High Society

[Vrak Nashar]

Athiss
[member="Neesa"]

The fallout had struck faster than he had anticipated. He had thought that they would wait a day at least, perhaps even two, but instead Vrak had received notice the very next morning about the demise of Lord Gelder.

The actual fact of his death was no surprise to Vrak of course, he'd directly orchestrated the mans death, but the fact that the others would act so swiftly was more than surprising. A part of him wondered what they all suspected, thinking that perhaps they would point fingers at him. There was no telling what would happen, which was of course why he had brought a trump card. "When we arrive stay quiet."

He told his companion.

"They will not give you a second glance." Vrak told Neesa, the very girl who had killed Lord Gelder. "Most will simply assume you're just another servant."

The benefit of Pureblood ego really.

He had 'borrowed' Neesa from her Master for one simple reason; in case he needed to have someone killed in the middle of the meeting. He found the prospect unlikely, but he had been impressed enough with her that he thought her capable of such things.

A Complement really.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Lord Sitas had been surprisingly candid about his dismay at the sudden turn of events. It wasn't like him to be open with Neesa. He had explained that Lord Jerl had been a long time supporter of Gelder's and that one of his highest officials had made a comment about Sitas' activities in Livien Magnus. Tek had, with Neesa's aid, carried out a brutal campaign over six years to wrest control of the city's underworld from the incumbents. He had thought that his new source of funding had gone unnoticed by the other Sith vying for power on Athiss.

He had a dilemma regarding Neesa, he had explained. At that point she realised that his confidence was simply background information on what he was going to order her to do next. He had explained that pushing her away after the death would be suspicious. If they looked into his operations on Magnus someone could have linked her arrival with the final bloody coup. But at the same time bringing her to meetings with his peers as his new Hand would perhaps be too much for the time being.

So here she was. Garbed in simple robes, none of the usual trim that marked her as a Hand. Seated away from the front of the discussions, casting a weary eye on the massassi guards several of the ranking members in attendance had brought with them.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

This wasn't a Council meeting, none of the people present had quite made it that far in Sith society. Of them all, Vrak was actually the closest to ascending, now that Lord Gelder was dead anyway. They would all know that of course, and he suspected it was part of the reason why this meeting had been called. A few of the people here would much rather have seen him dead than ascent to true power here on Athiss.

He couldn't blame them, given that he wanted them dead.

"Lord Nashar, so kind of you to join us."

A woman was the first to speak, the bony ridges of her face seeming to scrunch slightly as she said Vrak's name. There was a sense of utter distaste on her tongue, as if even saying his name was something that disgusted her. Vrak could only smile as the woman looked at him, clearly expecting him to do...something insulting. She was a fool, narcissistic and isolationist above all. She wanted nothing but power for her own self and her family. She was also the only Rival he had left. The only real one. "Siedra."

He used her first name.

A flash of anger and indignation crossed her features, but before she could say anything the bell was rung, the meeting began.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

The tension was palpable. Just a few moments of immersing herself in it and she had decided that she would prefer a hundred armed rooftop guards to having to manoeuvre past the bloviation and spin that would be put in the path of anyone trying to achieve their goals here.

Her Master wasn't present. That alone led her to the view that she had been loaned out to Vrak because she could listen out for any more murmurings in his direction. Neesa was very good at listening.

"Lord Gelder unfortunately passed last night," an elderly Sith spoke up. Neesa didn't know his name. Instead she memorised three key details on his appearance that could be relayed back to her master. She noticed Siedra bristle at that. Was it Sith society that glossed over the truth of an assassination or was this man putting a dampener on any bold claims that would follow? "Obviously this needs to be discussed and transitional arrangements made."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"I see no need for discussion of any sort." Vrak said as he took his eat at the rounded conference table. There was a slight creak as he leaned back, his eyes slowly panning over the room. They all knew he had done it, or rather, they all likely guessed that he had. Vrak stood the most to gain from Gelder's death, not just from the documents he had stolen but general political posturing. Gelder was the only one proper choice for a seat on the Council.

With him gone Vrak was really the only one the seat could go to. Siedra had neither the power, nor the political clout.

"Just distribute his wealth to his heirs." Vrak said as he laced his fingers together. "Ensure his mercenaries are paid and move on."

The old man that had spoken looked at Vrak, the hint of a smile touching his lips. The man knew exactly what had happened, and he knew that trying to accuse Vrak would be a fools errand. This was how the game of politics was played on Athiss. Blatant lies and political assassinations.

Vrak wondered how other worlds did it.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Already there were multiple agendas on the table. The old man wanted to bring it up immediately and make it the main topic for discussion. At the same time he was glossing over the details. Siedra was thinking on her next move. Would she be bold enough to level accusations here? No, Neesa decided. If she had what she needed to do that it would have happened already. Perhaps she would try and plant the seed.

The man sat next to her spoke up. Was positioning at the table important or was it just random?

