Common Peoples' Sun

[Jairdain]

The Order of the Silver Jedi had an Embassy on Commenor, but it had sadly fallen into disuse and disrepair again. With the various invasions, wars and skirmishes that had happened, it had been abandoned. Having work cut out for them to get it cleaned up and back into working condition, Bradshaw had arranged for a crew to do the work for them. However, he and Jairdain still needed to lend a hand in the things...

"Bradshaw Ku!"

The man that would test the patience of a saint was testing that of his Advisor. While the Embassy was getting ready to be reopened, the two of them needed to figure out ​where to place each person attending.

After she caught his attention for at least the tenth time this morning, she pointed to the table arranged in front of them.

"We need to decide where everybody is going to be seated. This way no one person feels slighted by placement."

He held​ in his hand the cards with the names of the people attending this meeting. Lady Kay, Stephanie Swail, Valae Kitra, himself and Jairdain. If there were going to be others, then they would be accommodated for at that time. Not expecting more than those people though, the table was only set for these five people.

[member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

Hell on Commenor, that’s what this was! Karking hell on Commenor!

He briefly wondered how he’d found his way into this situation. Holding cards with the names of diplomats, Jedi, and galactic leaders, instead of looking through a hand of Sabacc.

He was making a… seating chart!? A freaking seating chart for a diplomatic meeting!

He still couldn’t believe it. He’d done many, many things after coming back to Commenor, after discovering his mother was a Queen and he, the Crown Prince, that he never, in a million years, wanted to do: attending political balls, talking with world leaders, attempting and failing to train as a Jedi, sitting in meetings.

Oh, the meetings, so many meetings about trade negotiations, foreign policy, military tactics, it was enough to make anyone fantasize about jumping into a sarlacc pit. Either way, you felt as if you were to be slowly and painfully digested for millennia. At least if you jumped into a sarlacc pit, you might get lucky and catch a spike through the gut, or dive headfirst with fingers crossed you broke your neck on the way down.

The sad thing was, he really hadn’t been to very many meetings at all. [member="Lady Kay"] had been relatively lenient and he’d spent most of his time as Crown Prince traveling around the galaxy, looking for his younger sister, [member="Rae-Anna Ku"], and pretending not to be a prince.

That was to change. His roaming, carefree, playboy ways were numbered if his mother had anything to say about it. Being the High Queen, it turned out, she did have something to say about it. The woman tasked with teaching him the ways of a diplomat, a prince, and maybe even the force was [member="Jairdain"]. And boy, had she not known what she’d gotten herself into.

Bradshaw belted out a noise somewhere between the love child of a sigh and a growl. Whatever it had been, the meaning was clear. He dropped the cards onto the table.

“First, who cares where they sit? Don’t these people have better things to worry about than not getting to sit next to their friend or something? Second, how am I supposed to figure out who gets to play with who at the kiddie table if I haven't even heard of two of them? Lastly, and I can’t stress this enough, I – could – not – care -- less.”

He held up the name cards, “These are not cards. You wan’na play with cards? Ever played sabacc?" Asked the former smuggler rhetorically, he just assumed everyone had played sabacc at some point, "I say we get a round table, put everyone around it in whatever order we deal them in and call it a day. Then I can take you out to the Common Dioxide Cantina and I can show you a good time with real cards and people who don’t care nearly as much about who they sit next to. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen their in-house Metal Bith band, Common Monoxide Poisoning. I was going to take [member="Silfe Sosuri"] there first, but these are dark and desperate times, so what do you say? Doesn’t a night out with the prince sound like so much more fun?”

 

[Jairdain]

The Prince didn't hide what he felt on the situation at hand and Jairdain could clearly see it through the Force. It was obvious to her he didn't comprehend the importance of this lesson and that was basically what it was for him. The people involved were all nice and understanding women, except for Brad himself. Jairdain didn't think the others would really care where they sat either, but he needed to learn about how these things could work if he ever had to do it for real. Not letting on to him that she know the setting for this meeting didn't matter, she listened to his words with a totally straight face.

Picking her words quite carefully, maintaining a neutral tone to accompany her face, Jairdain inwardly was laughing. Hoping Brad was unable to actually pick up on emotions, the mirth might show in her eyes. They were an unclouded violet tone and could be seen as a window to her emotions. Never one to be able to control what they looked like, he may see the glitter in them.

"You are correct, those aren't cards. They are NAME cards. On each one is a name that needs to have a spot on this table. Of course, a round table would do just fine, even then, those still need to have a place. So again, where do you think your mother would sit?"

She tapped the cards he held in his hand and was facing his direction.

