A Call to Order: In the Hall of Sorrows

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville waited until the Hand gathered in the chamber, each taking their respective seats around the oval table. She had assumed the seat at the head of the table, as she had been the one to call the meeting. "My silblings of the Black Hand, I have not called you here to listen to myself speak. I have spoken to a few of you already about my desire to reshape the Galactic Senate, and I believe that our time is drawing nearer.

"I have selected the Senator from Chandrila as my subject for this experiment. I will be taking two of my apprentices with me. They remain unnamed, as I have not told nor asked them if they are willing to go with me." She eyed Ebon and Shaed, the only two apprentices she had who were also granted access to the Hall. They might be the ones to go with her. Or perhaps they would not. It was up to them.

"Dalethria Mal Pannis has also expressed interest in this endeavor, as have many others. I open the floor to you, my bretheren, for your suggestions, ideas, and plots." Lilaena sat down in her chair, and looked at each one gathered in turn.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Several raps came from Hobgoblin's end of the Hall. The old creature set down the cane he was using as a makeshift gavel once he had everyone's attention. "You are correct, De'Ville," he spoke in his wicked, gravelly voice. "Much to gain from our involvement this Republic Senate has. However, questions must come."

Hob leaned forward in his chair, peering out from beneath his robe's hood. "To have more under our thumb is good, yes. But to what end do we concentrate on Senators? What culmination of our efforts would we see? Do we seek to pass a law, or to ease our day to day tasks from within the ranks of those who would be our enemies?"

Hob lifted a claw-tipped hand and made a slight wavy motion with it. In front of his brothers and sisters, an image appeared. It was an image of a parade, speeder traffic, graffitti, ballons flying, and towering over the procession was a banner that read "Support Dark Jedi in the Republic."

The hand lowered, the image disappeared, and Hob resumed speaking. "We are known, but in a backwater here on Vjun," he said. "Through this, open support may be gained. Our goal, I believe, that should be."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She shook her head, partly in amazement at the delicate and detailed illusion the Goblin had created, and partly to negate his words. "To attain the order we desire, we should sneak into the Senate. To do so openly will throw everything into confusion. The Jedi will come and exterminate us from our homes. They do outnumber us a great deal, lest you forget.

"With supporters in the Senate, we can overthrow legislation that will ruin our plans. We can tear apart the Republic from within. But we must be cautious, and careful. With this plan comes great gain. Let us not set ourselves up for failure by openly proclaiming our intentions. Murder is still murder, the NR must never know it was by our hands. Hire mercenaries if you cannot kill them quietly. Or, shame the Bothan Senator into stepping down, allowing another to rise to his place. But they must all be removed. Such an act, if known openly, would be called treason, and we could have the whole of the Republic bearing down on us in open war."

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth was staring at Hob. He said nothing, and his face bore no expression at all. He had stepped into the room just as Hob had made a closing statement, using a cheery illusion as the centerpiece of his suggestion.

"...I'd be inclined to agree with Lilaena." The winged alien's tone of voice was one of disbelief. "They would hunt us all down, and the galaxy would rally in support of their cause. The title of 'Dark Jedi' carries with it a long and very bloody history; the galaxy still hasn't forgotten that."

Jeseth took a seat away from all the others and listened.

[Nupraptor]

Reclined in his chair in a most un-professional manner, Nupraptor snorted in contempt.

"You wish to make yourselves the next Palpatines, is that it? Tear apart the Republic from within? You'll come to a similarly abrupt end, no doubt."

He sat forward, leaning in towards the table now.

"Trickery and guile are not our forte. We will have no part in this."

Nupraptor sat back once more, apparently finished, for he had intentions of speaking further on the matter. But then, a distracted look came over his face, as if he had suddenly thought of something else.

"But... we must work together for the benefit of the Hand. Tell us about your plan in more detail, Lilaena. You wish to eliminate the Senators currently in place, and replace them with our agents... is that correct?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She again found herself shaking her head. "That is almost correct, Lord Nupraptor." De'Ville tried not to think about the creature she had sensed around him...or inside him. The duality of the pronouns used only reinforced her suspicions about the former Jedi Master.

"We will go to the ones already in place, those secondary polititians who are already there, should anything happen to the Senator before their term is up. Some already show leanings politically that could be useful to us. Others need only a bit of persuasion to join our cause. We will win them over, and then, eliminate the Senator above them, pushing them into the Senate.

"They will have to be subtle, yet loyal to us. Their home systems would have the choice to re-elect them in their next standard voting cycles, or to elect another representative to the Senate. Of course, it does us more good the longer they are in service in the Senate itself. I hope this is making sense." She brushed her hair out of her eyes.

[Nupraptor]

Leaning back into a relaxed position once more, Nupraptor chuckled.

"Excellent. We will aide in this endeavor, if not directly. We have a plan."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

After Nuprator was appeased, Dalethria then spoke up.

"As De'Ville said, we talked about this a little before making her plans known here."

She looked at her Sister directly.

"Though I wonder how we will make sure our Senators get elected without making our presence known. Since, of course, our involvement is to be secretive until the time is right."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"It is my understanding that in the systems we will be targeting that if a Senator is killed or dies of natural causes before their term is up, that their 'second in command' so to speak, rises to fulfill the Senatorial obligations until the next elections, or appointments, depending on what sort of home government they have.

"All politicians have an innate desire to be re-elected. Once the are raised to Senator, I'm sure they will not be so rash as to alienate their systems. An election and a full term would almost be guaranteed." De'Ville watched the reactions between Kasajian and Mal Pannis, and smiled inwardly.

[Milivikal k'Vik]

"I... have much practice at playing with polical auidences." Mili was not fond of being a mere stepping stone, or an object of entertainment. However, she did like playing people.

"Any politician will be putty in my hands." she mused, with some hesitation. "But I am still not fully aware of the galaxy around me. I'd prefer that someone choose for me. But not Coruscant."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena smiled. "Vortex is a system dedicated to music in many forms. I hear their Cathedral of the Winds is due for its annual performance soon. The Vors are thickskinned and unemotional in most cases, and dissent from their sector would be hard to argue down. I think you would do well there, k'Vik." She looked at Eaven and Cloak, both winged aliens from Ambrelia. Their wings were soft and feathered, but the Vors had leathery wings, much like bats.

[Taylor Millard]

"I believe we can also make changes," a new voice came from the entrance to the Hall.

Instead of Maester Wargrave it was Taylor Millard, in civilian threads, watching the proceedings.

"I've done it before...I believe I can 'convince' a few Senators towards our cause. I have some business in Coruscant to attend to anyway."

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Hob snorted. "With no future goal, this is an action without an end," he growled. "But if the Hand is in agreement..."

The dwarf got up from his chair and began to walk towards the door, making use of his cane as he went. "Then I shall work on this project, too. The deceivers at Bothawui shall meet their better in this."

On his way out of the Hall, Hob paused beside Jeseth's chair. "You speak of history, Brother Cloak," he said, his volume making the statement for the Ambrellian's ears alone. "Yet is it not true that history is too easily forgotten in the whims of the present?"

The dwarf raised an eyebrow as though emphasizing something, then continued on walking.