"Gelder had a number of important projects that we need to pick up on. I worked very closely with him on many of them and I cannot express how impressed I was at the quality of his work."

"Perhaps Lord Nashar moves too quickly to take this off the agenda. The Kissai might already be preparing the funeral arrangements but we should discuss our input there too and make a statement," Siedra added.

Allies then. One was perhaps angling to take up the reigns on some of Gelder's responsibilities. Siedra following by drawing attention to Vrak's interest in moving the subject on. Were all three in league? If Nashar was in the best position to take his seat had a group conspired to move quickly to block that?

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Of course they would speak up. Simpletons. "I'm sure Lord Gelder offered impeccable work in his time."

He very pointedly didn't say anything too bad. There was no need to bandy insults just yet. Eventually he was sure that this would devolve into a shouting match, but Vrak wasn't too keen on bringing the proceedings to a full end just yet. There were still ways of giving this a civil end, which would be a much more preferred method of seeing all of this go by. His gaze shifted towards one of the Elder Purebloods within the room, not addressing him, but just looking at him.

"We all regret his passing." That was a lie. "But he is gone."

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "His work must be continued, mourning his loss will do no one any good, least of all Athiss."

Talking about a dead man was meaningless.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Of course, I'll get back to the Department as soon as necessary and make preparations to continue his work."

Siedra backed this statement up with a curt nod. A power play then, setting the ground work to put forward an alternative to Nashar down the line.

Neesa was highly attuned to movement. She started to notion things going on behind the table. The influential sith were garbed in ornate robes with patterns and colours of their own. The clothing of their servants tended to reflect their Caste as well as their Lord. Normally Neesa word a robe with embroidery that made clear she was the Hand of Lord Sitas. Just plain robes today.

There were people moving around well behind the table in colours that matched those on it. Messages being relayed, updates passed forwards surreptitiously. The middle tier. Neesa needed to start a layer beneath that one and start to find out how knowledge and power moved around these halls. She could only trust her master so far.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak didn't particularly care about Lord Gelder's work. He had been a part of the ministry of concealment, the department here on Athiss that made sure the planet stayed secret. They were an annoyance in truth, would that would have to be done away with eventually, but they could hardly stand in his way, not when he completed the next phase of his plan. It would take time for that to happen however, and before then they could bar him from going off-world.

An annoyance, but again not the worst thing. "Excellent."

He tried to hide his distaste for the notion.

"Now." Vrak began. "Who stands to inherit Lord Gelder's holdings? They should take his place here, no?"

The Pureblood glanced at Siedra who seemed to frown, opening her mouth to speak but quickly being silenced by the voice of one of the elderly Purebloods.

"Unfortunately. It appears that Lord Gelders Study was ransacked after his death. The proper documents for his inheritance are missing, meaning the properties will be held by...your Ministry Lord Vrak."

He smiled. "Ah. I see."

Of course, he had the deed to the properties themselves and in due time they would resurface, but for now his own Ministry, the one that oversaw the production of Industrial goods here on Athiss would handle such things.

 

[Neesa]

So that's what he had been up to. Worth risking the entire operation for perhaps. Or a carefully calculated risk. She had wanted more time, but now she realised she was slotting into wheels that had been turning for a long time.

Siedra didn't do as good a job at hiding her annoyance as the other. Neesa's lips quirked upwards. They had thought to have outmanoeuvred Vrak already. She saw the man next to her drop one hand to his side and then return it to the table. People in his colours started to move. Had that been a hand signal?

"Should they not pass to his children?"

"That isn't the way."

"But clearly they were stolen..."

Now things had become more animated.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He smiled. Of course they would try this. "It hardly as any bearing."

Vrak had no choice but to protect precedence. He needed those mines, even if he held the deeds he couldn't just come out and claim them now. His ministry had to have control of them for now. If he didn't get them...well it would throw his plans into disarray.

"If we did it that way then hundred, no thousands would be entitled to things they lost upon their parents death." He glanced around the room. "Half the people in here stood to gain from inheritence at one point but lost out. Myself included."

His father had at one point ruled a massive amount of Athiss' food production, something lost to the Ministry of Agriculture upon his death. "Change the laws now and you'll have a hundred people claiming injustice."

Vrak glanced around the room once more.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Then what should happen to the mines?"

"Quite."

The one-two combo was at it again, but Neesa was watching the background. An aid actually came right up to their Lord's back and retreated once more. Why wouldn't they use datapads or earpieces? Was that not permitted? Intercepting a handwritten note was easy enough. Intercepting it, reading and decoding it and returning it back on its original path was more difficult.

She needed to find some weak spots and start squeezing.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"They will be held by the government." Vrak answered simply.

Meaning that they would be held by him.

"Used and properly allocated to make Athiss a better place." This was his time to convince the others. If they thought the two were just playing at power, then he would gain an advantage, perhaps even some allies. "Gelder may have done his work well, but his private holdings have long since fallen to stagnation."