"This is just a simple task and then you can go back out. Eventually you will graduate from setting tables to actually getting out and being able to smile, wave and kiss the little babies of the Commenor people. Until then and once you're ready to start showing you have the knowledge to go with your position, you'll be forever stuck setting tables. After you have learned how to perform your duty and take responsibility here, then maybe you'll be able to take your girlfriend out instead of somebody that just happens to be here in there dark and desperate times."

Of course a night out would be more fun, but she knew how important this meeting was and planned to stand her ground on the matter. They would have this table set and arranged or it was going to be one long day.

"Besides teaching me how to play cards is going to prove just as difficult as advising you is."


[member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

[member="Jairdain"] didn’t give up easy. How many lesser willed women would’ve taken the Prince up on his offer of a wild night out; gallivanting around Chasin City, listening to Bith try to appear and sound metal, and playing sabacc? He didn’t know. But he had to guess it was a big number.

Not her, though.

She just reiterated the quote, unquote, importance of deciding where grown women should sit during a meeting. For a moment there, he really imagined he’d had a chance with his suggestion, not least because he thought his little round table idea was actually kind of clever and might win him some points. But it hadn’t. Perhaps, even his unique blend of princely and smuggler charms could not overcome the stern disapproval of [member="Lady Kay"] that his advisor would’ve had to face if she’d gone off partying with her charge rather than instructing him on the finer points of diplomatic and royal proceedings like she’d been hired.

He was too well acquainted with his mother’s unyielding glare of disapproval and disappointment. Could he blame Jair for not wanting to face down the dual-turbo laser batteries that were a mother’s displeased stare, a mother at the head of an interstellar empire non-the-less?

No, probably not.

But, Mustafar would become the galaxy’s leading exporter of locally sourced, Fairtrade ice cubes, lovingly handcrafted by immaculately bearded men before he’d give up without properly complaining first. He already knew she’d get her way, but he wasn’t going to go down quietly.

Besides, her words were full of business, but her eyes shone with an inner amusement. His old smuggler mentor taught him early on that a woman’s eyes were the windows to their hearts and minds. Just as his mother’s intense stare told him a lot, a look into Jair’s unusual violet tinted eyes hinted to him that she was having more fun with his antics than she tried to let on.

Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

“How do you know? Maybe I’m a better card teacher than you are an advisor? Blind or not.” He responded to her last statement first with a good-natured chuckle. “The hustling opportunities alone if you were even decent at sabacc…-” he said wistfully, as he imagined the winnings pouring in from scamming cantina patrons into thinking that playing against a blind woman would be a steal, as if he were still the poor smuggler and pilot in need of credits.

He sighed the sigh of a man who had been beaten into submission, for now.

“Alright, we’ll play it your way. We’ll get a round table so that it’ll be more conversational than a formal, stuffy meeting. We’ll get more done that way, and I’ll bet you on that. We’re supposed to be friendly with the Silver Jedi Order, so we don’t need to play politic-games too much. My mother and…-" he quickly consulted one of the name cards to make sure he had the right idea, “Stephanie Swail will sit across from each other since, as far as I can tell, they’ll be the two highest ranking members from either government. Which means I’ll sit to my mother’s right and you’ll sit to my right. I imagine you’ll want to whisper tips-n-tricks or whatever to me during the meeting, or try to keep me awake.” He smirked, which, she of course couldn’t see but would no doubt have little trouble imagining the expression from his open-book emotions. “So, Swail will sit to your right, and Kitra will sit to hers which will obviously make her sit next to my mother unless someone else shows up. Around and around it goes. How boring it gets? Nobody knows.”

Gross, I can’t believe I just did that…​

He put the cards down in the order he said, a pointless gesture he imagined, since she couldn’t see them anyway.

“There, happy? Can we…-” he started to say before looking like he’d just remembered something, “Oh, and [member="Silfe Sosuri"]’s not my girlfriend” he corrected her earlier assumption, ”Maybe now you’d be interested in seeing a little Common Monoxide? It’s hilarious when they try to head bang, it always looks like their necks are going to snap at any moment.” Imagining the Bith band all head banging like a bunch of giant bobbleheads on stage made him burst into laughter. It really was a sight to see.

 

[Jairdain]

A round table was set up by the stewards that were there for this purpose and Brad did well enough, in her opinion of setting out the name cards for each of them. The only change she would suggest would be between Stephanie and Valae, but it would be up to him if he moved the cards accordingly.

In saying he might be a better card teacher than she was as an advisor brought a little grump noise, but Jairdain said nothing. She would allow him to have his fantasies and dreams about making it big if she could learn. The humor in his voice took any sting out of the words and she really wasn't mad, upset or offended by them. Rather still amused and that would show in her expressive eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to prod you in quite an obvious way if you dream to start dreaming. If there wasn't at least a little bit of friendliness between Commenor and the Silver Jedi, I find it unlikely we would be standing here having this conversation."

