When Our Perils Are Past | First Order & Galactic Alliance

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi exhaled carefully through her nostrils, partially by the irritation caused by the Sullustan's continued posturing, partially in exasperation at being lectured like a child. She may well be a child compared to the ancient Sullustan, but she was an accomplished woman -- educated, powerful, proven in the crucible of war and tempered in the stillness of peace. She was not a naughty schoolgirl to be paddled by the headmaster -- not that Natasi Fortan would go to any school that a Sullustan was headmaster. "Setting aside the convenience each of us has in defining when the war started -- not only because setting it at Mustafar makes us look like aggessors, but because setting it at Mustafar makes your win-to-loss ratio slightly more forgiving -- I will not budge on the question of Kaeshana. Our intentions here were good and pure. Just look out the window and see a world on the brink of rebirth -- a world that the Alliance and its former owners ignored for years, a world that without the First Order would likely still be a floundering, irratiated backwater."

Natasi turned to the railing of the balcony, staring out at the ruins of Kaeshana. It would be remade, a garden paradise, a testament of the power and scientific achievement brought to bear by the First Order. Half-turning her head towards the Sullustan, Natasi inclined her head and continued: "This is not a matter of posturing and pride for me, but of what is right. Dozens of people were killed because your government saw First Order personnel and decided to shoot first and ask questions later. Their families deserve an apology and restitution, and I'm pleased that you agree. We can at least establish some manner of agreement and goodwill, which is encouraging."

Natasi turned fully back to the Sullustan. "Should we discuss Lothal now?"

[member="Jaius Sovv"] | [member="Dante Calgar"] | [member="Valessia Creed"] | [member="Asharad Graush"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Ara Zambrano"] | [member="Claire Organa"] | [member="Jamie Pyne"] | [member="Madlyn Sol"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Jaius Sovv]

"Oh yes, you've certainly uplifted these savages," Jaius mumbled under his breath as the Grand Moff continued her tirade about alleged Alliance atrocities on this world.

This is useless, the Grand Moff apparently believed her empire's own propaganda, or at least wasn't willing to let the mask drop even for a second. The Alliance had never confirmed the First Order's repeated insistence that GADF personnel fired first in the conflict, but when confronted with a so called humanitarian mission consisting of star destroyers in orbit and stormtrooper legions planetside, President Sovv could hardly blame them if they had. Natasi's scornful comments towards the Eldorai diaspora suggested a complete disregard for the Federation's legitimate reasons for their presence in the system.

"As am I, Grand Moff," Sovv said, smiling quickly and politely as the Grand Moff inclined her head towards him once more, "I too, am concerned only with justice. The reparations, your people will have. The apologies, as well. So long as we come to an agreement that sees justice for my people in kind, and an end to further aggression between us."

Jaius cocked his head to the side, as Natasi turned back to him.

"Lothal?" he asked, guardedly, "What about it?"

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[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi clasped her hands behind her back, studying the Sullustan for a moment, dark eyes tracing his odd, flappy face. "Lothal is a matter of concern to the First Order. We suspect it has been used as a base of operations for illegal Alliance incursions into First Order space before the war. We intend to ensure that it does not repeat that history after the war. We have no interest in confiscating the planet from the Alliance -- I suspect you feel that your negotiating position is rather too strong to consider it." Her slender shoulders shrugged elegantly, and the Grand Moff waved a hand airily.

"Be that as it may, the First Order will not allow the planet, cutting so perilously close to the Capital, to serve as a base of operations against First Order interests in the region, clandestine or not. You must disarm Lothal and ensure that it remains disarmed. Defensive weapons are permissible, but any offensive weaponry, ships, or other types of materiel that can be used for incursion or invasion into the First Order must stand down." She inclined her head and locked eyes (or rather, her eyes locked to the creases in the bizarre looking alien's face that she assumed his eyes were) and raised an eyebrow.

"If this peace is to be anything more than a token re-arming period, we must be able to trust one another, Mr. President," she murmured softly. "Knowing what we know about Lothal, that trust would be difficult to obtain barring any kind of meaningful gesture as far as that system is concerned."

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[Jaius Sovv]

It was not his negotiating position that gave Jaius pause, although Natasi was not wrong in assuming the upper hand in the conversation, but the fact that his decision would effect the fate of millions on a world he had only been to a scant handful of times. There was however some validity to the Imperial's concerns. Stretching even past the pre-Mustafar borders, Lothal was the farthest Alliance world west on the galactic plane, and the closest by far to the First Order's capital of Dosuun. Would they not raise similar objections if their neighbors began converting Asmeru into a fortress world?

"So long as the Grand Moff will allow Lothal's defensive technology to remain in place, the Alliance will agree to this amendment," the President intoned solemnly, "The right to a sovereign world's defense is inviolable according to our laws, but we have no desire to antagonize your borders any further. We will withdraw our disproportionate naval assets in that region back behind the Corellian Trade Spine, leaving only what ships their planetary defense force can muster. Any long range strike capacity will be neutralized, and we will redirect our contributions towards avenues such as improved shielding technology. All infrastructure capable of support and logistics for mass stagings will be dismantled."

He evaded her probe about Alliance activities in First Order space prior to their hostilities. While President Sovv wasn't exactly privy to all the intricacies of that kind of information, he had heard enough to know that the Strategic Intelligence Service had been at the very least operating in the region, if not on Lothal itself, with a specific focus on Imperial surveillance. And as someone who had spent his lifetime around Jedi, he knew all too well what a lost cause it could be keeping track of all the Order's extracurricular activities. An outright denial could very well prove awkward later on, so as he leaned heavily on his cane he hoped she would take his silence as a kind of confirmation enough.

"It truly is a wonder what you have done here just in the past year," the old man said at last as he turned once more to look out upon the Eldorai homeworld, "The mountains and canyons remind me of my home, but the weather is far too cold for a subterranean species like myself. Is it very warm on Dosuun this time of year? I should warn you, I was born and raised in Byllurun, so views of wide open sky like this tend to give me vertigo."


[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Jamie Pyne"] | [member="Claire Organa"] | [member="Natasi Fortan"] | [member="Dante Calgar"] | [member="Valessia Creed"] | [member="Carlyle Rausgeber"] | [member="Asharad Graush"] | [member="Madlyn Sol"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Ara Zambrano"]