The Silver Lady and the White Palace

[Cecily Demici]

As the Onderonian transport neared the planet of Sriluur, Cecily strode into the deck of the ship causing the Onderonian guards to shoot to their feet in salute. "Oh, sit down!" She snapped loudly and they slid, with uncertainty back into their seats.

"Establish contact," she ordered and her crew at least appeared to busy themselves doing just that. When they turned back and nodded to signify she was clear to speak, she straightened up and glared straight ahead.

"This is Countess Cecily Demici, Senator of Planet Onderon, seeking audience with His Excellency the Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel.. Sempra," she said in her rather diplomatic tone. She believed firmly that if you wanted something done you did it yourself, but in this case she started to second guess whether she had gone too far. She had grown fond of Sempra, but would be so readily welcome this unannounced intrusion? It was a gamble she was willing to take.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

The request went unanswered for a length of time. Just enough to cause some uncertainty among the visitors.

In the far distance the Onderonian transport could see how a massive body of ships turned and faced the new arrival. For a moment it seemed to be a threatening manuever. But then, among the hutt fleet orbiting the cartel capita,l a single Half drive frigate tore itself loose from the fleet body and slowly, without arming its weapons, moved toward the republic ship to finally place itself alongside it.

"Thisss be Captain Tumoz of the hutt fleet. You are admitted accessss to the planet sssenator. Follow usss and do not power up shieldsss or weaponsss." a hissing voice declared. With that two Blood darth fighters fell in flanking the ship as it turned toward the surface of Sriluur and the main landing site of the white palace.

[member="Cecily de Demici"]

 

[Cecily Demici]

The crew looked around at her, uncertain of whether to comply with the Hutts or not. They were frightened. She was not and with a curt nod they hesitantly did as they were instructed and allowed themselves to be escorted to the landing site. As they touched down, Cecily turned and without so much as a handmaiden to escort her, glided down the ramp of the ship and onto the surface of the planet.

Sempra's people wasted no time escorting the Senator to the easternmost dome of the White Palace... the Throne Room. It did its name justice. Richly adorned and fit for a great king, Sempra spared no expense to demonstrate his vast wealth.

"My Lord Sempra, Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel and surely the wisest and most noble of your people, I bring tidings from the Galactic Republic," a powerful voice for such a small woman, it echoed across the hall ahead of her own advance and as she came before the throne, she brought herself into a curtsey of respect.

"We have... much to discuss," she said more softly, suddenly appearing less agreeable.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

Sempra inclined his large head slightly at her presentation. He was not sure why she had come to Sriluur, it had not been announced but it was most likely something she wished to discuss regarding their latest talks on Effect.

"Most gracious Senator, do tell me what brings you here. I hear the republic is threading through dire times. I am sure your time is most valuable, please there is no need for formalities between the two of us, hum?"

Sempra did not see how this person could be a threat to his person, but still maintained his trusted body guards in the room. He did motion for them to step away from hearing distance though. [member="Cecily de Demici"] was an ambitious lady and sometimes ambition required discretion.

 

[Cecily Demici]

Cecily nodded graciously as he dismissed formalities, but waited with a cold eye as the prying ears of Sempra's body guards had given them a wide berth. Slowly her gaze met the almost cat-like eyes of her impressive associate and she inhaled deeply before she began. "Everything is in order for the proposal, I have secured the support of a... narrow majority and the blessing of the Prime Minister," she said softly, but there was no joy in her tone.

"All that remains is for you to assert your terms and we can move forward," colder still, "but, actually, that isn't what brings me here." She was not so much angry as she was annoyed by the recent intelligence that a hit had been put out on a Senator of the Republic.

"I received troubling intelligence yesterday that a member of the Galactic Senate has been marked for death... by a member of your Cartel, I trust you knew nothing about it?" She searched him for a reaction.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

Sempra put a finger to his lips as his eyes wandered across the ceiling.

"Marked for death? A senator?" he asked, questioning the very essence of it.

"I assure you senator. This is not my doing." he shrugged helplessly at her showing to unarmed open palms.

"As you are aware, your...." he hesitated, searching for the right word. "... your kind... does not seem to keep us hutts apart. Perhaps a kin of mine has a grudge against a senator of yours. I will look into it but I can not promise anything. Our race is far spread and my humble organisation can not take responsibility for the entire race no more then you can for your own species."

