Odd-Ball Imperials

[Lucius Draugh]

Lucius had long ago figured a way to keep tabs on people he was interested in when they came to Dosuun. His position as the Supreme Commander's 'secretary' and establishment as the Defense Ministry's spokesperson has placed the young teenager at a position of knowing more than he likely should.

Still, there was only one person that he was specifically looking forwards to meeting. A boy of similar age to him, recently brought into the fold of the First Order's protection.

[member="Shoma Ike"].

The Crown Prince of Atrisia.

How does that work? Guess I'll be able to ask him.

Lucius set his path to the front steps of the Imperial Palace, the edges of his simple jacket bouncing off the top of his thighs when he set the brisk pace. Outside and at the bottom of the stairs it sounded as if there was a commotion, likely on account of the Atrisian Prince. The Press would have questions, of a kind, an obstacle Lucius was loathe to encounter.

"Prince Shoma!" He calls out as he comes out onto the platform at the top of the steps.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The more things change, the more that they tended to stay the same.

It was an expression he'd picked up from... well, somwhere. [member="Jaius Sovv"] perhaps. Did that mean it was a Sullustan idiom? Or maybe it had been something that [member="Faith Organa"] had said?

Whatever the case, when the Alliance had been in power, Shoma would periodically travel back and between Atrisia and Sullust in order to provide reports or receive briefings as they related to any number of economic or military factors impacting Alliance security.

Now, instead of Sullust, it was Dosuum. The location had changed, but the purpose and function of the travel was not so different as his compatriots in the Alliance would have wanted to believe. Primarily, it was a networking opportunity. A chance to meet and mingle with the other planetary governors. Meet the sector moffs. Maybe understand them a little better in person than came across over subspace radio.

For his part, Shoma had changed back into the same casual attire he'd worn as a member of the New Jedi Order. Primarily an Atrisian style tunic that was a rather vibrant shade of pink, trimmed in black, and cinched together by a belt of zyed-cloth. The Jedi lightsaber bounced against his left leg as he walked across the courtyard, presently engaged in a conversation with the governor of Bespin about tibana exports to Frisal.

The Atrisian shipyards there were scheduled to start producing a new survey vessel for the First Order, which was supposed to be the highlight of the press conference that he was presently approaching.

Of course, an increase in starship production would necessitate an increase in tibana imports. But Bespin didn't seem forthcoming in that regard. And, as much as Shoma wanted to try and work this detail out between them, it seemed as though the other governor wanted to defer to their different sector moffs and let the moff council decide the issue for them.

Which did absolutely nothing in terms of giving Shoma even the slightest bit of help as to what he was supposed to tell the press conference. Was Atrisia going to produce these ships or not?

Should he try and distract them with spontaneous kareoke?

Maybe try to incite a flash mob to do that Hoosnian Shake thing that seemed to be all over the HoloNets?

"Prince Shoma!"

Just a few feet away from the proverbial firing squad, and it seemed that his Imperial pardon had come early. Gesturing for the press corp to give him a moment, the boy turned and made his way toward the individual who had called him by name.

No, Shoma had no idea who this fellow was. But he was very grateful for the opportunity meet him.

And the opportunity to run from the press.

"Hajimemashíte," the teen intoned politely, bowing as he approached closer to the other youth. When he had straightened back up, and taken the additional two steps to bridge the gap enough to extend his hand, the teen added, "Perhaps you would allow me to buy you a cup of caf?"

Inclining his head back to indicate the press corp that was pooling like sharks sniffing blood in the water, the prince remarked, "Preferably at the furthest caf shop from that lot."

 

[Lucius Draugh]

The only reaction he could give to the initial greeting was a surprised look as his features contorted into confusion. Huh? And then he realized, despite not knowing the exact translation, got the jist of it before his expression could even settle. Nowhere near the master of deception that high ranking politicians were at, likely on account of his age and his recent thrusting into the public light, but Lucius was a quick learner.

Extending his hand out to meet the Prince's he smiled, widely.

"Uh, sure," his gaze floating past the Atrisian and to the group of press, before looking back to his newfound companion and turning his nose up as he felt something funky. "I know just the spot," he says with a smile before leading him around the large gathering of people.

"Forgive me for over stepping, but I felt as if you were getting tired of all the public appearances," he explains as he stands between the Prince and the press.