Simple truth. "For years the mines have been used for nothing but personal gain. Expanding his estate and those of his allies."

Again it was the truth.

"I want to use them for us, for Athiss." He pulled out a small device and threw it on the table. "Ships, roads, great works as we create in old times. Everything we have been lacking for so long."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Politics. The reality could be glossed over as long as the message was popular. It was clear, following a pause for thought, that Vrak suddenly had a small weight of support behind him. Athiss was restless, it wanted change. Every city or world was its own living breathing entity. Neesa didn't know this one yet, but already she could tell that it was on the edge of something. The tension would spill over before long. Had she struck one of the first blows or merely been part of another little step along the way.

As the murmurs of support grew in volume the expressions of those who had tried to get ahead of the game became stony. Siedra drummed her fingers on the table.

When another sith slapped his hand noisily on the table and shouted that new construction projects were overdue her massassi moved. Just a little. A step closed and its shoulders drawn back.

Neesa moved too. A very subtle shift of her posture within her seat. None who talked at the table noticed, but the massassi did. He became quite still. Keen eyes that one. Left handed like most of his kind. Likely quicker than his bulk suggested as well. She made no attempt to hide the appraising look she completed before returning her attention to the flow of conversation.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He smiled. Vrak had the room. He could see it on their faces. Many of them were displeased with what the Council had done of late. They considered them old men and fools, idiots who would rather keep themselves satiated and powerful than actually improve upon Athiss. This meeting had now turned a coin, and that coin came up to suit Vrak just fine.

"I promise you." He could barely keep the smugness from his tone.

"These mines, the resources they provide will assist in projects long, long overdue." He turned towards the Eldest on the Council. "Perhaps we'll even get that starport built."

It was a prickly issue, but an important one. "With it built we can begin to scout the galaxy once more, as we used to. Not just sending servants to see the state of the galaxy."

Vrak was making a declaration of intent. To move Athiss forward, bring it forth from the Dark Ages.

Everyone in the room knew it.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa assumed that was the end of it. Apparently not. Siedra glanced at another Sith on the table. She had yet to speak. She looked to Neesa to be younger than the others. If Gelder was the start and Vrak and her master were just starting their campaign then it seemed there was going to be much work for her to do.

The sith leaned forwards and placed both hands on the table, waiting for the murmurs of agreement to die down.

"If we are to invest in a spaceport are we going to see another influx of aliens? Are our Lords going to turn their eyes to foreign lands instead of concentrating on Athiss and all those investments we need?"

This approach seemed to cause more consternation among the crowd. Neesa caught Siedra glancing in her direction. Lords concentrating on foreign lands and aliens coming to Athiss. So much for being ignored. Neesa felt herself tense but avoiding meeting the eyes of the Sith. She could observe them perfectly well whilst seeming to keep her head bowed low in respect.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"Despite what many of you think, looking outward will help Athiss in the long run." They had thought of their isolationism for too long. It was an unfortunate fact of his homeworld that they cared more about appearances than actual progress. Vrak had suffered through that way of thinking for more than half his life, watching as his world stagnated in almost all forms of technology. The truth was they needed to evolve, modernize.

Others knew it too.

"We need to move forward." He said looking towards the members of the board. "We lag behind in almost every aspect of the Galaxy. Transportation, weapons, even medical supplies."

It was disgusting. "We are the greatest species in the galaxy, and yet even bugs live better than us."

There was a certain amount of disgust to his tone.

"A starport will allow us to develop." Vrak stated simply. "Import new technologies and apply them for our use."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"The Massassi can guard the borders from a spaceport more than they can from shuttles coming in and landing wherever they please."

"More aliens is a necessary consequence and one we shouldn't fight!"

"We can't afford to loose any more pure blood!"

"What does that even mean any more!?"

The table had erupted in arguing amongst itself. Neesa was beginning to suspect that those who saw the Sith as superior in any and all circumstances were the ones most resistant to change to avoid the chance they were wrong.

Again she felt the look from Siedra. Thin, black eyebrows came together. Did she feel more than Siedra? Neesa took a breath and tried to turn her senses inwards.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak said nothing.

There was no need to. He could read the room well enough to tell that he had succeeded in his plan. There was chaos, yes, but it would die down and eventually his side would win. He could see it in the anger etched on their faces, the way they spat insults. They would ask for concessions of some sort, of that he was sure, but just what they would have to wait and see. The truth was though that Vrak had won, well and truly won in fact. Already they'd forgotten about the deeds.

He glanced up towards Neesa for a moment, a small smile touching his lips.

"Well done."

One of the purebloods next to him said quietly in his ear. "Thank you."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa did not match Vrak's mood as they left the hall. Concern furrowed her brow. Lots of little messages had left the end of the table from Vrak's rivals as the meeting came to a close and she was worried about what they contained.

"Siedra," Neesa muttered when she felt they were far enough from ear shot. "I think she was trying to read me through the Force. I don't know what she might have picked up."