Her tone wouldn't display if Jairdain would actually prod him like she suggested, but if Brad had any real knowledge of how meetings of this sort worked, then he would realize she would not do such a thing that could embarrass him. At least not in front of others. Behind closed doors, such as they were now, she had a little more freedom with how she felt she could act.

The other part of her statement, she felt to be true and accurate. Even if the first meeting hadn't gone according the plan, hopefully this one would be better. It was on a small scale and only open to a select few. Rather than anybody from either Commenor or the Silver's that wanted to come.

Brad then asked if they could maybe go out since the cards were set. He just continued to rave about that band he liked, however he stated Silfe wasn't quite the girlfriend Jairdain had suggested she was. They way had been at the ball and after, suggested it was more serious. She shook her head though and made a broad motion indicating the Embassy more as a whole than anything else.

"There are still a few bits of detail I need to make sure are ready for tomorrow. I'll take a rain check and hold you to it. Enjoy your night out, my Prince."

It was a polite way of her saying that their day was ended and when he left, Jairdain finished up with what she said needed to do and headed back to her room. The next day started and she figured she would set an example of dress. Her dress wasn't quite as formal as what she wore at the ball, but still entirely different than what they would have seen before.

It was an earth tone yellow with a small smattering of stitched flowers along the hems of her neck, arms and the bottom of the skirt. Instead of a veil, she had a scarf that she wore more like a sash of the same color and stitching as her dress. It was as close to an example of something from her people that she could have crafted. Even if it wasn't exact, it was close and Jairdain was happy with her choice of clothes for the day.

Making one last walk through of the Embassy and the room arranged for the meeting, now they just had to wait for the others to show up.

[member="Bradshaw Ku"] [member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

The Silver Jedi Order delegation set down on the landing pad.

Commenor. It was a world that Valae had heard quite a lot about, but never seen for herself. Indeed she was aware of the embassy that already existed on this world, the work of her predecessor. Now that the Order had relocated to the core, the Commenor Systems Alliance was now a close neighbor. It was time to revisit relations. Fortunately for the Silvers, they had quite the connection in the CSA – Jairdain.

It seemed that the young woman had been quite busy as of late. Valae knew that she was a devoted member of the Order, but now she had also taken on some very important duties here on Commenor. It was a lot of responsibility, but she was sure that Jairdain was handling the changes with grace.

Today Valae’s apprentice, Stephanie, would accompany her to the embassy. The Deputy Director of the Silver Service Corps, Rozalyne Kurganova, was present as well. The Director was a skilled diplomat, so the jitters that usually found the Grandmaster had diminished slightly. Glancing to both of her companions, she gave a nod to signal that it was time to depart.

The Jedi healer took a moment to smooth down the front of her robes. While her clothing was likely on the drab side, she had made sure to actually style her wavy hair today. After all, they would be in the presence of a Queen. As they journeyed from the landing pad and to the designated meeting area within the embassy, Valae took in the sights. Perhaps she would have to return to explore this world another time.

As their party appeared in the doorway, she nodded to the familiar face that waited for them there.

“Hello,” She said simply to announce her presence, “It’s good to see you again, Jairdain. I hope you’ve been well.”

[member="Jairdain"], [member="Stephanie Swail"], [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay hated to be running late, but being less than two months from her due date, her ability to walk in her normal pace was a bit obstructed. After the short speeder ride to the SJO Embassy, she stepped out and entered the building. Her gown was just simple folds of fabric draped around her, both for ease of movement as well as for comfort. The only jewelry that she wore were her wedding rings. Kay wasn't the type to show off wealth, despite her position. Afterall, she was visiting with guests, not her own citizens. There was no authority over them that she held.

Her concern of course was over [member="Bradshaw Ku"] . This was a test of his abilities to show whether or not he can be diplomatic and show maturity. Right now he was her eldest and there would be times when he might have to step in for her. [member="Jairdain"] had been his tutor, and this was an opportunity for Kay to check on her work as well.

The negotiations should be simple, if all went well. But nothing was ever certain. The last meeting with the SJO here had fallen apart, mostly due to Kay holding firm to their stance to not alienate some of their allies and hold them above the others. Hopefully such a request wouldn't come about again.

She stepped inside the room, making note to not appear critical of Brad's efforts. Instead she merely smiled as she stood in behind [member="Valae Kitra"] and her delegation, her hands clasped in front of her.

[member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie wouldn’t have come without [member="Valae Kitra"] to Commenor, not at all. After the mess of the Accords, her view had changed on certain people and places – Commenor was one, and the Queen [member="Lady Kay"] who ruled.

