Campaign Of Governance and Men | Chantemer/RNR/Foundation

[Suhara Villow]

Tags: Open to anyone in the Foundation or Royal Naboo Republic

Theed basked under the blazing glows of the system's sun. Light glistened off the domes and spires that rose on the banks of the canals that meandered through the marble-clad city. Gardens terraced between alabaster buildings adorned with carvings millennia old. The sound of rushing water drifted through the air as fountains spilled into the aqueducts below, their gentle trickle blending with the hum of distant conversation and laughter through the many cloisters and tight streets of the city. Merchants made their way through the streets, selling everything from the finest strips of Nabooian silk to exotic fruits imported from the Outer Rim. A flock of peko peko birds glided over the rooftops, adding their thrills to the bustle of the capital.

Suhara Villow sat silently at her wrought-iron tables shaded by delicate silken canopies in hues of deep blue and gold, watching the trams below her balcony cafe trundle along. The scent of spiced cafe and sweet meiloorun pastries drifted through the air, mingling with the floral aroma of hanging blossom-vines that spilled over the balcony railings. She could see the Royal Palace rising in the distance, its high windows catching the morning light.

She sighed. Just looking at Theed made her heart ache. It reminded her so much of her homeworld of Chantemer. She missed its courtyards and gazebos. She wanted to feel the Great Adritic Sea's sea-spray one more time on her cheek. Just one morsel of Ortolan so ripe it melted in her mouth. Most of all, she missed her people, her family. As glorious as Theed was, it could never compare to the city she called home.

It felt unusual to be here enjoying the sun and scenery while her men fought and died. She would have done anything to be on the front line with them. But after they had joined the Foundation, the situation for the Bataillon d'Infanterie de Révolutionnaire had drastically improved. No longer were they forced to steal from the collapsing Dark Empire just to have enough supplies to avoid starvation or ammunition shortages. Now, with safe ports for her ships and billets for her men, the period of survival had passed. Now was the time to begin the process for liberation from her homeland's dictator, that bastard Olivier Poutine.

If she wanted her movement to be seen as anything more than a band of bandits and anarchists, an opposition government needed to be formed. One that could stand as an alternative to Poutine's Vanguard Party. It would solidify her power base and potentially sway those on the sidelines. It needed to be legitimate, something that could stand on its own two feet after Olivier was gone while avoiding the same mistakes that had allowed his father to take power.

The problem was that her homeworld had known nothing but absolute monarchy and dictatorship throughout its entire existence. The concept of any system but those two was simply inconceivable for most. The Vanguard Party kept a tight control on information and education.

So here she was in Theed, investigating this Royal Naboo Republic on the advice of her Commissars and the Foundation. Unlike the corrupt mess that was the Galactic Alliance it seemed the Republic hadn't been totally overrun by corporate interests. Maybe she had a better chance of learning something useful here.

This wasn't just a fact-finding mission. Maybe those who sympathised with her cause could be found here too.

Suhara leaned backwards, absently swirling the glass of wine the waitress had just delivered. She sniffed the aroma emanating out. It was good. But it just wasn't Chantemerian. Still, anything to calm the nerves.

She was about to take a sip when a shadow suddenly loomed over her as someone approached the table. It wasn't the cafe waitress.

"Oh," Suhara quickly put the glass down and rose up in greeting, squinting. She wore formal wear of a black double-breasted jacket and a peaked red-trimmed cap. "Apologies. I didn't see you coming or I would have been in a better state. Suhara Villow. I'm glad you took the time out of your day to see me. To be honest I feared that my message had fallen on deaf ears given I'm sure you're dealing with more pressing matters."

Suhara blinked, the sun still in her eyes blocking a more complete vision of who arrived.

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Spoiler

This is just a conversation thing where I guess it'd be a chance to talk about the state of the RNR and its pros/cons to someone who's only really learned of the concept of democracy very recently. It's one of the stepping stones to the story of Chantemer. DM me if you need more info. I'm a terrible explainer.

Basically this is the thread I plan to use to set on the groundwork for a basic government system. for Chantemer. Do we go for a parliament or senate? A prime minister or president? How do we introduce a democratic system to a planet that hasn't known one for 800 years?

 

[FN-999 (restored)]

"Apologies. I didn't see you coming or I would have been in a better state. Suhara Villow. I'm glad you took the time out of your day to see me. To be honest I feared that my message had fallen on deaf ears given I'm sure you're dealing with more pressing matters."

"Is this not a pressing matter in itself?" replied Nines. “Don’t mind the armor - I'm not one of those Sith cronies. It's a bittersweet sort of shell that I suspect my aging bones will never grow out of. In any case, let's get seated. I can pull up a chair."

The Baron indeed did just that, pulling up a chair to sit across the table from Suhara.