"Oh, and my name is Lucius. It's nice ta meet'cha."

In his peripherals he could see the lightsabre by the other kid's hip, and wondered if there would come a day where he would use one. With the Supreme Commander as a Master, it was difficult to say. The Sith Lord was more inclined to educating him on the inner workings of the Imperial nation's military. Supply lines, troop distribution. Nothing he was particularly interested in, but was able to retain all the same.

[member="Shoma Ike"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Wait, he seriously knew a good caf spot?

Score one for the good guys.

"Dozo yoroshiku ne," the youth intoned. A casual use of an otherwise formal Atrisian idiom intended to politely note their meeting. Even if it wasn't what the prince had intended, it was taking him away from the press conference that had more of less fallen apart with the Bespin-Atrisia negotiations.

"Were you looking for me for anything in particular?" the teen inquired, recalling that Lucius had called his name before the prince had even realized that the teen was there.

[member="Lucius Draugh"]​

 

[Lucius Draugh]

With a face washed of any malevolent insights, Lucius swept his gaze back over to the Prince before blinking rapidly as if he had just been brought back from a reverie.

Again with the Atrisian. Think I'll need a tutor for that.

And then there was an inquiry that he could finally answer.

"Oh, yeah," he says, shooting a smile to the Prince. "I work for Moff Graush," he says, relishing in the ability to utter the previous words with no consequences. It didn't flow off the tongue due to the nature of the title and name, a reality that his Master was very much aware of, a reason as to why he was referred to as the Supreme Commander typically. People tend to forget he's a Moff as well. I'm actually doing him a favour. Smiling inwardly, he looks back to [member="Shoma Ike"].

"I figured I may as well be preemptive -- How are things on Atrisia?"

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

"Moff Graush."

The Atrisian teen echoed the name back, hoping that maybe saying it aloud would help to jog his memory as to whom it referred. And, no, it didn't.

Shoma had focused on learning the planetary governors. The bit players. The ones directing the inner workings of the various worlds. He knew Moff Zorabos, the sector official who covered the Southern Core Region, but that had been about it.

After his failed attempts at a rational conversation with Bespin's governor, he had a feeling that he'd been learning about the sector moff for that area as well.

But Moff Graush? Nope. Nothing.

"I see," the boy uttered finally. Mostly for lack of anything else to say. Wait, could he be over Bespin?

No, there's no way events would be that fortuitous. "Our economic forecast is looking to get back to what it had been during the height of the Alliance, so I'd have to say that Atrisia is doing well," the teen noted. It was probably the largest priority of his, getting the economy going again. The collapse of the Alliance had been a devastating blow to many people's source of income. Normalizing commerce had been the focus of Shoma's efforts at integrating into the First Order.

Even if this Moff Graush wasn't the sector moff over Bespin, it was no harm fishing to possible political alliances. "I'm running some challenges with tibana imports however. But I suspect almost any manufacturing world might say the same," the boy offered, letting that hook dangle in the proverbial waters to see what it might net in response.

"Forgive me, though. New as I am to your First Order governance, I'm not familiar with Moff Graush," the youth admitted, as he turned the conversation back on the other teen. "What sector does he control?"

[member="Lucius Draugh"]​

 

[Lucius Draugh]

"Mm."

The response came as if to confirm that the Atrisian was pronouncing his Master's name correctly, not that it could be difficult to do so. Maybe he was just too familiar with it, oh well.

Humming softly, he clenched and unclenched his fist as Prince [member="Shoma Ike"] spoke of Atrisia's current economic climate. "I'm glad to hear it. I imagine it was already on that path, without the Order, no?" The First Order likely only quickened that ascension, and raising a brow to denote his inquiry, it was a mask to hide the investigative thoughts that crossed his mind.

If you could choose, Prince, would it be the Alliance, or the Order?

And turning his head, he raises a brow to the mention of imports. "What sort of challenges?" Granted his turn for the question to sit, he continued to listen when the conversation returned back to who his Master Graush was.

"Heh," he says with a soft chuckle. It seemed that he hadn't known who was. His mind even going back to nearly a minute ago to the repeated name. Jogging his memory. And he deduced that he didn't know who the Sith Lord was at all, but still, the curious, yet friendly visage remained before he decided on how best he should answer.

"All of them, effectively," he said in a matter of fact sort of way.