It would be nice to see [member="Jairdain"] again, it had been a while since she had touched base with Stephanie and now she was an advisor to the Crown Prince? She certainly had done well and made the best of her skills and strengths.

Stephanie removed her shawl to rest around her shoulders as she walked beside her Master from the landing pad to the embassy. The place reminded her of the planet Naboo in some ways – the elegant architecture and tall regal buildings, but with a very homely and quaint feel to it. Beside them, the commandeering presence of [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] stood by them to make a rather unified front for the Silver Jedi.

Jairdain greeted them, and Stephanie followed her Master in.

”Hello, Jairdain,” she smiled sweetly as she walked past.

Onwards a little more and they were led to the meeting room within the embassy. There was a tugging knot in her stomach, and she turned her head in to Master Kitra slightly.

”Forgive me, Master, but be wary. I don’t trust the Queen. I don’t know why, but something unsettles me about her allegiances.”

She left it at that, eyes looking around as they came to the room and fanned out, a greeting of Commenor royalty and power already waiting for them.

[member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

The Silver Jedi had begun making the rounds in the Core, building a rapport with their neighbors as they settled into their new home on Kashyyyk. Rozalyne accompanied the Grandmaster and her Padawan on the next leg of their tour, Commenor, supporting Kitra as a fellow member of the Silver Assembly, and acting as a voice for the Tion Cooperative.

As she exited the courier, the Director immediately stood out from her Jedi counterparts with her sleek plaid dress and gray blazer, neck and left hand glinting with ornate jewelry. The Silver Order was unique among other Jedi organizations in how readily they accepted Non-Force Sensitives into their ranks, who could bring a range of skills beyond the normal scope of the Jedi. In her case, skills developed from years as an executive and a politician.

Rozalyne remained quiet during the trek from the landing pad to the embassy, right up until she overhead Swail's stating her misgivings about the Queen to Kitra.

"When you understand the desires of others," she whispered to Swail. "then there is no need to be wary."

The Commenori were quite easy to figure out. They pursued an isolationist policy that placed the concerns of Cemmenor ahead of everything else, almost never engaging in activities that they didn't deem directly beneficial to their growing dominion.

Perhaps a selfish path in the eyes of the Jedi, who concerned themselves with the well-being of the galaxy as a whole, but a shrewd strategy none the less from a survivalist's standpoint. Better to cozy up to the First Order, for instance, rather than risk them showing up at your doorstep for a mass extinction event with asteroid flinging.

"Satisfy said desires, then you'll have them eating right out of your hand."

[member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Jairdain"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

The Crown Prince strode down the palace halls from his suite and out in the direction of the Silver Jedi Order embassy in Chasin City. He was sure he’d be the last to turn up to the meeting, as usual. However, this time was different. Whereas his tardiness at meetings normally stemmed from a lack of interest or even a nagging sense of dread at the thought of tedious chit-chat and dull discussions of figures and tax rates, this time, he was showing up last by design. He wanted everyone to be present so that he could greet them all together, and besides, it gave everyone else a chance to make their greetings first.

He’d done more than crawl out of bed for the meeting as well. He did his research the night before, finding himself rather more eager to impress than normal after a quick HoloNet search of the delegation's members turned up some interesting information, at least in his estimation.

Maybe he was more eager simply because the three visiting women were easier on the eyes than some of the crusty old men that often populated such discussions, a fact that could never escape the former smuggler and flirtatious prince. Or maybe, it was because he knew that this day wouldn’t just reflect on himself, but perhaps even more so on his new advisor Jair. Surely his mother would be keen to see whether the new hire was working out. Though he didn’t care for Jair’s role as advisor so much, the woman had a way of growing on him.

He cleaned up well, when he wanted to. The other key characteristic of the delegation – that one of their number was a princess – not having slipped his notice either, which was in no small part why he was dressed to impress in a blue three-piece suit. Despite his distaste for all things formal attire.

Now walking inside the embassy, he spotted his mother still outside the meeting room in the hall. He gave her a big, knowing smile, as he was very aware that showing up in a full suit looking like a dignified prince would not have been what she expected, and briefly put a hand on her shoulder as he passed, “Come on Mom, what are you waiting for? We can’t start without the Queen of all people.” He prodded her before entering the room himself.

He quickly made his way to where the small delegation of women stood. Upon approaching them, he would first bow in the respectful and dignified way taught to him by his former short-term master and step-father [member="Veiere Arenais"], to [member="Valae Kitra"] who he recognised from his research as the Grandmaster of the Order. Then to her padawan, [member="Stephanie Swail"], and last but not least, [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"].