The first thing he noticed was just how small and young the woman appeared. Nines easily dwarfed her, especially decked out in his full armor as he usually was. Yet, in a testament to her resilience, the woman appeared completely unfazed, her presence not diminished in the least.

"On the official records, I'm FN-999, my old designation, but feel free to call me Nines." introduced the Baron. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Villow."

"So, to the matter at hand. You and your people have risen up against your tyrant, and are seeking to establish a new government for your homeworld of Chantemer. My first question for you is this: how is your rebel movement currently led, and what are its ideas for reform if it succeeds in liberating Chantemer?"

Suhara Villow ​

​

 

[Suhara Villow]

Suhara's heart fluttered a tiny bit. Which in and of itself was a tragic indication of her time in the Galactic Republic. Despite her relentless petitions for at least acknowledgement by anyone noting her homeworld's dire situation, she had simply met stone-cold faces and hollow promises that their "staff would investigate." It hadn't helped that certain corporate bodies headquartered on Coruscant had vested interests in propping up the dictator to maintain their mining rights. Only after Olivier's agents had made an attempt on her life did Suhara realize that no matter what freedoms or edicts of equality the Galactic Alliance stood for, she wouldn't find the help she needed there.

So to have someone be willing to sit down and hear her out... it was certainly something.

"Nines. Still, nice to have you here," Suhara said with a soft smile. "I've got no issues with your armor. I still have to wear the same uniform I had when I was a Naval Political Officer under Olivier, though I've removed the office's badge. I was hiding my true intentions of rebellion at the time... still doesn't excuse the things I had to do to keep on my mask. But so long as we move on from our past selves, eh?"

Suhara shook her head.

"Anyhow. Straight to the matter. I'm currently the Supreme Leader of the Liberation Army, and Pieree Lambert is my second-in-command. I didn't exactly choose to be commander, but many of the partisans credit me for starting the rebellions after I made my planet-wide broadcast on the Soulèvement. It was just one of many things that broke the dewback's spine." Her eyes for a moment dodged away from Nine's. "We're a popular front. If you believe Pieree, I'm the only one holding us together. Anyone that doesn't like Olivier Poutine and his Vanguard Party flocked to our banner. It's given us the numbers and support we need to avoid immediate destruction, but their causes are so diverse it'll make any ideas for reform... difficult. Currently, we've got three major cliques."

"I've got Neo-Vanguardists. In keeping with their name, they want to restore the Vanguard Party to the state it was during the days of Olivier's father. Unlike his father, they think he rules with an incompetent fist. They want a dictatorship of the people to make Chantemer great again by re-entering a period of isolationism. I will make no lie: the Neo-Vanguardists are closeted fascists who realized that Olivier's antics were so blatant that it was making life hard for them," she spat. "I'd eject them all if they didn't make up a good part of my special forces and inside contacts."

She took a sip from her glass of wine to calm the pressure growing behind her eyes. If she didn't control her nerves soon enough, she'd find it at the bottom of a bottle.

"Galmists I can work with. Though they've got their problems. They're old-school Republicans who look to the glory days of the Old Republic to guide our future. Democracy and stability. They're still figuring out what that democracy would look like, but they want a strong central authority. They wish to create a single Chantemerian identity to forge a single, strong national state. It's unsaid, but given the way some Galmists act... I fear what would happen to those who didn't conform to that identity."

"Finally, the Sync-Immediatists. They want the abolition of large corporations and a central government. Instead, they wish for a decentralized structure of governance based on labor unions and people's assemblies. Decisions to ensure equality for all would be made collectively through this expression of the democratic processes. Obviously, they aren't fans of Galmists or Neo-Vanguardists. They've got the most supporters from the lower and middle class. The problem is that a lot of its proponents have recently been advocating for a permanent revolution. Uprisings against oppressors must be encouraged and supported until any political system that could endanger Chantemer's revolution is eradicated."

She paused.

"It'd mean that we'd be going on the offensive against most of the Galaxy."

Suhara sighed. "Each clique wants a unique vision for Chantemer. And given our current dire situation, I can't risk rejecting any of them from a role in a future government. Whatever government I form would have to find a way to represent all their interests while keeping the peace. Most of my day-to-day job as Supreme Commander is keeping them from killing each other."

Tags: FN-999 (restored)

 

[FN-999 (restored)]

​

The situation on Chantemer was far more complicated than Nines could have predicted.
​

First off was the immense irony of Suhara Villow’s title of Supreme Leader, the very same title that had once been possessed by the absolute rulers of the First Order and the Sith Empire. Given how unlikely it was that the young woman idolized either nation, it seemed as if her title was not suggesting that she sought to create an authoritarian or theocratic state. But it would likely be enough to raise some eyebrows among outside powers considering whether or not to support her rebel movement.

Then there was the matter of the factions within the so-called Liberation Army.

