Originally posted by Captain REX
"Ah, Agent Stirge," General Coll, returning Karn's salute with a firm, correct one. "Glad to see that the Emperor has assigned you to us. You were of great use in the Belthos Uprising."
As Melkor`s shuttle aproaches the fleet, he works with his Assistant to find as much information as possible about the situation, including searching Imperial Records( I assume Ties:Emperor grants me acess, and my Secretary is very skilled with working with Data.). He tries not to think too much about this mad timeframe.
"His Majesty knows what he is doing, his political genius brought Peace and Order to the Galaxy. I will prove I am worthy of such difficult task, even if Lanzar has to burn! But what about the Senate Mission, those ineffective fools will never accept radical solutions! His Majesty doesn`t give second chances, Senate can`t turn against us." With angry hand motion he spills one of the best wines in galaxy. Sareitha gives a nervous look, but continues her work.
"Before we aproach the ship, connect me to Senator Raedgar, I must speak with him concerning the Senate Mission."( Ush, contacting my ally, could I contact Senate Mission Leader too?)
Hmm, Atar definately beats Lomax, I don`t want senior General with no field experience facing against Osokans!
I assume that we have no time for personal interviews? Damm the lack of time!
As Melkor prefers young people like himself, who are not afraid to do what is necessary despite old customs, he will choose Nidar with Adar as Senior General. I will inform him personally, and imply that we could rise high together if this Mission suceeds, Emperor himself may honor him!
Oh, Nidar will have been informed well ahead of time- the task force would need to know. Indeed- no time at all!
In that case it is Commodore Nidar in charge of the task force! Everyone note that.
And in that case, Commodore Nidar has requested that all senior personnel in the fleet- and any retinue they wish to bring with them- should report to the Victorious immediately now that the Commissar is arriving.
Can you tell me what kind of areas you want to find out information about?
You can indeed ask your Senator contact- any specific questions? He'll answer the first one for you immediately, which is that the leader won't give you the time of day until you get there.
First priority- information about Lanzar, its political system and recent history. Do we know if some of former leader`s allies are still active( not killed by those barbarians).
Second priority- information about the leader of Senate Mission, than Captain Nidar, than other Senior Taskforce members.
I will ask my ally about the feelings in the Senate concerning the mission, and how much does the Imperial Security Commision knows. In exchange I can give some info about Commisariat, propably not relating to the plot of the game, but something ambitious Senator could like to know.
The file on Lanzar is somewhat complicated. It had a relationship with the 'previous' (pre-Empire) Administration, though that Adminstration had the same leader at the time, of course. That relationships was the basis for all current interest in the planet.
What really did for Lanzar was the civil war which started shortly before the Clone Wars did. The Guilds have been slaughtering each other for these last two decades or so, which is a shame- apparently they had quite a network of trained aggressive operatives that worked for the Chancellor's office, but once the war started they were no longer being trained and more and more of them got sucked in as time went by. There's precious little left of that system now.
The Emperor was trying to re-start that whole deal when he backed Matadan to become leader (the central and most important point was always a strong Guild Master who could ensure the loyalty of the Hunting Lodges), but it is clear now that long-term prospects with the Osokans are roughly zero. Frankly the Emperor does not care if Matadan is alive or dead; he has failed. Unfortunately the last two years on Lanzar have been so totally chaotic that no-one in the Imperial administration really has much idea about who was supporting whom and who is dead or alive. Maybe if the Osokans had all killed each other it would have been fine, but the Emperor's biggest headache is Lanzar becoming stable under a leader he has not backed.
Still, that does not explain his haste.
Nidar was placed upon these task forces- which carry a certain amount of prestige- as a result of pressure applied by his family. He only needs a major victory under his belt and his career will go stratospheric; he might be an Admiral inside a few years and from there, who knows?
Your contact has some very firm points to make.
"The leader of the Senate mission os Coran Andran," he says, and you can feel the dislike immediately. "He is a man of strong... convictions, shall we say? And as far as I am concerned he's a pain in the backside. He opposed my appointment to this commission and had two of my comrades blocked from similar appointments as a result of the Drobenite Protests- which, incidentally, he was the ringleader of."
"Let`s say that Emperor himself agrees with your opinion concerning the likes of this Andran. But his generation is dying out, as are they useless values, which failed to save the decaying Republic. They are all bunch of hypocrites, all about values, democracy, fairness, etc, but how can you protect those without using all possible means to defend your principles? Most beings in Galaxy are ignorant and greedy, only truly great individuals can guide them to achieve something far greater than sum of the elements. If Andran and his fellow bumbling, indecisive fools were left in charge, we would now all be serving Neimodians and similar scum. Yet his Majesty saved the Republic, and now no one will be allowed to distrupt Imperial Peace, as those Osokans shall learn!..... "Melkor`s voice gets less loud again, and there is suddenly more sinister, calculating tone to it.
"Tell your collegues my only mission is to restore Imperial Order on Lanzar. Osokans are one of the most barbaric races in the Galaxy, that New Republic was too weak to do anything about. Emperor gave them a chance, offering them a place in the New Order. Yet they didn`t prove to be civilized enough- for last two years they have been slaughtering one another, wasting their potential and planet resources. His Majesty will not tolerate an Imperial World to be the source of discord and violence!
And I wonder how will our noble Andran be able to communicate with those barbarians, who have no respect for old man, they wil only listen to force of arms, they had to be pacificated by the Jedi once. It is obvious that his old style inept Diplomacy will resolve nothing..... So what is his intention? Perhaps he and his collegues want to distrupt the efforts of my Taskforce? If so... there will no future for Andran in New Order, and you my friend, may well replace him as the President of the Security Commision, I mentioned your good will to the Emperor himself. Keep your good work, and make effort so the information spreading in the Senate reflects what I mentioned.
And one more question: Do you think that some of Senators with Andran could be more willing to listen to reason than him?"
"Based upon his action plan for Droben, Andrna is almost certainly looking for a peaceful solution.
It's possible others will listen differently. It is a trimuvirate of three, after all, and it will take a majority decision. Andran will break a tie if a Senator abstains, but if outvoted then he can do little. But Sartorius is a new Senator and I know little about her; Senator Ardonel keeps his cards close to his chest."