“Grandmaster Kitra and Padawan Swail, I am Bradshaw Ku, Crown Prince of the Systems Alliance. It’s a pleasure to meet you and I am honoured you’ve joined us today. I’ve heard many great things about the Silver Jedi, though I have to say I am not at all familiar enough with your order. Please,” he said as he gestured toward the table, “make yourselves comfortable. We’ve assigned seats, Jair’s idea, but feel free to take them more as suggestions that anything else.”

After finishing greeting the Jedi, he then moved to address their non-Jedi compatriot, the attractive princess accented with twinkling jewellery.

“Princess Rozalyne, I’m Prince Bradshaw,” he introduced himself differently to her as he opted to utilise the similarity of their titles, “I’m very happy you’ve joined us. I’ve never been to Andinri, but maybe you’d be so kind as to show me around sometime in the future. You could say, I’m a big fan of traveling.” He smiled to her and directed her toward the table like he did the others before moving to his own seat between [member="Lady Kay"] and Jair.

None of this was second nature to him, but even he couldn’t hang around his mother and other diplomats and politicians for so long without picking up a few things, whether he wanted to or not. With a concerted effort, he could pass as a practiced prince or diplomat. For a time.

“Nice day for a meeting, wouldn’t you say?” he asked Jair, rather more cheerfully than his previous attitude the day before would’ve suggested.

| [member="Jairdain"] |​

 

[Kay-Larr]

Already whispers were starting among the visiting delegation that walked ahead of her. She could hear them, but not everything that was being said. Being pregnant had all of her senses working overtime. And her harmones.

Kay smirked to herself as it seemed the meeting was already starting off on a bad note. Experienced politicians knew that delegations whispering to eachother in front of their hosts before they even greeted their hosts, showed that there was very little in the way of trust, not to mention a high level of judgement. But Kay didn't know how much or how little experience that [member="Valae Kitra"] , [member="Stephanie Swail"] and [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] had. Regardless, they didn't have the best of reputations. Perhaps that was why they were here today, to try to start up building that bridge again.

A touch on her shoulder and the voice of [member="Bradshaw Ku"] drew her away from her thoughts. He was clearly dressed to impress and she had to hand it to him for his efforts. At lesst he didn't come in with a huge crown, lots of jewelry, a long cape and staff catering to his every whim. That wasn't how they lived, nor how she wanted them to be perceived. Kay placed her hand on his and smiled before following in after him.

Brad layed out his introductions to everyone, clearly showing the signs of him doing his homework. She took her seat, albeit a bit awkwardly as it wasn't so easy to get comfortable. She glanced to [member="Jairdain"] , wondering what her reaction was towards Brad's sudden maturity. Oh but then it hit. There was a Princess in the delegation. Kay looked to her adopted son with a slightly raised brow. There was a certain point that she didn't want him to go past. Hopefully he'd be able to contain himself. Otherwise [member="Veiere Arenais"] would need to have a stern word with him.

"Welcome to Commenor. I trust that your journey was well? For those of you that don't know, I'm Lady Kay Arenais and I look forward to a positive outcome for both of our governments. Shall we get straight to business?"

 

[Jairdain]

She waited just inside the room set up for this meeting and smiled when Valae, Stephanie and Rozalyne came in. Approaching them and giving Valae a formal nod, she motioned for them to enter.

"It is good to see you again too, Master Kitra."

The first time they had met, Jairdain had been mentally unstable and quite confused. Valae had suggested she reach out and help others in an effort to heal herself. It had helped her far more than even she had expected, the aid she offered and when it was accepted had been a boon. Continuing on that line even now, Jairdain did spend some of her free time in the medical ward of the hospital here on Commenor helping those that wanted it.
​
"Padawan Stephanie, how are you coming in your training?"

She had met the woman near the end of the time that the Silver Jedi were on Voss and had helped the padawan through some of her own confusion and talked with her. Jairdain hoped ​their conversation had helped and really wanted to know about how she was doing.

Turning her attention to the last of the people from the Silver Jedi, she held her hand out. Her tone was friendly and open.

"I don't believe we have met before. I am Jairdain Ismet."

A few moments later, Bradshaw appeared and his lack of flamboyance practically floored Jairdain. The shock would probably show clearly on her face, but she was really pleased he hadn't come in with an entourage of servants or anything that would draw attention to himself. Though today he should be the star of the show in directing the conversation with her standing or sitting as the case would be in his shadow. Advising him on agreements between the two factions.

He introduced himself to everybody present and invited all of them to find their seats. Kay then more or less opened the meeting with a welcome to all of them and suggested getting down to business.

"Thank you all for coming."