The Neo-Vanguardists reminded him of the late Saul Vandron and other members of the hardliner Tarkinist faction of Imperial politics that Nines himself had once subscribed to. They too supported strongman rule and loathed reform, though rather than isolationism they preached aggressive expansionism in order to transform the galaxy into an Imperial utopia. Nines had admired Saul and his clique since it had been their totalitarian, militaristic rule that had created a powerful and well-diciplined Imperial Army allowing the Empire to grow from a small nucleus of systems to a superpower encompassing large portions of the Outer and Middle Rim. Only years after the Third Imperial Civil War brought a permanent end to the Empire did the Baron realize that the very same authoritarian system that had fueled dramatic Imperial expansion was also incredibly vulnerable to threats within, stemming from discontent led by groups outside the ruling clique seeking representation of their own.

Next were the Galmists. Quite frankly, Nines found their image for Chantemer the most appealing of the three competing factions, and it reminded him very much of his own vision for Borosk. While the Baron’s civilian-military diarchy based out of the city of Alge was far from a spitting image of the Old Republic and certainly had no intentions to model itself as such, it possessed policies similar to those the Galmists idealized. For example, the unified civilian and military front of Moff Calkon Quentis and the Baron respectively provided a beacon of stability amidst the shattered fragments of the Empire, and a strong shared identity as flag-bearers of the Imperial legacy was a foundational legitimizing source for the diarchy’s rule.

Last but not least, there was the question of the Sync-Immediatists. The Baron had a feeling that, though Suhara’s ideology likely lay somewhere between the Gamlists and the Sync-Immediatists, it was the latter with which she sympathized more. It was also the clique for which the Baron had the harshest of criticisms. They were no different than the idealists in the Alliance or the former Silver Jedi Order, preaching universal peace, liberty, and freedom for all while failing to understand the harsh realities of galactic politics. Ultimately, no amount of democracy and civil rights could stop the bullets of a pirate or the cannons of an empire searching for a resource-rich world with a weak government to place under their domination.

“Here is my suggestion for you.” began Nines.

“Your instincts about the Neo-Vanguardists are sound. Yet, as you mention, it would be difficult if not impossible to outright eject them from government due to their prevalence in the special forces and intelligencia."

“However, it may be better to keep them close rather than kicking them out. Include them in a future coalition government, and make one of the group’s more moderate senior figures your defense minister. When applied to the military rather than the government as a whole, a dose of discipline and strict hierarchy can support rather than harm freedom in Chantemer. A professional, experienced, well-drilled army will have a much better chance of success against the Poutine regime’s security forces than a ragtag band of rebels armed only with passion and an understanding of their local neighborhood."

“However, do not forget to keep them on a tight leash. Draw clear lines between the roles of the civilian government and military, and emphasize those whenever you can. Leave the military budget in the hands of civilian officials and threaten to cut the purse strings should they try to intervene in civilian affairs or commit atrocities against civilians. The Neo-Vanguardists will find it much harder to stage a coup if they find that their guns are out of bullets and their tanks are out of fuel."

“I would further advise that you completely scrap the idea of isolationism. Not only from a humanitarian perspective, but from a political, economic, and military perspective as well, opening up to associations within the larger galaxy will help Chantemer prosper. If the Neo-Vanguardists still fail to budge, tell them that Alge would be willing to send military advisors and shipments of cutting-edge Imperial weaponry to their special forces, dependent upon them accepting long-term cooperation with Borosk."

“Next,” continued Nines, leaning in closer and placing his arm on the table, "the Galmists. Their ideology lays the foundation for a strong and independent state, yet one that also grants real freedom to the people of Chantemer. While I agree with your assertion that a shared Chantemerian identity could be used as a front for xenophobia and racism, I nonetheless sympathize with the idea of a set of shared values uniting the people of Chantemer. If the Poutine regime is overthrown but the same culture and political climate that allowed it to take power remains, it will only be a matter of time before a new dictator rises to take their place. Therefore, republicanism must be baked into the very fabric of Chantemer and reinforced through every policy initiative that emerges from the new government.”

“To that end, the Galmists will provide a solid foundation for the bureaucracy, from the paper-pushers to the ministers of finance and of justice. They should also be assigned to fill a majority of judicial posts, since their support for republicanism and a strong state will make them likely to support the legitimacy of your government’s policies in a court of law as long as they are reviewed and passed by the will of the legislature.”

“Finally,” concluded the Baron, leaning back and removing his arm from the table, "the Sync-Immediatists are best left to the health and labor departments of government. There, their idealism can be translated into useful policy and their sympathy will be appreciated by patients and laborers alike. Consequently, the radicals will be able to hold power and satisfy some of their greivances without sacrificing the strength of the new Chantemer government or the ability of its military to fight off foreign threats."

Suhara Villow ​

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