Political Leverage
Posted on Tue Jan 31st, 2023 @ 10:41pm by Damask Hul & Rynseh Lahan
2,211 words; about a 11 minute read
Chapter:
Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Coruscant, Third Galactic Republic
Timeline: After "Massing Shadows"
OLD
[Damask] was soon due to receive another from the very same old colleague he had been pondering moments ago: Jedi Master Lahan.
Of course, Rynseh had been the one to initially set the Vice Chancellor on the road towards shadowing former knights Thane and Bomoor, while making enquiries of his own into the supposedly fallen Jedi. However, he had not revealed his own investigations to the Cathar thus far and intended to keep it that way. While Rynseh had formerly counted among Hul's closest confidents, he was not the same man that he had worked alongside all those years ago in Twilight Company. Even before his supposed death, Hul sensed his priorities had changed; caring more about routing out crazed mystics than protecting the Republic he had once fought so passionately for.
As he allowed his mind to wander, the Duros was thrust back to the present as the scheduled call came in. He took a breath and pressed the button to accept.
"Good morning, Master Lahan," Hul offered a courteous smile, "I was so pleased when I heard you scheduled this call. How have you been since we last got re-acquainted?"
NEW
"One week," Rynseh Lahan's holographic image replied with a swift dispensing of the pleasantries as he stood with hands behind his back in a military fashion. "Everything we've discussed, and all that we have prepared for happens in one week. The Templars are going to deploy with or without the Senate's blessing and support. Not one day further. The time has come for you to flex your political capital and make it official. For the safety and security of the Republic, we can no longer afford to delay."
The Vice Chancellor was half-expecting this kind of direct command from the Jedi. Perhaps he was counting that their old friendship would still hold water or perhaps he had simply become too used to commanding such authority with his position, surrounding himself with cowards and yes-men.
"Now, old friend," Damask dropped to half a smile as he leaned towards the projection, "You know full well that I requested anonymity when I loaned you the Descent, just as I respected your own reasons for pursuing those rogue Jedi of yours. I was certainly surprised to learn your travels took you as far as Korriban, just at the same time as the orbital station there was attacked. I will, of course, raise support in the senate to re-establish that station with an increased military budget and consult with you on whatever additional security is required in that system. However..."
He rose and took a few paces around the emitter so that he now stood taller than the holographic image, "I have always held it is not the position of the state to involve themselves in Jedi judicial business. Lending you that ship was a favour from one friend to another; it is one thing to help you as an individual and quite another to arm and despatch a legion of your Templar Jedi to hunt down your lost knights."
Turning back, Damask raised a single brow at the hairless Cathar staring back at him, adding "I presume that is still what this is all about?"
Rynseh narrowed his eyes at Hul to a harsh judgmental squint. The Jedi was not pleased to see the Duros politician toying with him. A certain air of hostility was laced within Hul's words and body language. Something had changed between them significantly, and he suspected it had something to do with the recent embarrassment involving the Senator from Caanus. It was time for some push back, and, if necessary, a little hardball, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"You spent almost an hour in one of the SCIFs* last evening," Ryn played his hand, reminding the Duros of the undercover eyes he had on the inside, something that every Speaker and Chancellor of the Senate over the years was privy to since the beginning of the Third Galactic Republic. Jedi spies on the inside was mutually agreed upon in secret in order to prevent another Senator Palatine from rising again. Despite it being an uncomfortable arrangement for those few politicians in-the-know, they did not want to lose their power to a new dark tyrant, and so it became tolerable tradition and a fact-of-life in the Senate.
"You were briefed on the Korriban intel I backchannelled to your office," Ryn added. "You know the situation has escalated far beyond two wayward young fools. The destruction of the Watchtower over Korriban and the massacre of our Knights there was just the beginning. We appreciate the assistance to rebuild, and we accept our losses. That failure is on us. But if those cultists go on to massacre innocent Republic civilians, their blood will be on yours and Paralles' hands. The Templars are the answer to the problem, but we cannot operate in secret like the Shadows. The public deserves to know that we will not let evil triumph over this galaxy. Never again. Not on our watch."
If Damask were a lesser man, he might have allowed himself to be offended at Rynseh's inference about his activities, but he had been been around long enough to know what to allow the Jedi to see and what to conceal. His correspondence with Agent Valla and her surveillance of the Red Raptor crew was one such crucial secret. He did, however, adopt a more serious expression as he answered.
"You must know that I am far from ignorant of the power of the Force," he appealed to the Master Jedi, "Fighting side-by-side with you taught me to never take such power lightly. These Dark Jedi you faced on Korriban do indeed seem to pose a significant threat and one that I will ensure is not ignored. You have my word on that."
He brought a fist down into his palm to emphasise his next words, "But you will not see me granting emergency powers to an unrecognised, unregulated group of Jedi Shadows: these Templars you have been cultivating behind the scenes for all these years. It sets a dangerous precedent for the Republic's relationship with the Reborn Order. Just as urgently as I wish to tackle these Dark Jedi, I also do not want to see our own Force-wielding allies acting outside of the law. You must work alongside our Judicial Forces, not in place of them, if you wish to bring these evildoers to justice."
