Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen…

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Despite the affirmation that there was at least some form of a mutual feeling between them, Gen could sense in the tone of her voice and her movements that this was not going to be a joyous revelation. "Faith--" She began, wary of the hands to her shoulders and shifting her stance in anticipation of a possible kick to the shins--or her more womanly parts. Alarms raged in her mind as the woman's torso shifted, and Gen reacted by sliding her grip back to the Alderaanian's forearm. Unfortunately, Faith's intent had nothing to do with grappling, as Geneviève was prepared to do.

Sparks flew into her skull with the collision, a fractious surge of pain engulfing her temple and sent her stumbling backwards. She lost focus in her left eye, vision blurring and enshrouded with dancing cataracts. Her right eye was as blind as it always had been. "Sithspit," Lasedri swore, holding a hand to her forehead while wobbling backwards in an attempt to regain a more firm footing--and nearly crumpling to the floor in the process.

"Kick my arse, huh? And I thought you were supporting me." Yes, they had had disagreements, but Gen had never expected them to incite a physical altercation.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

"Oh I'm supporting you, can't you see it" Faith head hurt. "Do you know what you're putting me through right now? What you've put me through since this clone army showed up and you went all Palpatine?"

Faith was ready to begin swinging, "Gen, really, really...we're friends. And I find you drunk off your ass in your office, that I can't get you to react to an issue within the republic, and then you decide to shut down the Senate after they tell you no you can't have your special powers, you use a clone army on Chazwa, and execute prisoners....What the FETH are you thinking. Does that really sound like someone with the Republic's best interest at heart?"

Faith was enraged, "Months of work, years of work...and you flush it away like yesterdays' news...PEOPLE want your head on a plate, and they are expecting me to deliver it!, You need to face a trial, explain your actions..." Faith had to admit this felt pretty good.

"If you can be acquitted of what is perceived...then just maybe you might keep something of your reputation...." She was now breathing hard, and trying not to cry. She hated confrontations like this, and she was tired of trying to be a diplomat with Gen.

If anything after all this time, she should be able to speak bluntly with her.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

It was nothing that anyone should be so surprised about, and yet Faith's yelling still took the red-clad woman off guard. It was just unlike the woman to be loud and brazen like that, and her tone in itself signaled to Gen that there was nothing less than true rage and conviction in her words--as if the headbutt had not been enough already. With her brain still racking from the blow to her cranium, Geneviève cringed under her biting words. She had to admit, though, she liked this version of Faith. They could have yelled more often. "Sometimes, when no one else is brave enough, you have to take it into your own hands, Faith.

"What the frak have these senators been doing all this time? Tell me! They've frakking been consorting with the Sith and giving special deals to damn-frakking Arceneau. They never do anything, the lazy sons of banshees. And then piece-of-Sithspit Cecily damn Demici has nothing better to do than to make a law that already exists." Gen stood to full height, still somewhat dizzy but not intending to let Faith surprise her again. "We don't have frakking months or years to work. We have a war, and we're about to die! Everyone! They asked me to fight a war, so I fought."

Her voice hushed now, fury subsiding as she had finally been able to truly speak her mind without being restrained by political limitations. It had hardly stopped her beforehand, but it had been enough to keep her from showing her real spirit. "All my life, people have expected everything of me. And then when I give them everything, all I get is contempt." The bottle of wine had been knocked to the floor when Faith had shoved the desk, and Gen stepped to it and kicked it away--and wiped away a tear.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[SIZE=12pt]Faith couldn’t help it she laughed, she seem to always laugh when she should do something else. “There’s brave smart, and then there’s brave stupid. This….well you can imagine where I’m at with it right now” Faith knew how much the Republic meant to Gen, but there were ways to do things within the bylaws of the Republic, and taking over everything well that was not the way to do it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Doing it this way had done nothing but led to disaster. The Faith heard something in Gen that just let her sarcasm out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“OH BOO Fething Hooo, you did all you could, everyone expects so much of you…” Faith shook her head and groaned. “PRIME Minister of the Republic, you like the power, you like the position, you like everything except dealing with Senators….awww, pardon me while I play this very small whiny instrument for you. Put your big girl pants back on Gen, I’m not ready to buy into that part of your actions. There’s more to this, has to be.” Her dark eyes showed her willingness to understand, but the set of her mouth that said prove it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Senators, you know Senators are elected, or appointed by the governments of the planet. If those individuals didn’t like what their Senators were doing then they should have recalled them and got someone new. THAT’s Why we are a REPUBLIC” Faith kept huffing and puffing through this conversation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Yeah, Just remember each one of those Senators, had one thing they were in control of, their own vote and that is not something anyone controls but them.” Faith leaned against the wall still watching Gen not wanting to be caught off guard should Gen decide to, well take some come up pence from her. “As for cavorting with Sith, that’s the other thing about a Republic, need proof. WE don’t just shoot our mouths off, do what we feel like because we can. And if Senators want to waste their time bringing up things that already exist, and other Senators are willing to let them. You either have to say No, or move to have the bill moved off, or let it ride. Republic, Democracy. Remember.” Faith hadn’t said so much ever, well except when she was trying to help Kayleigh back then.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Yes we have a war, and all this internal strife that you’ve caused doesn’t help it at all, all it has done is given the enemy opportunity to invade because half of us are dealing with you and the other half with them. But I’m the lucky one cupcake,” She smiled then, “They left me you specifically. All to myself. So...if we are friends, then…give up, let me take you in, you explain yourself to everyone, and then be a LEADER and take consequences for your actions or accolades for your initiative.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Faith sighed then, “because...this part sucks” Faith took a deep breath trying to find her calm, “Gen you’re hurting the Republic. Sith in Chazwa, rumors of Mandalorians headed to Roche, and a number of others just knocking on our borders ready to plunder everything they can. There won’t be much of a Republic left if our forces continue to be split. You, and you alone will be known as the Prime Minister who destroyed the Republic.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Faith shrugged her shoulders, “there is only one option available in this room, I would like for you to come with me.” Faith didn’t want to entertain anything else.[/SIZE]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"Back off," the Chandrilan commanded tersely. Her fist that had collected in silent indignation now abruptly raised and unfurled, palm held open towards Faith. Then she thrust her hand through the air in mimicry of a violent shove and sent a shockwave of energy towards her friend to knock her to the floor--courtesy of the 'Force' and all that wonderful nonsense. "I didn't destroy the Republic. I am the phoenix of the Republic. If Tenloss wants to undermine the Republic; if Senator Kay wants to undermine the Republic; if the Jedi want to undermine the Republic, then democracy has lost.