Smiling again, he gave it further thought before he felt himself ready to continue, letting the Prince's thoughts stew on the subject before relieving him of them.

"He heads the Defense Ministry," he says.

"The Supreme Commander."

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

All of them?

The off-hand remark confused the boy for a moment. When Lucius had explained that Moff Graush was the Minister of Defense, Shoma had thought that he had used the phrase all of them, effectively in a general way. The title that followed gave indication to the contrary however.

There was still much that Shoma did not know or understand about how the First Order operated. For which, the teen gave a short laugh at his own ignorance. "Sumimasen," the teen offered by way of apology. A goofy grin marked his face as he explained, "There is still much I do not know about the First Order. No matter how many briefings I attend."

Minister of Defense. Supreme Commander. So Moff Graush was, what, exactly in relation to [member="Natasi Fortan"]?

The boy couldn't help but try to relate the concepts to what he was familiar with. The triumvirate of the Alliance. Safe bet was to assume Moff Graush was roughly equivalent to one of the triumvirate members.

"E to ne..." the teen mused aloud. The Xiaolang equipment to hmmm, reflecting that the boy was getting his thoughts together. When he had, Shoma glanced at Lucius and remarked, "You may be interested in the predicament I'm in after all." Well, probably not. But no harm in making an effort at it. "I had hoped to stimulate job creation by putting the old Atrisian Empire shipyards in orbit of Kiliea back to work."

During the Alliance era, all efforts had been focused on planetary reconstruction. Job creation and growth had been focused on those lines of effort. And, with the Galactic Alliance Defense Forces supplying their military support, organic manufacturing capabilities had been largely drawn from other Alliance worlds. As such, Atrisia was woefully behind its peers in terms of independent defense manufacturing.

"We've drawn up plans for a planetary survey vessel that we hope will replace the aging Loronar design," Shoma went on to explain. "It's not much, but the thought behind it is that if we can field this at major production levels, it'll stimulate the revitalization of the shipyards and manufacturing around Kiliea." One thing at a time. First a lightly armed exploration vessel, then progress to more defense-oriented projects as skilled labor rises to meet the job growth. "Eventually, I hope that TIE production and other defense contracts might be able to be produced there. Eventually."

Shoma was a pragmatist.

True, they needed jobs for economic stability and to continue to improve the lives of the people living on Atrisia. And to make Atrisia appealing to immigration again. Many of its rebuilt cities were virtually empty, such as Sarnoi.

Shoma had a simple problem. He had a planet that needed more people on it. Jobs and the economy was the simplest way to address that dilemma.

Well, and birth rates. The tax incentives for having children on Atrisia were among the highest in the galaxy at present.

But, he also needed the First Order to care about Atrisia. The planetary union between the Commonwealth and the First Order was likely to make them enemies with the Rebel Alliance, the Resistance, and Shoma's former comrades in the Galactic Alliance. And his planetary system was far removed from Dosuum. The easiest way to make the First Order care about Atrisia's national security was to link that to the First Order's national security.

"But, to get production levels up where we'd like them, we need an increase in tibana imports. I had appealed to Bespin directly, but it seems that the desire is for the Moff Council to decide the matter."

[member="Lucius Draugh"]​

 

[Lucius Draugh]

"I get it," he says, bobbing his head up and down a little too enthusiastically as he found that they were coming to a common ground as they walked the streets of Dosuun. "Briefings, lectures, whatever... You don't learn from just listening, right? You've got to do, also." In the Prince's case, that meant meeting people, and talking to them. Important people, not the sort that you just saw on the street, they didn't know anything, and what they did know was what the Imperial machine fed them. Lucius sought to feed them something else if he ever got to ascend that high. "Just ask me if you've got a question," he answers cheerfully, sweeping his gaze across the street as he felt a shiver descend his spine.

"Huh?" he says to himself before refocusing on [member="Shoma Ike"]. "What's Loronar?" Hopefully it wasn't an Imperial design. Albeit young, he prided himself on knowing the names of all the ship models and designs of the Imperial Navy by heart, and the ones that he didn't know, well, they'd be familiar. Loronar, however, wasn't.

Must be Atrisian.