[member="Cecily de Demici"]

 

[Cecily Demici]

Cecily listened as thoughtfully as she could, but when Sempra had finished she produced a small clear tablet from her stately robes. At the wave of her hand, the tablet came to life and produced a holographic image of Srillur and above it a small red dot flashed in the Half Angel Shipyards. "I received a direct communication from the one responsible for the hit and he failed to encrypt the message," she reached out to hand the Hutt the device to allow him a closer look, "Onderon Intelligence was able to trace it back here to the Half Angel Shipyards, I do not believe a Hutt would be so daft, but an underling would be just daft enough."

"I am almost certain you could locate the culprit and... urge him to stand down, for my sake?" She smirked, knowing better at this point than to underestimate the capabilities and resourcefulness of the Hutt.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

"We only picked up the slack the senate left."​

​

The air was still and the florescent barely flickered to life. It was steady and bright enough to relieve the darkness of the room, and by [member="Sempra the Hutt"], a sharp figure made of geometric shapes that ran sharp inclines only made worse by shadows that radiated out as hands like an old analogue clock. "Your Senator is a terrorist, destroying equipment and lives as she goes, and you expect us to allow that. What does that say about us?"

The sharp disks that make up his upper abdomen slamming down with a metallic 'thud', he rose to his full height and the metal Goliath waved an arm and then his digit's tightened into a fist. "Not to mention your Jedi puppets have maimed and left us somewhat disfigured, what do we owe the Senate, or what will the Senate owe us?"

[member="Cecily de Demici"]​

I got permission from Sempra, to join I hope you don't mind.​

 

[Cecily Demici]

Cecily's eyes caught the new addition to the conversation quickly and her displeasure was evident. She was not here to negotiate with the rabble. "You did not tell me anyone would be joining us," she hissed as her cold blue eyes darted back to Sempra, her patience was wearing thin now.

"To assault a Senator of the Galactic Republic is an act of war," she was still not speaking directly to the new addition, but her words were clearly in response to his assertions, "if crimes have been committed against you than you will bring them before the Galactic Republic and justice will be dealt swiftly, but should any harm come to her, there will be dire consequences." All jokes aside, the fact remained that the Republic was still the dominant power in the Galaxy, rivaled only by the One Sith. She would not grovel.

"The Jedi have nothing to do with this," she snapped 'nor dare I say do you,' she thought, "and the Republic will owe you nothing more than what is mutually agreed upon, understand that this is not a life debt and we do not beg, this is a pact among peers and we will honor as many terms as we find agreeable... provided you do the same." She was speaking directly to Sempra again.

[member="Flannigan Mcnash"][member="Sempra the Hutt"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

The tension in the room tore through the conversation like nanodrill through butter.
Sempras face hardened somewhat.

"Are you implying that we are st a state of war Senator?" he did not believe [member="Cecily de Demici"] held that kind of authority on her own. But perhaps he had underestimated her position in the senate. It made her more interesting for sure.

"We have yet not had the opportunity to go over your treaty senator, but I do believe you have put enough prestige in it to give us some more time, hmmm?"

"And come to think of it, I now recall this womanyou speak of - [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] is correct. [member="Lady Kay"] has been meddling with cartel bussiness on several occations, but on hutt affiliated planets, where republic laws are not endorsed. If I commited a crime on republic soil I am sure you would prefer to see a republic court handle the justice rather then a cartel controlled. Or does republic senators not apply to other laws then their own, hmmm? This would be good to know for future reference."

Sempra gave up trying to hide his knowledge about Kay but did not want to surrender to his visitor just yet.

 

[Cecily Demici]

"Of course not, Sempra," she said dismissively, "but having been duly elected to the Senate, Lady Kay is an officer of the Republic. Were the Cartel found to be behind an assassination of one of our elected officials, I'm sure you understand that retributive actions would only be natural."

The jig was up on Lady Kay as Sempra himself accused her of having offended the Cartel. Cecily believed firmly in the sovereignty of the Galactic Republic, but even she could not deny the necessity for justice. "If you assert that Lady Kay has indeed committed crimes against the Cartel, than I'm sure a trial under your jurisdiction could be negotiated with the Prime Minister... but I will not allow her to be killed," she would not be moved on this issue, "unless this issue is dealt with diplomatically, the treaty would have no hope of passing the Senate and our efforts here would be fruitless. The One Sith is a threat to us all, we cannot afford to let these petty squabbles divide our efforts so close to reaching an agreement."

"I implore you Sempra, invalidate the bounty and denounce the one responsible o that we can deal with this in a more civilized manner... after we have secured passage of the treaty," she found her footing again, as always, on the firm foundations of diplomacy.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

"That would be me"

Xander emerged from the shadows, the smile on his face just noticeable under his iconic cowboy hat. He hated senators, and he already knew he was going to love sticking it to this woman. He slid his gun from it's holster, spinning it on his finger while leaning against one of the pillars.

