. His own planet, Tinnel IV, would be sending donations but his planet lacked the same credit-rich atmosphere that Vardos had.
That this was due to an inherently corrupt system currently in place on Tinnel IV was irritating but not something he could simply fix at the drop of a hat. Wearing a new suit that he had gotten for the occasion, he had his shiny, bright, lightsaber hilt connected at his waist. Despite some issues having arisen from his status as a fully openly Force Sensitive senator, Carrick was not willing to shy away from the truth even now.
Even if the one at his waist lacked a power cell and the one hidden along his back did not.
Waiting behind the stage for the Jedi who had started up the program, he busied himself making sure that his suit was free of an lint that might have been accumulated in the last few hours.
@Phoenix