"Maybe," he answers vaguely. He wasn't in charge of funds or anything like that, obviously, but he found it hard to imagine the Supreme Commander signing off on a shipyard on the edge of their borders, but he didn't need to volunteer that information and he just pointed on ahead across the street. "Just over there," he says, the caf shop. Not super far, but close enough to the Palace for the Atrisian to get back to whatever he was doing before Lucius cut in.

"What's so special about tibanna?"

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Shoma might not have known a lot about the First Order, but he knew the galaxy outside of it.

"Loronar is a planet in the Colonies region. On the Corellian Run," the teen answered simply, as the pair crossed over toward the caf shop. Once they were inside, Shoma placed his order and then waited for Lucius to give his to the barista.

"As for Tibanna, it's the primary catalyst in blasters," Shoma remarked, as he passed over his credit chip for payment of the two orders.

No, Shoma wasn't a shipwright. But he'd wound up having to memorize a great deal of detail about all of this in preparation for the aborted press conference. "But it's also used as coolant in hyperdrive design," the teen added. About the only part of a ship that didn't require tibanna to some degree was the hull. "Any level of starship manufacture winds up requiring a good deal of it."

"I could probably negotiate a purchase of tibanna from Royal Engineering of Alderaan," the boy remarked, seemingly an afterthought. It wasn't a boast. Or, at least, not intended as such. He was merely thinking out loud now. Turning his attention back to Lucius, the teen added, "But, I'd prefer to acquire the resources within the First Order."

[member="Lucius Draugh"]​

 

[Lucius Draugh]

The Colonies. Nothing important then.

Lucius wasn't too knowledgeable on the worlds outside of the First Order, that much was true. The content of the information that he stored in his mind didn't afford that luxury. A walking datasheet, effectively, Lucius was tired of it. He yearned for more in the world, in his life. So he spoke to someone who didn't come from the Imperial Order, one who had goals that didn't necessarily tie into the Supreme Leader's vision...

It's kind of refreshing.

Shaking his head and waving a hand at the barista, he declined ordering a drink, instead he listened to his companion.

"Oh. I didn't know about the coolant part," he says thoughtfully.

Alderaan.

Probably not, he thought to himself. The First Order didn't trade outside of its borders, because it didn't need to. With Atrisia in the fold, that meant neither did they. And Lucius' confused expression returned to a neutral one. "I'm not so sure about Alderaan, but what about planet side? There's got to be a lot of stuff needing to be done there, right?"

[member="Shoma Ike"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

The Atrisian teen gave a nod of his head.

"We've spent the last five years clearing debris and focusing on reconstruction from the Allied invasion," Shoma noted. Omitting, at least for the moment, that the source of help for those efforts had been spear-headed by Firemane and the Royal House of Alderaan -- in addition to the Galactic Alliance.

And the Silver Jedi Order. If he recalled the rumors, it had been a Jedi by the name of [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] who had killed [member="Mythos"].

Albeit, temporarily. But still.

"We have cities that have available housing, but no population," Shoma added, with a shrug. That was where the revitalization of Atrisia had reached a plateau. "For Atrisia to move forward, we need immigration. And, for immigration, we need jobs to come back to Atrisia."

Especially as it seemed that Firemane had quietly departed the planet at the same time that the First Order had arrived.

"Putting the shipyards back to work will put Atrisia back to work."

And hopefully help to add to fill the near-empty metropolis of Sarnoi. Even when that happened, there was still Jiedushi, which was a complete ghost town now.

[member="Lucius Draugh"]​

 

[Lucius Draugh]

It's been five years since?

Lucius raised a hand to scratch his covered arm, his perfectly manicured nails rubbing on the fabric of the jacket before he vocalizes a, "Huh." And calling back to his own personal inquiry that he hadn't vocalized, it was without the doubt the Prince would've preferred the Alliance to protect them in place of the Order.

"Were you there? When the Alliance came?"

Smiling, he shook his head slowly. Typically the Order didn't absorb planets that were damaged previously. Instead, they did the damage and then erased the damage, and their target and built over it. Atrisia was a more delicate manner, but the process of reconstruction would be the same nonetheless.

"Typically planets that need reconstruction get them within a few months," he says politely.

Captured soldiers, criminals, forced labour. Little more than slaves, but the smart ones do the work.

Raising his hand to push through the hair that came over his forehead, he says, "I could ask the Supreme Commander to let me help you direct the efforts of reconstruction."

[member="Shoma Ike"]