Private AFTER ACTION | OPERATION_DR:// GHADI

[IVI]

THE DIRECTOR IN THE ERA OF RECLAMATION
OPERATION: DIVINE_RETRIBUTION | PHASE 1 AND 2 COMPLETE
CORUSCANT | SIA HEADQUARTERS | OFFICE
Reiner Ghadi

Senators, the public faces of the very Democracy she swore to protect, could be such a headache.

M had been in the room with just a handful of them, swapping perspectives on morality and boundaries, for over half the day. Now, there was nothing she wanted more than a tall, cold glass of blue milk. And silence.

These desires were well known to her aid after long meetings with the federal assembly, and she was greeted with only head-nods from her staff and a chilled blue bulb on her desk.

It was enough for the corner of her mouth to twitch happily.

The good mood was easy to come by. Especially following the initial debates and reactions to the unorthodox group of special forces that had been sent to Empress Teta to purge the remaining Sith and their artifacts. Task Force Y, under Tiric Sar'andor 's leadership, had done well for their premiere mission. Especially considering the scrutiny and pressure that came with a live broadcast. So well, in fact, that she presumed that was the primary driver behind The Senator of Aphran's request for a swift follow-up.

She invited him to her office soon after the showcasing's conclusion. It was best to nurture enthusiasm promptly.

Even if that enthusiast was a member of the Imperial Bloc.

While she awaited the senator's arrival, she washed down the distaste for Imperials with a sip of her blue milk.

---

 

[Reiner Ghadi]

Tags: IVI

Politics were always a rather precarious business. One had to walk a constant tightrope between strength and compromise, and somehow manage to keep the carrot dangling on the stick of manipulation all the while. Though Reiner had walked that tightrope adequately since taking office, he still preferred to discussing matters with those of a less than political station. Perhaps it was the soldier in him refusing to die, but then again, the senator wasn't exactly looking to let that part of himself go, even if it meant that he would make an enemy or two along the way.

He hoped, that in M's case, that would not be the situation.

Reiner knew little of the mysterious Director of the SIA, and what little he did discover only raised more questions... which was precisely why he wished to meet. There was the matter of Task Force Y, but beyond that, Reiner wished to see if he could get a read on the Director. Connections were a powerful thing in the galaxy, and what could be a better connection than someone in M's position?

He calmly entered the room, taking care to offer a slight bow of the head as he made his way toward her.

"Director... thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am sure that you can understand that some matters are best discussed without a room full of strong opinions."

He had made many of his thoughts known during the meeting, but one could only say so much in the presence of those that outright objected to his ideas. Hopefully, this would be much different. Only time would tell...

 

[IVI]

The aid that held the door for Reiner Ghadi stepped away with a half-bow and disappeared once the door sealed. They'd greeted the senator when he showed up and had sent a notification to M as soon as the crag-faced gentleman stepped into the building.

It was enough time for M to time herself lifting from the chair, one hand on her desk and the other pointing to the empty seat across the table.

"Senator Ghadi, please have a seat."

She lead the suggestion with her own motion to sit and draped one knee over the other. She was smoothing out the length of her skirt when the Senator thanked her for her time and highlighted the importance of caution. In return, the chiss offered a thin smile.

"Your surety is well placed, Senator." If discretion were an art, M would be Ebenn Q3 Baobab.

The door to her office hissed open, and M leaned back into her seat as the aid reappeared with a carafe of water and a glass for M's guest. With delicate, practiced motions, they set the tray down and transferred the liquid from the large container to the individual one. Then they disappeared again.

"Would you care for anything stronger while we, I can only assume, discuss matters unsuitable for a room full of strong opinions?"

Not that this particular room was entirely empty of them.

 

[Reiner Ghadi]

Tags: IVI

Reiner calmly took his seat, maintaining his posture as he sat across from the Director. He was quite aware of the visual queues one could pick up from something as subtle as body language, and M was nothing if not observant. Since he wasn't sure where him and M stood yet, it would be best to keep such subtleties to himself for now.

"That's good to hear, Director."

The aid returned shortly after, providing beverages before promptly leaving the room once more. Reiner wasn't much of a drinker; he often found that it dulled the senses in ways that were detrimental to one of his station. Nevertheless, he wouldn't turn down the hospitality of one such as M.

"Don't mind if I do."

Pouring himself a small glass, Reiner sat back in his seat, taking a sip as he looked onward.

"I am quite impressed with your new task force. There is much potential in such a unit. Conventional warfare has its uses, but at times, can be bogged down by the tedium of command."

A brief pause followed as Reiner stared into the glass.

"I wonder, what are your thoughts on the long term? Surely one such as yourself has considered a time after the eventual defeat of the Maw and their ilk."

He didn't expect to get a straight answer, but the question would serve well enough to help him get at least somewhat of a read on the Director. Even the most complex of enigmas could be dissected, given enough time and dedication. And Reiner was quite the dedicated man, and right now... he had all the time in the world.

 

[IVI]

M offered a cool, pleasant smile at the compliment to her task force. She was a woman of few weaknesses, but she took pride in her agents. And she'd protect and vouch for them to no end. Covert and special operations were her preference as well. More precise, like a scalpel, for surgical strikes.

Armies were conflated. Like hammers, and everything was a nail.