"You're mighty Sempra, I hope you ignore this intrusion but i'm afraid I have some words for our guest. I placed the bounty on Miss Lady Kay for the reasons Sempra has stated. You can't expect us to let her just walk free without punishment. If I came and messed with your business, you'd have me arrested. You'd have me brought in front of you to stand trial, like what we plan to do with Lady Kay. We plan to make her stand trial."

[member="Cecily de Demici"]
[member="Sempra the Hutt"]
[member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

"Thank you for the clarification Mr Black." he smiled at [member="Xander Black"]

This was interesting. As always [member="Cecily de Demici"] made good points. A skilled diplomat and ambitious enough to dare the White Palace on her own initiative. For a human she was rather impressive.

For a moment his reptilian mind wondered how she would taste, or perhaps how she would appear in his chains... but he pushed the notion aside. At his position he could not afford to indulge himself. There was too much at stake. He saw an opportunity in her and he did not want to loose it already.

"Well senator, my law enforcing rests heavily on these methods. I understand that you consider your republic version, a police educated and payed for by taxes, superiour. But I find that there is no need for it, besides I too want to support the galactic work market. I dare say my humble cartel put food on the table for more then one bounty hunter." the hutt found this reasoning amusing. In his mind there was no true justice, merely power and influence.
True power belonged to those with control and the planet the cartel controlled were governed by his will, not laws.
Then he was not unfamiliar with the concept of republic law, he had on several occations been at very close range of it.

"Dear Cecily, how about this. I will not extend any threat toward [member="Lady Kay"] as long as she remains in republic space. But if she enters cartel territory again, hutt laws abide and that makes her the target of this bounty. Really, this should not be a problem for [member="Lady Kay"] since her place is with the senate and you would return home with yet another sucesfull negotiation. Also as [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] mentioned - we would not appear weak on our end. hum?"

Sempra knew deep in his heart that [member="Lady Kay"] would not stay away for long though. She was too eager to be an obstacle to the cartel. But when she did, there would be a market for her waiting in ambush.

 

[Cecily Demici]

Cecily bristled at the appearance of the man who suddenly appeared to claim responsibility for infringing on the Republic's right to govern its citizens. "My what a fun little party we're having, perhaps I should have invited a few people?" She said with a smirk, half amused and half annoyed at their growing audience.

"Actually, I can just expect that when so much is at stake," she added directly to the intruder. She would have said more, but Sempra was speaking now and she instead turned her attention to him.

Cecily considered the terms of their agreement for a moment. This was a compromise and that was what politics and diplomacy were all about. If Lady Kay was determined to find herself in trouble, there was nothing that Cecily could do for her, but for now Cecily could spare her the life and she would not turn that offer down. "I accept," she said, realizing she would now have to relay that information to her colleague from Commenor. "Well, that's that dealt with, no hard feelings," she said to Xander before again returning to Sempra.

"Oh, I should mention, I will be sending you the preliminary terms for the treaty once I have had time to meet with the Senators in my caucus and I look forward to seeing the counter terms... I wonder, have you selected an ambassador to represent our cause before the Senate?" She might as well inquire while she's here. Two birds, one stone, all that.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]
[member="Xander Black"]
[member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Sempra the Hutt]

Sempra grinned knowingly. He did not know if the republic treaty would work in their favor but for now he believed in keeping options open. Besides, he saw another advantage of keeping this one close. Her prescence at the proclamation of the treaty of Vontor would send a complex political message. She did not even have to know the reason she was there for.

"Excellent Senator. As usual, you can see that the cartel can be very reasonable with potential friends." the hutt teased with a low hiss.

"Now allow me to ask one final thing of you. To show my peers that you indeed have come with a sincere interest in understanding our situation, your prescense at a small get together here in my humbke home would be greatly appreciated. You know how it is, appereances matter... Please accept my invitation to this occation and we should all be allowed to continue on as previous to the affair of [member="Lady Kay"]. Agreed? hmmm?"

[member="Xander Black"]
[member="Cecily de Demici"]
[member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Cecily Demici]

Cecily had bowed respectfully, but as she turned away Sempra said something else and goose bumps raised on her skin. Her goal had been to leave as soon as possible before she was ambushed with something else, but Sempra had already pounced on the opportunity. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself before turning. A party she thought contemptuously, unlikely.

"Your lordship," she began apologetically, but she stopped short for a moment. No, we'll play this game, she smiled at her own cleverness.

"As Countess of Serenno, I would be honored to attend," she bowed low, "just let me go and freshen up, won't you?"

With that she was gone to don her tiara.

[member="Sempra the Hutt"]