Avalonia, Dosuun | Tregessar Spaceport | The Past
The First Order was gone, it just didn't know it yet.
Renata watched as the absence of the Supreme Leader, the absence of a strong leader in the Cabinet led first to deadlock, then fractious, contentious, backbiting fights. They were taking sides now; she suspected that Gannon's days were numbered in the single digits, and charismatic populist who had connived his way to become acting Chancellor of the Exchequer was amassing the masses behind him. In the name of Fortan, of course, but without the Supreme Leader, anyone could claim her mantle. He had approached Renata, laid his cards on the table, and told her that there was a place for her in his new regime.
Only in his new regime.
She had a week to consider his offer. She considered it about ten seconds, then accelerated plans for Renascence. There were already hundreds of people there. A sizeable collection of the First Order's Galidraani contingent, loyalists from the bad old days and new people, each vetted extensively before being transported to the secret location. If Natasi Fortan ever returned from wherever the hell she had disappeared to, she would find an empire of ashes.
Perhaps that's why she's staying away. She always was rather politically astute.
Renata regretted the impuslive sneer in her rumination. Whatever she thought of the Fortans, and her experience with the Supreme Leader's cousin was her primary exposure, she had no reason to suspect the worst of Natasi herself. She was cold, careful to a fault, but her dedication to the First Order couldn't be questioned. Had she not died, willingly, to save it? No. Something was wrong here, but Renata had run into dead end after dead end trying to find out what. She had reached the end of her rope. The only thing left was to cut herself loose.
"Ma'am," a voice murmured to her. She looked up and saw that the speeder she had been traveling in was stopped. Renata became vaguely aware that they had been stopped for some time. She cast an apologetic smile at one of the pair of diplomatic security who followed her out of the back of the speeder. She was flanked by the pair. They had come from the tunnels with her, loyal to her, loyal to the ideals of the First Order. Now joining her in fleeing from it. If Renata still cried, it would be enough to push her over the edge.
Tregessar Spaceport, named for the famed hero Cyrus Tregessar, was quiet at this time of night, at least on the travel side. Cargo flowed in and out of Dosuun at all hours, but the passenger terminal was all but deserted. Renata had chartered a flight -- not wanting to use official First Order transport for obvious reasons -- and so she headed for the private terminal. At the automated terminal, she swiped her identification and moved forward, anticipating the flash of green before the doors swung open. Instead an error tone sounded and there was a flash of red and the turnstile did not budge.
Renata burnished her ID card against the breast of her long coat and swiped again.
Another error tone. Another flash of red. And still the turnstile did not budge.
She leaned back to see the error message on the screen and saw:
Error: Security Alert. Unauthorized Access. Stand by for Security Response. Please move aside to allow other passengers access.
Renata had her men try their badges, but neither worked. Someone had deactivated the travel authority of the entire Foreign Ministry, it seemed. At least, she suspected, those who had not yet sworn fealty to that would-be warlord. "Fuck," Renata spat. Security would be there any moment. "We need to move. Here. Boost me over."
The men exchanged glances before moving to comply. A First Order citizen didn't circumvent rules and laws. Certainly not the Foreign Minister. But things were moving at a pace, and there was no time. They lifted her awkwardly until she could gain purchase on the security bar and heaved herself over the plexiglass divider, clambering down. On the exiting side, all one had to do was stand on a pressure plate to open the turnstile, so the men didn't have to climb over, and they hurried along the shadowed corridor of the spaceport.
Security arrived late, following them onto the tarmac just as Renata and her men reached the foot of the ramp. They shouted to stop, demanded to see her hands. Renata wanted no bloodshed, no mess. Things would be messy enough on Dosuun very soon. "Set for stun," she muttered to her team, and a moment later she brandished her blaster. They were expecting a negotiation -- Renata Westaway was ostensibly a diplomat, after all -- and not for someone to shoot first."
"They'll be all right," she declared after briefly checking the security forces. "But there will be more. Let's get out of here."
When Renata Westaway left Avalonia, she had no way of knowing it would be the last time she ever saw her adoptive homeworld again. Before reaching the atmosphere, she pressed send on the electronic message to Henry Finn-Camden. If he wanted explosive headlines, her resignation statement would surely generate them.