It was a simple statement coming from her and Jairdain wanted to see if Bradshaw, Kay or Valae were going to take the lead today.
​
[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"] [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] [member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Valae Kitra"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Glancing to the side at Stephanie, Valae gave a small nod to acknowledge her apprentice’s words. Though she refrained from commenting, she shared this unsettled feeling. The Grandmaster had no doubts that Queen Arenais was a decent woman; she had some concerns regarding her allegiances. Of course, Valae could not say what was true and what wasn’t when it came to the rumors. Needless to say, the Silver Jedi had a reputation as well. But for her own part, Valae hoped to set things right.

Stepping into the room, the Silver delegation was quickly followed by the Royalty of Commenor.

As Bradshaw Ku introduced himself, Valae gave the young man a respectful nod of her head. Her eyes shifted to the place cards that he mentioned, and then glanced to Jairdain with a small smile. It seemed that she had her work cut out for her as the Advisor to the Prince.

“The honor is ours, Prince Bradshaw.” Valae said, offering the man a kind smile. “Thank you for the warm welcome.”

Moving along to her designated seat at the table, she placed her hands on the back of the chair for a moment. She would remain standing until after she had a chance to address the Queen. As Bradshaw moved to greet Rozalyne, Valae’s eyes lingered there for only a moment. Shifting her gaze to Stephanie, Valae offered a smile to her apprentice, thankful to have her at her side today.

And then, as the Queen made her entrance, Valae dipped into a low bow.

“Your Majesty, I am Valae Kitra, Grandmaster of the Order of Silver Jedi.” Valae started politely, “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today, it is wonderful to finally meet you in person. We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with the CSA.”

With that, the Grandmaster took her seat. While Valae was comfortable with her skills as a healer, she was not the most confident when it came to matters of politics. She was still learning, but doing her best to keep up with the galactic affairs. But, she glanced to Deputy Director Kurganova and gave her a small nod. She would let Rozalyne start things off, as she was best suited for the job.

[member="Jairdain"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Bradshaw Ku"], [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"], [member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

Greetings began to be exchanged between the two parties of delegates, Rozalyne first personally addressed by Ismet.

"You are correct," she replied, reaching out to shake hands with a firm grip. "Ms. Ismet, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for overseeing renovations to the embassy, the whole place looks quite lovely."

Next, Prince Bradshaw swaggered up to her, noticeably more chummy with her than with her Jedi counterparts.

"I'm delighted to be here, Your Highness. Traveling is also a passion of mine." She smirked, reciprocating his coquettish manner in tone and expression. "Kashyyyk serves as my current abode, but I wouldn't object to returning home to provide a personal tour of Andinri. If you have the time."

She took her seat at his guidance, then fished out her tablet from her purse as Queen Arenais and Grandmaster Kitra made their introductions. A few times, she would glance over at the prince, quite easy on the eyes. It appeared that this policy-centric meeting wouldn't be as dry as she had expected.

When Kitra finished making her introduction, she looked over at Rozalyne. She nodded at the Grandmaster, her expression turning sober as she was put up to speak.

"Before we begin, I would like everyone to know that this discussion is being recorded." she tapped the back of her slim black tablet. "Echoing what Master Kitra said, I am grateful to be received by the Commenori delegation today. While the Silver Jedi have always maintained some level of rapport with the CSA in its various iterations, we are glad to finally take the next step and formally normalize relations."

"On our end, we have a few items on our agenda for discussion. The first would be establishing a neutrality pact between the CSA and SJO."

Rozalyne couldn't ever imagine a scenario where either group would ever raise arms against each other, but it was always good to have such agreements on the books.

"Next is exploring the possibility of a free trade deal between the CSA and the Tion Cooperative." The trade bloc of Outer and Mid rim planets was eager to expand trade with the core regions, and a bilateral deal with the CSA would help greatly with that effort.

"Lastly, I would like to present a few new humanitarian initiatives that the SJO believes the CSA could get behind."

She paused then, giving the Kay and Bradshaw a chance to offer their input and bring up other topics they wanted to discuss during the meeting.

[member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Jairdain"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay bowed her head to the Grandmaster [member="Valae Kitra"] . Her own husband is a former Grandmaster, so she knew full well of the dedication and responsibilities required, and she had a respect for that. It more or less resembled her own duties.

But then [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] caught her attention, giving Kay reason to raise a brow as she brought out a recording device for this diplomatic meeting. Had she ever been to one before? It made her wonder if this was her first such meeting between the heads of two large governments. "I'm sorry, but are we on trial? I will not permit recording devices of any kind. If the trust is that low that you would use our spoken words against us instead of being assured by signed agreements, then perhaps we have nothing to discuss at all. Recording devices are never permitted in any of these types of meetings. If they were allowed, then these meetings would always be broadcasted, always open to the public for which they are not. There are reasons for that. This is not some Senate meeting or a business meeting. This is government. The stakes are much higher."