Reiner Ghadi took his time to continue after that, precious beats where the water in the glass might have contained the next string of words.

Ah. There they were.

M's pleasant grin sharpened to something wrier, one corner higher than the other.

Debating the future had been one of the senator's preferred topics during the demonstration. Who would handle in them in the future was one of the premiere concerns (they were folly to think M wasn't investigating technologies to promote longevity in promising persons like herself)— but this concern edged beyond The Second Great Hyperspace War.

"That depends entirely on their effectiveness," M responded at first, neutral as ever. "The Maw and their ilk are wicked evil, and I hope to be ambitious enough to consider the possibility to wipe them out entirely, but you're not talking about simply Sith, are you Senator?"

Letting the question sit between them, M took a sip of her blue milk. Savoured it. Set it down.

"The darkside corrupts many who have connections to The Force. It's not exclusive to The Sith alone."

 

[Reiner Ghadi]

Tags: IVI

A moment of silence followed as M mentioned that Reiner may not just be talking about the Maw. Was this a test perhaps? A ploy to obtain some insight into the senator's own goals? Perhaps, though he wouldn't give more to the Director than was necessary. Reiner's general distaste for the users of the Force wasn't exactly a well-kept secret. He had been trying to push them away from the Alliance since he had taken office, an endeavor that, expectedly, proved to be difficult. Nevertheless, it hadn't stopped him from trying.

"You are insightful indeed, Director. The Maw are not the only concern on my mind. Nor should they be, if one may be so bold..."

Another sip from his drink followed as he pondered the Alliance's longstanding relationship with the Jedi, and everything that it entailed. Mostly events that Reiner would hope to forget, yet would be plagued with until he could finally free the Alliance of the ilk of the Force.

"The Jedi wish to remind us so often of how much they are needed... how vulnerable we are to the machinations of the Dark Side, yet so many of them fall prey to those same machinations..."

Reiner had seen his fair share of so-called warriors of light fall into the darkness they pledged to rid from the galaxy. Even one of the most honorable of men eventually became nothing more than the Dark Voice of the Maw.

"Do we simply wait for the next Kaigann Fosk? When do we finally say enough is enough?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke.

"I plan to protect the Alliance and the greater galaxy from further calamity, but one can not do such things on their own."

 

[IVI]

M's lip twitched behind the rim of her blue milk. Over the edge, she eyed Reiner Ghadi .

Finally, she set the glass down.

She had her opinions, of course. The Jedi weren't a risk at the moment. Their virtues were constantly put to the test, and they were responsible for proving to themselves again and again that they were deserving paragons of The Light. Their hubris kept them devoted to their duty to protect.

The Imperial Knights, however.... were an entirely different breed.

To ease the tension in the room, M chuckled darkly.

"No, of course not. One man protecting hundreds is folly only persons like a Jedi would believe.

But the idea of enough is an intriguing one. What is it that's on your mind, senator?"

 

[Reiner Ghadi]

Tags: IVI

Her comments told him enough of her views. Perhaps they did not share the same opinion on which Force Orders may be the biggest threat... at least... not yet.

Reiner leaned in once again, taking a swift sip from his glass as his cold eyes looked the Director up an down. Was this the safest place to share his views? Perhaps... perhaps not. Yet, one did not engage in politics without accepting a certain level of risk.

"There are those that believe the Jedi to be the purveyors of safety. I see them as little more than a liability..."

A brief pause followed...

"There are certainly other groups within the greater galaxy that warrant speculation, such as the Imperial Knights."

A lie, on his part, though his voice portrayed a sheer air of sincerity. He had learned to lie well many years ago... a skill that had served him well since he became a senator.

"But at the end of the day... I do not trust those with such unchecked power within their hands."

That part was true.

"The NJO suffer the same trappings of any Force user. They are not to be trusted, no matter what our new Chancellor may have to say on the matter."

It was no secret that he wasn't a fan of Auteme rising to her current status, and as such, he felt comfortable speaking freely on the matter.

"Should you require... anything... for your new initiative, I want to make it clear that you have the support of Aphran IV. We have already gone to extreme lengths to secure our own borders from such potentially problematic ideals. I simply ask that, in return, you are willing to be open to the grand scope of the issue."

Another brief pause...

"Not that you aren't already, of course. I am simply offering support in exchange for assurances that this project will be seen through to the end, whatever that may entail. No matter the threat."

 

[IVI]

Her suspicions were warranted, and the Senator played as many cards as he could without fully revealing those so close to the vest that his entire hand would be lost. The words of Reiner Ghadi were not unlike those of on of her most intimate conspirators, Arage Bao .

"The wars we find ourselves in do tend to have a common denominator; I must admit," M agreed, still careful with her commitments. Offering only enough to potentially secure her additional funding and resources in her security pursuits. It was no secret that the current Chancellor of The Alliance was one of those, or had at one time been, one of those common denominators.

But she had more supporters than the Imperial Bloc. And thus, The Alliance was safe from itself in the hands of Auteme.

For now.

But M was never one to turn down an ally.

"Trappings," again, she re-emphasized his own domain language back to him, "that differ between one versus another are something subtle if they exist. That is our next pursuit. Such a distinction and definition must come before control.

In that, I appreciate your support Senator."