"The stupidity of the Sith will be exploited in a matter of hours. The Mandalorians are a collection of clamoring thugs at best." All truth. Yet, sadly, the Chaos gods demanded anything sensible be ignored.

She walked forward slowly, breath heavy and eyes glossy, a river of fluid locked down behind her eyelids. The Prime Minister held out her hand in a most sincere gesture, yet she maintained her guard this time, in case her compatriot-turned-opponent attempted another stunt. This was the last chance for one of them. "You're wounded, Faith. Don't fight me."

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith fell to the floor almost in the spot where she had stood she had seen that move before from other force users, "You've destroyed it by your actions the Sith even now having plundered Chazwa. Do you feel proud of that? There are ways to deal with those that undermine the Republic, and it is not by the single mind of one Prime Minister, or Empress as some are referring to you as."

Faith then moved to her knees looking up, "strange you would use force powers against me, what don't trust your own normal skills?" She smiled, "or is it that you right like a girl?" Faith launched herself forward to tackle Gen.

Didn't Gen remember what Faith had shared with her? It would seem that Faith had been more the friend than Gen, with all her secrets.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen only shook her head at Faith's response, perturbed by her old friend's insistence on playing her antagonist so harshly. How could she be so blind to progress? Perhaps the Chandrilan had misjudged her.

The Force was but a tool, still inferior to the Mind itself. Faith was in good shape by politician standards, and the lunge from her knees--while not entirely unexpected--was impressive. It was difficult to defend against a tackle, but it was simple to turn it into an advantage as long as one survived the blow and ensuing fall. Geneviève braced her hands around Faith's head to hold a point of contact as her back made heavy contact with the floor. Then she shifted her left hand underneath the senator's jawbone and boxed the scaphoid of her right hand into her attacker's left ear. While painful, her blow was not so much a damaging maneuver as it was jostling to the aural senses and the brain's orientation.

Oh, we're fighting now, girl.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]


[SIZE=12pt]They were on the floor struggling for the upper hand with one another, cat fight. Who wouldn’t pay to watch this?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Faith could see from her peripheral vision Gen’s hand move to box her ears, she immediately tried to block, even a glancing blow was painful, and rocked her senses.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Faith began scrambling to get her left leg to cross over Gen’s right leg, to pull herself into a half guarded position, she tried reaching for Gen’s left forearm with her right hand, if she could grab her arm she could hold it just enough to jab her elbow into her ribs.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Faith had not fought like this in years, and to attempt this now, was almost madness. It was then she heard a tearing of her clothing, and the pain in her arms began to double, the shot that Gen had fired on her earlier was now going to work against her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She was too old for this....[/SIZE]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

This was her game now. On the ground--this was how she had been taught. Let the opponent bash the hammerhead first, and then grab the handle. She felt their legs tangle and anticipated the arm grab, allowing Faith to take what she wanted initially.

The prod to the ribs was unpleasant, to say the least. While not unexpected, it was too quick to protect against considering her position against the floor. But she would remedy that quickly enough. Her right hand pressed firmly against Faith's left shoulder and shoved her weight towards the locked arms, then push off with her right leg to swing her body over and hopefully on top of the senator's.

The mistake many people made in hand-to-hand combat was assuming that time was on their side. The problem with such a mentality is that most close-quarter struggles are begun and won within fifteen seconds. Now it was time to choose her trump card. And be wary of what might be running through Faith's mind right now. They were both survivors, and even the most knowledgeable fighter can be taken with just one mistake.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"]