The Lighter of All the Cakes

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Calls were a nuisance--unless she was making the call, of course. Then they were a necessity. Gen was not much of a social creature.

However, it was a little more calming to see that the caller was not some belligerent politician of some trite disposition and irrelevant babble that would circle around to feel for an easy cheap shot at the Prime Minister. Subversiveness was flagrant in politics, just as one might suspect. And while there was much that the Prime Minister never encountered--to her face, at least--there were still some unique and distinct matters that she was certain no one else had to mess with. The good news was that Lasedri had had the foresight to keep much of her activity in the past very quiet. It was incredibly hard to find material to snag her on. Actually, she usually had harder dirt on the political dissidents than they had on her.

But here was the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, [member="Corvus Raaf"], on a line straight from Ossus--the Jedi leader at the Jedi 'capital'. While the Jedi Order and the Prime Minister were at odds in some cases--thanks to their past drives for political dominance, and the little play exiled Grandmaster Grayson had tried to spark in cowardice--Geneviève had a fair amount of respect for Raaf, especially following a meeting they had had not too long ago. Gen was ever on her guard, but she allowed a small amount of trust to be appropriated to the Grandmaster--something she did not do often.

Attempting an 'everyday smile' for the Jedi Master--and failing miserably, since she had almost no practice at smiling every day--Gen switched on her holoprojector and accepted the correspondence request. "Master Raaf," she greeted. "It's a pleasure to speak with you again. Is everything alright?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enigma"], [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was pleased that someone connected. "A pleasure to speak to you too Prime Minister. Everything is quite alright. I'm actually joined by someone who happens to be attending a funeral here and coincidentally has a business proposition. Essentially I was hoping between yourself and the Head of the Military we could allow my guest, Vanessa Vantai, to better understand how her ship production company becomes an approved supplier."

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Enigma"] | [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

Wut.

This was an absolute shocker - Genevieve was running the Republic? Many strange things had happened during her lifetime, but this was likely one of the greatest. The woman was a part of the Rebel Alliance, after all... Their straight-up benefactor. What juicy blackmail... Then again, such would only jeopardize her chances of ensuring contracts were made for the Republic - a very important thing, to say the least.

"A pleasure, Madame Prime Minister. I heard recently about the situations with the One Sith taking Rendili, and Incom's rather less than stellar behavior towards your corporate contracts. Such is the reason why I came to offer Emeritus Industries' fine products to the Republic. We're expanding rather rapidly and would certainly like to assist the Republic with regards to their fleet - seeing as Rendili-made ships cannot be serviced, and Incom-made ships are all indisposed."

Perhaps this would be what was needed.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

A Vanessa Vantai? That did not strike her as familiar. Neither did this 'Emeritus Industries'. But, then again, there were important things for politicians to discuss, and then there was reality that they seemed to be distant from. Gen had not reached that point--at least, she was pretty sure--but there was, without a doubt, a loss of identification with the everyman. "Yes, hello there, Miss Vantai."

Where was that Supreme Commander, anyway? "Before we begin... I'd really need a thorough investigation of your company before I can stamp anything about it. Just to make that clear." Not that this discussion was over, but there would need to be give before there was take for this Vantai and her company.

Besides, anyone who tried to make a business deal at a funeral was undeniably suspicious.

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enigma"], [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus sat impassively. She'd helped by intriducing the young woman to the Prime Minister and now sat back. Politics and business. Two subjects she professed to know nothing about and so she kep quiet as the politician and the business-woman talked.

But she sat up and avoided the temptation to meditate with her eyes open.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

"I can accept such, but considering the recent circumstances, I would assume it prudent to begin contractual negotiations in order to help fill the void. We have a wide variety of products that can fill whatever roles the Republic require, in concert certainly with whatever ships you need. If you need something, well... We'll gladly manufacture it to your specifications."

She smiled, trying her best to ignore the past she had with the woman before her.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Geneviève sat back, glancing lazily at her datapad lying flat on the desktop before reacting to the last bit. Prudent to begin negotiations without knowing the product? Highly unlikely. A clientele list would not hurt to have in her hands before anything got serious here. "You're making the assumption that we're in need of anything at the moment. It's not prudent to make assumptions." It was quite obvious that she wanted to be in charge of this conversation's course. And she felt she had a right to be since she was only the most prominent government leader of this fine Republic.

"That being said, feel free to try and impress me with your catalog. I'm not exactly naive in matters of war." That was an understatement.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

"I know well enough about the void that exists within your manufacturing capability. With the loss of Rendili, many specifications for your then most advanced starships found themselves in the hands of the One Sith. One Sith who will more than likely attempt to reverse-engineer them in order to determine their weaknesses, making them vessels you want to see mothballed as soon as possible. In concert, Incom abandoned you and broke contract with you, taking their designs and other resources to the Abrions. They even destroyed some of your starships, if I recall - a disgusting breach of business etiquette."

She pressed her datapad into the holotransmitter - holographic images of some ships, familiar and otherwise, would appear in Gen's own display - battleships, bombers, cruisers, fighters, and everything in between. Many craft were new - some were vessels that had been purchased at the Subach auction by RRDI and Emeritus, but most were not. The designs were sturdy, heavily armed... Perfect for a slow, predominantly defensive war as was expected the Republic would wage against the Sith.

Perhaps this would be quite a key to victory.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Who was she to deny someone the right to pander to the Republic? Well, actually, she was the Prime Minister, so that was something significant. But with the recent eradication of Incom from the military suppliers list, it was very possible that there was a void to be filled. "Mm," she mused, scanning the actual catalog provided. Nothing new here at the base levels, but there was truth in the matter that they needed some variance in other ways than just ship roles. Stupid Vong.

"As I mentioned previously," Gen resumed, "We will need to conduct investigations of your company. You obviously can understand the necessity of this as you seem aware of the Incom debacle." She set down her datapad and faced the virtual representations of the other conversation participants. "If you can comply with that, then I see no reason the military cannot look into the quality of your products and determine for themselves whether it's worth the investment. That's for them to appraise from here on. I have nothing more to say."

With the provided stipulations, whoever this Emeritus person was should be in the clear if she received a passing grade. Lasedri only hoped there would not be any unreasonable pricetags to this.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

"Certainly... rest assured we don't break contracts senselessly, unlike some of our 'competitors' may attempt to do." A nod came to her head as she inevitably waited the Prime Minister's final statement. The knowledge that who she was remained concealed from the woman who harbored murderous tendencies towards her made her giggle inside, though her external composure remained resolutely sound in business as she stood before the hologram and the Jedi Grandmaster.

"I look forward to the results, Prime Minister Lasedri."

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]