The old Jedi war veteran curled his lips into a grin, his countenance relaxing a bit.
"Our thoughts are aligning," Ryn said with a nod. "That is exactly what we intended to do, but with a caveat."
A young Kel-Dor Jedi briefly stepping into the view, handing Ryn a datapad. Rynseh briefly glanced at it, took a stylus and signed something on it, and continued as he handed it back.
"You might recall a little something from bygone times called the Joint Auspices Act. It's a dusty old legal provision renewed by the Third Republic from its original form with a new name. I'm transmitting to you a copy now to refresh your memory. It goes all the way back to the Clone Wars when the Old Republic and the Jedi Order fought side-by-side against the Separatist Alliance. It just so happens that statute remains on the books, kept in place specifically for dark times such as now. Yesterday, I submitted a petition to my friend, the good Ambassador from Cathar, who, as I'm sure you know, just so happens to be playing a round of greenputt with the Chancellor as we speak. The Diplomatic Corps owes me a favour, and so the Ambassador has promised to deliver a memo to the Chancellor during lunch explaining the Jedi High Council's request to invoke the Act, through you, of course. We'll gladly work with the Judicials, but, according to Article One, Section Five, the Jedi will be leading the operation."
Damask stared at his old friend's devilish smile, concerned at how he seemed to clearly enjoy sparring with the senator, even on such a deeply serious topic. He was aware of many of the former Republic's statutes that had been transferred into present day law. Many had been superseded as more appropriate, modern acts were passed but there were always those who would dredge up ancient senate acts to support their position.
With a sigh, Damask returned to his seat and massaged one of his temples as he responded.
"I suppose I should be somewhat grateful that you are attempting to do this through legal channels at all," his shoulders jostled in a dry chuckle, "I have no doubt you intend to send out your Templars regardless of official approval. You and I are are no strangers of working on the fringes of the law and I know you will do what you feel is right at the end of the day."
His brow furrowed again, "I only wish you had avoided introducing my name alongside this request; I am sure your proposal would have enough weight without carrying the seal of my office. Quellus already has Paralles' ear, after all. It will take me some time to untangle that particular mess. I will arrange a meeting with the Chancellor as soon as I can."
The Vice Chancellor's mind was working in the background, wondering if this message coming via the opposition leader would make Paralles more suspicious of the proposal or whether it was better to keep his name out of it entirely.
"So, was there anything else you wished to inform me of?" Damask returned to pleasantries, although his enthusiasm was notably diminished, "Besides asking me to assist in an endeavour I am seemingly already assisting you in?"
"Speaking as a friend, and not as a Jedi, the only thing further I ask is a face-to-face with you," Rynseh replied without smugness. His tone was more earnest than before. "There are other less-dire matters for us to discuss, and I still owe you a drink as I recall. Ten minutes of your time, in-person. Nothing more."
This was the first thing Rynseh had uttered that took him off guard and, although still suspicious, he allowed more of that cordial tone to return, "Well, I did wonder if there was still a man underneath all those Jedi layers. I'm sure there will be time at some juncture but, for now, we have made each other quite busy fighting our respective battles."
The Vice-Chancellor leaned in to look at the Cathar, scanning him with his gaze as best he could through the limited resolution of the projection, "If you do find yourself off planet soon, then contact my secretary to arrange a date when you return. I certainly do have some more questions to ask you about your time away and perhaps even delve into some of the other Lahan mysteries I have yet to solve."
Ryn offered him a single solemn nod, "I'll be looking forward to it." The connection terminated, and his holo-image vanished.
Back at the Templar training facility, Ryn's gaze fell to the floor and his shook his head in shame.
"Blast...that did not go well," he muttered to himself, suspecting he just set fire to his bridge to Damask Hul. Ten minutes and a drink wouldn't be enough to patch the damage he just caused by going over Hul's head straight to Chancellor Paralles.
The timetable for preparing the Templars was never intended to be accelerated so dramatically, but Korriban changed everything as it always did throughout history at the worst possible times. The plan went from a smooth years-long introduction to a wrecking ball with a splinter group of young Reborn Jedi that were not completely ready for the return of the Sith. For the moment, the Cult and the Sith were not particularly strong themselves, but he wondered just how long that would last, and how much more powerful they would grow in the weeks and months to come.
With the additions of the unexpected return of Zenarrah helping his daughter to escape the Order, the successful infiltration of the Temple by a dark acolyte spy, and the betrayal of a once-trusted Temple Guard who was currently in a holding cell awaiting trial, Rynseh started to painfully feel his age catching up with him. Every bone and muscle aching, every heart beat a minor fit of agony, and the grafted skin on his face started to break again ever so slightly, a thin streak of blood running down the side of his left cheek.
His life was starting to crack and falter around him. He utterly failed as a father, and his plans to glorify and exalt the power and influence of the Reborn Jedi was straining under political and dark side pressures. He strongly believed the Templars were the last hope to set things right, but if they failed...it would be the stuff of nightmares come true. He would rather die fighting than live to see it come to pass.
*SCIF = Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility
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