Kay paused for a moment, glancing to her son [member="Bradshaw Ku"] and his advisor [member="Jairdain"] , feeling sorry that all of their hard work could have been done in vain. "If you insist on some kind of recording device of any kind overseeing this meeting, then we are done here and no policies or agreements will be discussed." She felt insulted. All of her closed door meetings, no matter which government that they were with, were always closed door and private. No swindling was ever done of course, but there was always a trust there. And an agreement forged out of distrust would not prevent any tensions between governments, but nurture them.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie hadn’t been seated beside her Master long before the introduction and [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] started to talk, when things turned a little sour. The notion of recording the meeting struck a nerve with [member="Lady Kay"] and it seemed to strike everyone in the room.

The Padawan looked at the Queen, then discreetly to Kurganova and then [member="Valae Kitra"] beside her.

”If I may, Queen Kay, I am sure there is no intent to spread mistrust in this recording at all. If anything it is for our own esteemed council to listen back to and form the best relations possible with your government in them not being here so they get nothing wrong.”

She drummed her fingers soflty on her knees under the table.

”I know you were there at the Accords recently, and I bet they were recorded, but nobody said anything, and nor did you present a strict desire for all recordings to be off then. Is it not best we have stated the intent to record without trying to pull wool over your eyes? I am saddened you feel there is distrust so soon by doing this.”

Stephanie and the others knew there was nothing malicious or devious about their desire to capture and record all the conversations for both parties, for in important times such as these, it was more than crucial to follow all agreed detail and have it on record.

So she thought.

The gut feeling about the Queen grew a little more; she started to worry about why she would so quickly paint the Silver Jedi black for this little reason.

[member="Jairdain"] | [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Rozalyne Kurganova]

Rozalyne raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the sudden defensiveness of the Queen, and her condescending tone.

"Erm...no one is on trial? The recording and the notes I'm taking are for myself and for relevant ranking members of the Silver Jedi Order and the Tion Cooperative to review later for internal policy discussions. I have no intention of making said recordings and notes public, even if there is no sensitive information being shared at this time."

Rozalyne hoped her explanation would put the Queen at ease, though she had assumed that it went without saying that she wouldn't be broadcasting a high-level diplomatic encounter being conducted behind closed doors. It would be a shame to see the meeting derailed by a simple case of misunderstanding.

"I don't see what I'm doing as being much different than, for instance, interacting with a droid leader of the Metal Lords, capable of perfect memory recall and near instantaneous transmissions to other machines in real time. Do you?"

She set her tablet down, flipping off the record function. "You speak about trust. So, then I ask you to trust that I have no nefarious intentions with what I'm doing. The Silver Jedi have always been a friend to the Commenori, that hasn't changed. So why the concern?"

[member="Stephanie Swail"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Valae Kitra"] [member="Jairdain"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae had thought that perhaps her path might have crossed with Kay’s much sooner than it had. After all, she had been scheduled to meet with Kay’s husband. Unfortunately, their meeting had been very ill-fated. As she understood it, his arrival seemed to coincide with that of the First Order’s forces. Valae had even heard that the King had run into trouble of his own in orbit. And since then, she’d seen the man and met him very briefly at the Conclave.

As Rozalyne opened with a disclosure, Valae was taken aback by Lady Kay’s reaction to being recorded.

Blinking, she watched as her apprentice very rightly attempted to smooth things over. If the Commenori would allow such a detail to completely derail the chance to work together, there was little Valae could do to stop them. But it never seemed like a good idea to burn bridges. A small sigh escaped her lips, and she scooted to the edge of her seat, hands folded calmly atop the table.

“Queen Kay,” She started, matching gazes with the other woman. “We do not mean to offend and we have no ill-intent.” She opened her palms for a moment, as if to demonstrate this point. “Even though this meeting does involve one government party--” She gestured to the CSA members across the table, “It would not be unusual to have someone on hand to take notes, am I right?”

Her head turned, hoping that she was not too far off.

“This way,” She continued, “It leaves no room for things to be misinterpreted later on. And you have my word, we would be glad to provide you with a copy of this recording.” Valae sincerely hoped that the Queen and her party would be amenable to this suggestion.

“If you would be willing to continue – we can speak about our goals, as well as your own, for this meeting.”

[member="Rozalyne Kurganova"], [member="Stephanie Swail"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Jairdain"], [member="Bradshaw Ku"]

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

Bradshaw sat at the table and listened to the formal introductions, nearly beaming after Princess [member="Rozalyne Kurganova"] offered to escort him around Andinri. He didn’t care one lick about the planet, never even heard of it before, but that wasn’t the real interest, now was it? Andinri could be some po-dunk planet with nothing more worthwhile than a hay bail and a bantha to chew on it, and he’d still go.

