Hearts and Minds

[Hurst Falco]

The first thing Falco noticed about the office was the wet paint on the door.


SANYA TAGGE
Baron Administrator

The paint was wet on the name and dry on the title. He couldn't help but smirk at that. The position was permanent, and whoever filled that was temporary enough. That's the way the cookie crumbled more often than not.

Stepping inside the office, he could see the disarray of transition continued. Boxes were piled up on top of each other in the periphery of the room. The only real fixtures present at the moment were a decent desk, an office chair, and two other smaller ones. There wasn't even really any of the expected bric-a-brac on the desk to imply the style or personality of the person sitting at it. Captain Falco wasn't going to wait to find out. The moment he figured out whose ass he'd have to kiss during his tenure on this shithole floating mining town, he did the appropriate leg-work on the terminal. Sanya Tagge was as smooth as Ithorian silk, and the kind of person who cared about image more than anything else. In the galactic scheme of things, those people were probably necessary. Falco didn't care for their type or their wishy-washy objectives. He didn't have time for people who were that wrapped up in wringing their hands, and didn't carry a lot of respect for that sort of thinking. He had, for all intents and purposes, made up his mind about Sanya Tagge before he even stepped into her barely unpacked office.

It was up to her to convince him otherwise.

[Sanya Tagge]

A pair of half-moon spectacles perched on the end of her nose, Minister – or rather, Baroness as she was to be s styled from now on – Tagge glanced up at her unannounced guest without betraying a trace of the irritation she felt at being so suddenly intruded upon. There was no mistaking the man who stood in her office now. Eyes as wild as a rabid narglatch, he surveyed the Administrator's office as if he were casing the best way to begin tearing it apart.

“Captain Falco.”

With calm, patient gestures, she removed her glasses and set down the stylus pen she had been writing with. Leaning back in her chair, the new Bantha-hide leather upholstery creaking, she fixed a level stare on Hurst Falco and allowed a small smile to touch her lips. It was a practised look, one that had graced thousands of HoloNet screens yet still – improbably – was sincere, warm even

“Please excuse the disarray. We are still in the process of organising the former Baron Administrator's facilities. He has left Cloud City in a rather unfortunate mess.”

[Hurst Falco]

"That's what I've heard."

And seen, too. His short trip from the landing platform to the Baron Administrator's office was enough of a confirmation of that. It took him half a day to install the priority garrison at the executive levels and above. The rest of the garrison was coming in through the secured spaceports. In all, he was looking at a group of nearly four thousand Imperial troops. Of course, they were to liase with the 'now loyal' Cloud City police. In Falco's world, that was a trade off. How many of those were either slack-asses or outright disloyal? He figured every three local policemen would equal one Imperial stormtrooper in terms of getting the job done. Still, sometimes it helped to put a local face on an occupation.

"I got the call from Kashyyyk, which isn't exactly a small dance itself. You want somebody good at cleaning up messes like this, yes? I'm assuming you've already seen my time served here under Darth Vader's first garrison?"

[Sanya Tagge]

“I am aware of your service record.”

Hurst had fought, and commanded, in battles that Sanya hadn't even been alive to see – conflicts whose outcomes were notoriously bloody, on both sides. That he was still alive was remarkable, and a testament either to his loyalty to his own skin or to the Empire. Sanya hoped it was the latter. The Captain hadn't even sat down and already wheels were clearly turning in his mind, trains of thought speeding off in all directions beyond the offices walls.

“My predecessor might not have.. consciously aided the subversive elements who have been using Cloud City as a base of operations, but his negligence has contributed to their prosperity. This cannot be allowed to continue.”

[Hurst Falco]

"This place had a Rebel problem four years ago, I have no doubt it still does. People here come to avoid people like you and me. When we're here, they just go underground."

He was sizing the Baron Administrator up. He wanted to see how long his leash was, and if he could pull her around a little.

"What should I expect in terms of access, rules of engagement, and so on?"

He hoped for carte blanche, but that was rarely ever the case. Bureaucrats liked to keep hold of the process, even if they were more or less vestigial.

[Sanya Tagge]

Still, he just stood there. Had he even blinked since he'd entered the room?

Sanya rose to her feet and paced to the front of the desk – her desk. She folded her arms neatly across her chest. In her pale grey business jacket and skirt, with her hair pinned up in a neat bun, it would have been difficult to imagine Sanya understanding the rules of engagement any-more than Hurst Falco understood how best to apply lip-gloss. The Sub-Adult Group did more than teach the children of the Empire to salute and smile for their Empress, however; they underwent hard physical training and played rigorous war-games which would act as an introduction to formal military training.

“For all its faults, I don't doubt that there are good, Imperial citizen's living aboard this facility. You are to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve, at all times. With that in mind... you are authorised to make use deadly force, in the appropriate circumstances. However,” she paused. “I trust that you will do everything in your power to ensure that such measures are used sparingly.”

[Hurst Falco]

She was full of shit, and Falco could smell the politics on her breath now. There was no such thing as an Imperial citizen, it was just a question of the guys who would try to kill you with you looking at them, and the guys who would wait till your back was turned and your guard was down. He understood why she had to say what she did, but he neatly discarded it.

Still, he played along.

"You cross the t's and dot the i's, and I'll sing the song in tune."

Giving a curt nod, he smiled.

"As long as I'm given the tools I need to do the job, I'll make sure you have nothing to worry about on those lower levels."

As if by afterthought, he handed her a datapad.

"Almost forgot, orders of action for your approval. Security cordons, curfews, and we're currently going through Cloud City's current security force, seeing what wheat we need to separate from the chaff."

[Sanya Tagge]

Sanya barely glanced at the orders before approving them. The more time she spent in Hurst Falco's company, under his gaze, the more she wanted to hurry the proceedings along. The feeling was clearly mutual. “Good. I expect you to report to me twice a week, at least until we've all gotten into the new.. rhythms of the place. After that, weekly reports will suffice.”

She returned the datapad to its owner. Ordinarily, she might have smiled then, but it was an effort that would be wasted on Captain Falco.

“Make it your priority to get eyes and ears inside the crime syndicates, as soon as possible. All of the.. filth in this city flows from them, wherever they are.”

[Hurst Falco]

"My thoughts exactly."

He gave a slow nod at that.

"Probably the same teams still here from the old days, just all that changes is the names. I'll have 'em sorted out, so they don't spoil the party."

With a smirk, he slapped the datapad against the palm of his other hand.

"Matter of fact, I was just on my way to a spot I know to troll for the usual suspects. Anything I need to attend to before I get to that?"

It was a polite way of saying he honestly had way more important work to do than to say the right words in some important person's office.

[Sanya Tagge]

As a matter of spite, Sanya wished that there were something she could dangle in front of him at that moment. Some sliver of information that only she could have known – but in truth, Hurst had his finger far closer to the pulse of Cloud City. At least for now.

“This is your top priority, Captain. See to it.”

[Hurst Falco]

His smile broadened as the leash came off. He was ready for that. With a nod, he headed back to the door to let himself out.

"Don't worry, Baroness. I'm already on top of it. (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21046)"