Amés Falcon Liszt
Sep 27th, 2011, 08:41:27 PM
A few months After Endor
Footsteps echoed up and down the corridor. The rhythm was regular and confident, yet it was not the booted march of a soldier, nor the overconfident shuffle of the scientists who usually frequented these halls. In fact, it was a combination of two pairs of starkly contrasting feet: the casual and relentless bureaucratic footsteps of Sir Amés Falcon Liszt, mixed with the steady clack of heels from his assistant, E'anen Brast.
"I don't know how you even manage to walk in those," Sir Amés muttered, breaking the otherwise total silence that had followed them all the way from the landing bay.
In truth, Sir Amés was unsettled, and that didn't happen very often. Things had changed drastically for him in the last few weeks and months and, while his Tapani upbringing prevented his discomfort from manifesting as anything other than the occasional disgruntled sigh, it was taking considerable adjustment.
Not that he was unqualified or unprepared, of course: following the deaths and disappearences of many of the Imperial leadership in the wake of the Battle of Endor, he had finally achieved his career-long goal and earned a position as a Minister of the Galactic Empire. A lifelong bureaucrat, it was the pinacle of everything he had worked and aspired towards: for an administrator, there was no higher occupational achievement.
The discomfort came from the particular role. Sir Amés had dedicated his career to the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order. He had pioneered projects that implemented sweeping changes across countless sectors through the Coalition for Imprivements, and the Coalition for Progress. He had worked with the Sub-Adult Group, helping to promote the correct and proper education of the youth of the Empire; and in this new day and age, where the so-called Alliance to Restore the Republic glorified wanton acts of terrorism and violence, he had even cooperated closely with elements of the Imperial Security Bureau. His contributions had earned him a place on the Select Committee; and that in turn had led him here.
But becoming the Minister of the Interior for the Galactic Empire had put him in a position with a much broader scope than he had been prepared for. The entirity of COMPNOR now fell under his portfolio, and with it came the Imperial Security Bureau. Over the last few months he had spent longer reading security reports and military documents than he had spent sleeping; and the deprivation was beginning to take it's toll. Normally he would have relished a trip like this - an opportunity to escape from Imperial Center and it's relentless paperwork - but given the nature of his visit, it hardly promised to be a relaxing affair.
Far too much time had been spent of late with the enigmatic R.S. Esalis. Sir Amés knew nothing about her - which, given his resourcefulness, was alarming in itself - and that only served to make her presence more unsettling. The replacement for the late Ysanne Isard, the Director of Intelligence was a crucial collegue when it came to Security affairs. Unfortunately, she seemed to delight in emphasising just how little Sir Amés knew, by briefing him relentlessly on the covert projects that were hidden far from public knowledge.
For this particular project - one of the few projects where the entire clandestine community had cooperated - Esalis had insisted that Sir Amés visit in person. She had been somewhat vague about the specifics, claiming that it would be easier to simply see it for himself. He had agreed; but had regretted it as soon as Esalis had revealed more specifics.
First of all, the project was being hidden within the Maw Installation: a secret facility that Sir Amés had never heard of, buried within a tangle of black holes out near Kessel. The prospect of having to nagivate through a gravitational maze of certain death was unsettling enough; but once he had found out who would be briefing him, the twisting in his gut had become tighter.
Ahead of them, a set of doors stepped out, and a figure emerged. She looked as if she might have been beautiful once, but years of action and service seemed to have worn the edges of her looks a little rough. She was dressed simply; but despite the lack of uniform, it was clear she was a soldier. A warrior, even: not someone who merely marched and shot rifles, but who battled with her bare hands, and frequently won.
It took all the willpower that Sir Amés could muster to hide the mix of fear and distain from his voice. "You must be the Inquisitor," he said simply; the closest thing to pleasantries that he was prepared to offer.
Footsteps echoed up and down the corridor. The rhythm was regular and confident, yet it was not the booted march of a soldier, nor the overconfident shuffle of the scientists who usually frequented these halls. In fact, it was a combination of two pairs of starkly contrasting feet: the casual and relentless bureaucratic footsteps of Sir Amés Falcon Liszt, mixed with the steady clack of heels from his assistant, E'anen Brast.
"I don't know how you even manage to walk in those," Sir Amés muttered, breaking the otherwise total silence that had followed them all the way from the landing bay.
In truth, Sir Amés was unsettled, and that didn't happen very often. Things had changed drastically for him in the last few weeks and months and, while his Tapani upbringing prevented his discomfort from manifesting as anything other than the occasional disgruntled sigh, it was taking considerable adjustment.
Not that he was unqualified or unprepared, of course: following the deaths and disappearences of many of the Imperial leadership in the wake of the Battle of Endor, he had finally achieved his career-long goal and earned a position as a Minister of the Galactic Empire. A lifelong bureaucrat, it was the pinacle of everything he had worked and aspired towards: for an administrator, there was no higher occupational achievement.
The discomfort came from the particular role. Sir Amés had dedicated his career to the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order. He had pioneered projects that implemented sweeping changes across countless sectors through the Coalition for Imprivements, and the Coalition for Progress. He had worked with the Sub-Adult Group, helping to promote the correct and proper education of the youth of the Empire; and in this new day and age, where the so-called Alliance to Restore the Republic glorified wanton acts of terrorism and violence, he had even cooperated closely with elements of the Imperial Security Bureau. His contributions had earned him a place on the Select Committee; and that in turn had led him here.
But becoming the Minister of the Interior for the Galactic Empire had put him in a position with a much broader scope than he had been prepared for. The entirity of COMPNOR now fell under his portfolio, and with it came the Imperial Security Bureau. Over the last few months he had spent longer reading security reports and military documents than he had spent sleeping; and the deprivation was beginning to take it's toll. Normally he would have relished a trip like this - an opportunity to escape from Imperial Center and it's relentless paperwork - but given the nature of his visit, it hardly promised to be a relaxing affair.
Far too much time had been spent of late with the enigmatic R.S. Esalis. Sir Amés knew nothing about her - which, given his resourcefulness, was alarming in itself - and that only served to make her presence more unsettling. The replacement for the late Ysanne Isard, the Director of Intelligence was a crucial collegue when it came to Security affairs. Unfortunately, she seemed to delight in emphasising just how little Sir Amés knew, by briefing him relentlessly on the covert projects that were hidden far from public knowledge.
For this particular project - one of the few projects where the entire clandestine community had cooperated - Esalis had insisted that Sir Amés visit in person. She had been somewhat vague about the specifics, claiming that it would be easier to simply see it for himself. He had agreed; but had regretted it as soon as Esalis had revealed more specifics.
First of all, the project was being hidden within the Maw Installation: a secret facility that Sir Amés had never heard of, buried within a tangle of black holes out near Kessel. The prospect of having to nagivate through a gravitational maze of certain death was unsettling enough; but once he had found out who would be briefing him, the twisting in his gut had become tighter.
Ahead of them, a set of doors stepped out, and a figure emerged. She looked as if she might have been beautiful once, but years of action and service seemed to have worn the edges of her looks a little rough. She was dressed simply; but despite the lack of uniform, it was clear she was a soldier. A warrior, even: not someone who merely marched and shot rifles, but who battled with her bare hands, and frequently won.
It took all the willpower that Sir Amés could muster to hide the mix of fear and distain from his voice. "You must be the Inquisitor," he said simply; the closest thing to pleasantries that he was prepared to offer.