Though, fortunately, the Princess didn’t look or act like she was from that sort of world. It would all depend, of course, on how well the meeting went. But, even he knew that the agenda was banal, even by political standards. The meeting was really the last thing on his mind now, especially as he spied the Princess stealing glances his way. He caught those peeks because he’d been doing the same.

Then, it all went downhill faster than Jabba the Hutt, slathered in lard, being pushed by Chewbacca down the steps of the Imperial Palace in a zany children's cartoon. He had to stop himself from literally putting forehead to table. One side wanted to record, the other side didn’t, and this whole meeting was going Alderaan ways.

It didn’t surprise him that his mother would be strict about not recording the proceedings. He tried to think back to one of the times she, or, had it been someone else? Was explaining to him about their policies regarding these sorts of meetings. Maybe it was [member="Jairdain"]? No, it was before her time. Something about these things always having strict privacy standards. The reasons being… blah, blah, and blah… oh yeah, that was when the Twi’lek staff member walked by. So, he couldn’t remember why exactly but he assumed it was for good reasons.

“I’ve heard of getting the – calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes – talk before being put on hold for an hour, but this is ridiculous. Am I right?” he joked, holding up his hands for emphasis, trying to lighten the mood a little. The room was getting almost as tense as if they were all here to negotiate the end to a hundred-year war.

“Besides, this is my first ever negotiation. I’d be personally indebted to the Silver Jedi if my failures weren’t recorded for posterity. I’m sure we can figure out another way to have both sides walk away at the end without any misunderstandings. You’ve already got me at a nervous disadvantage by bringing along so many lovely ladies” he said as his blue eyes scanned the women on the other side of the table, to finally rest on the Princess, a mischievous smuggler’s grin carved into his features.

He really hoped the meeting could be salvaged. Or else, the after party was going to be hella awwwkward…

| [member="Valae Kitra"] | [member="Stephanie Swail"] | [member="Lady Kay"] |​

 

[Kay-Larr]

That was the difference between a monarchy and a democratic government. Kay could sign any contract or agreement and have it binding from that point forward, yet a democratic government needs to go through their own meetings and dragging of their feet before anything gets done. Kay knew of that first hand.

She looked to [member="Stephanie Swail"] as the young Jedi spoke, giving her head a tiny shake as she disagreed with her statements. "There were no recordings at Ruusan. Otherwise people wouldn't of been taking notes to defer to their people with. Such meetings are always private affairs. It'd be a breach of security otherwise. Or do you reveal everything to your citizens? Every conversation, every spoken and written down word? That isn't how we operate here." Kay was used to slicers and the like that could find ways to release sensitive information. She had also been blackmailed in the past because of such tactics and there was no way that she was going to let that happen again. There was good reason why she commited things to paper and kept no journal or electronic schedule. No sensitive information was ever passed electronically.

Her attention then went to @Rozalyn Kurganova as she gave her reasonings followed by the age old excuse of 'droids can do it, so why can't we?'. In parenting, that was usually followed with something along the lines of 'if a droid jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?'. Again Kay gave a small shake of her head. "I've had many meetings with Force Sensitives capable of reaching into my mind and reading my thoughts when it came to diplomatic meetings. But do they do it? No. Just because they can, doesn't mean that they should, or would do so. They have more respect than that."

[member="Valae Kitra"] caught her attention next. She listened to the Grandmaster. Taking notes was one thing, but recording everything that was being said was quite another. There was no freedom given to speak frankly, knowing that each word would be judged and scrutinized. Kay knew that while visiting her own Embassy in the First Order capital, everything was recorded there for her own 'safety'. So both herself and her staff were always mindful of everything that they ever said or did while there. It stopped them from being themselves and having any type of relaxation of any kind. It made her glad that her visits there were so few and far between. "Writing down notes is fine, but again for security reasons, I cannot allow recordings. I'm sure that your datapads are capable of allowing you to write. If not, I can have some paper and pens provided. My husband would back me on this as it is our policy here. It is enforced with all governments that hold their meetings on our soil."

And then came [member="Bradshaw Ku"] with his...flirtations. His raging harmones treated almost any occasion into a dating pool for him. As far as she knew, she was the only woman that he had any loyalty to and that was just because she was his adopted mother. The same couldn't be said to all of the women that he liked to seduce. Men like that never seemed to mature, nor did they ever gain fulfillment. Instead they just bounced around from one woman's bed to the next. Perhaps it was too soon to crown him Prince. She had thought that it would give him a sense of responsibility, but instead he seemed to use it as an excuse to lure more women. Hopefully he'd change for the better soon.

Kay glanced over to [member="Jairdain"] and then cleared her throat a little. "Now, if that's all settled, we can continue."