Ask Expansionist Agenda

[Davik Drast]

The Imperial Palace was spotless and the armor of the Imperial Guards shun brightly as they stood motionless along the hallway leading towards the Imperial Throneroom and inside of it as well. It was a show of force from an Emperor that met most high-ranking Imperials in the library adjoining the throneroom. Not this high-ranking Imperial, though, for Altaïr Din wasn't just any Imperial. The only reason that the tiefling didn't sit on the Imperial throne today was the fact that he was born Force-sensitive and studied the Force in the Way of the Sith. He was the one that defined the New Empire. The one that cast out the Sith Order and killed the former Empress. There was no hair on Davik's body that Altaïr could do the same thing to him as well.

He would sit on his throne and wait for the Grand Marshal to walk his way up to him and kneel. Such was the formal treatment an Emperor deserved. A statement that Davik felt he had to make and the Grand Marshal to swallow if they could continue in their new roles. Him Emperor, Altaïr the Grand Marshal.

Assuming the Tiefling accepted his position as a subordinate and knelt, the Emperor woud only then acknowledge him. "Grand Marshal Din," he said in a monotome voice. "How fares the King of Eiattu Six?"

To his inner circle it was a known thorn in the Emperor's side that his Grand Marshal refused to accept the Imperial Principle over his personal kingdom. He either kept it to maintain an independent army that could be called upon to usurp Davik's throne, or because he did not believe that the Empire could bring it "stability and prosperity" to his own planet. Either way it could be seen as an insult.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

Altair didn’t survive in the Sith Empire this long without satisfying egos when situations called for it. When he reformed the Empire, he did away with kneeling - a concept that was historically affiliated with Sith. He brought back the salute and he corrected anyone kneeling to salute him instead. This Emperor, a Drast, unsurprisingly brought back all those traditions that were associated with his lineage.

The tiefling respectfully knelt, no sign on his face of any negativity towards doing so. He knew where he stood with influence and he knew someone like the Emperor would find it unsettling. It was in Altair’s best interest to stay on the man’s good side to avoid unnecessary prodding from ISB. He didn’t miss the emphasis on his title as King. He had reiterated many times that turning the planet red would invite yet another confrontation with the ISC, but that sentiment never made it through the upper echelons, so he stopped bothering.

“Pleased to be alive, Your Majesty,” Altair said, knowing the Emperor likely did not share that opinion. The tiefling still moved a bit slowly thanks to the numerous injuries he sustained during Dathomir, flinching slightly as he stood back up.

“It is an honor to finally meet you,” He said, his tone seemingly genuine.

@Eccles

 

[Davik Drast]

The Emperor raised a single eyebrow when the Grand Marshal said it was a pleasure to finally meet him. Had they not been on the Imperial Council together? Had Davik not voted to support the Tiefling's absurd plan to take on the Sith Order, making it a unanimous decision? Either the extent of Altaïr's injuries was far worse than he made them out to be, or this was yet another slight from the King of Eiattu.

"How do our expansionist efforts fare, Grand Marshal?" the Emperor chose to be the bigger man and ignore the Tiefling's slight. After all, in politics Davik had learned to eat insults like the best of them. Usually he gave them back better, anyway. "Now that resources are no longer an issue, we hear." After all, with Imperial Czerka mining and processing the resource-rich planets within Imperial space the Empire had become completely independent from those worlds that had once been regarded as 'key strategical worlds' in the galaxy. Where sanctions from the Galactic Senate would and did cripple their war machine a few years ago, now with Imperial Czerka the Emperor was confident that the only thing that could stop the Empire was the incompetence of its IAF officers. And the Empire did not have incompetent officers.

Ofcourse, General Dram had briefed him on the expansionist effort along the so-called 'Dram Line' before the Battle of Dathomir. The Emperor also knew that Imperial troops and ships were still stationed on Dathomir under the guise of 'identifying the dead, recovering gear and patch up the wounded still unfit to travel'. He considered it the planet of the late Darth Andruil to be a perfect border world and it to be a mistake to retreat off it altogether. That said, Lord Commander Atrix had also briefed him on further expansion success between Raxus and the Dram Line, proving there to be progress at least.

@Sreeya

 

[Altair Din]

“They fare well, your majesty,” He said, genuine pride bleeding into his tone. He was happy with how the Empire was progressing, “There is more unity within our ranks than I’ve seen before,” He didn’t speak to the incidents on Dathomir. One off incidents were not going to color the soldiers negatively. In fact, he doubt anything about Dathomir outside of the fact that their mission was accomplished even made it up to the Emperor, “Things like the joint venture with the Imperial Czerka are strategic moves that tremendously help our resources. The ISB is also running missions focused on securing assets that will bolster us economically.”

He eyed the Emperor curiously, “I understand you have been briefed on all our current efforts, but is there a campaign you have in mind?” Altair was used to running the show and not having to consider anyone else’s opinions when it came to the war effort. It was almost a relief to not have that burden anymore. He could simply have the Emperor outline where he wanted the soldiers to go. Altair felt secure enough in his position to point out any concerns with the Emperor’s plans if he had any, however.

“With the collapse of both the New Republic and the Alliance, are we going to shift to more diplomatic missions or do you still envision a play for military expansion?” Diplomacy was far less costly, but it often took much longer.

@Eccles

 

[Davik Drast]

It flattered Davik to hear the Grand Marshal say that his deal with Imperial Czerka had been a tremendous help. No matter how popular the Tiefling were to become, Davik hoped that the megacorporation would see him, the 'dealmaker' and 'mediator', as the most profitable Emperor to have on the throne. More likely it would be his lack of Force sensitivity that would keep his position secure for the next decade, but after that, with how short a person's memory was with a galaxy of trillion news cycles? To maintain a lasting dynasty he needed Czerka as much as Czerka needed the business within Imperial space.

"I confess to be conflicted, Grand Marshal-" The emperor sighed and shook his head, "-for you have been so brazen in declaring the Empire to be a nation you can freely join and leave." It had been a smart move at the time, and one which Davik as Grand Moff had agreed with, but if the Empire were to restart their expansion efforts then no doubt it would be seen as it going back on their word.

"Yet, soon we will be the only nation with a fleet large enough to protect its citizens," Davik always preferred to ignore the Independent Systems Consortium and the hypergates they had levied. For some reason President Thorne had managed to acquire and maintain a monopoly on a new form of hyperspeed travel that did not require the classic hyperlanes. Ofcourse, this so-called Path Engine as the ISB had reported it was called, was in essence just a more advanced -and bigger- navicomputer. It calculated the short available route free from gravity wells and asteroid belts and that just happened to be the same routes that hyperlanes had been built upon.

The Emperor was sure that the Grand Marshal would find a way around it by the time that war with the ISC would become inevitable again. "The only one that can promise and deliver the stability and prosperity to individual planets and systems."

The corners of his mouth lifted upwards slightly in a smile that betrayed him thinking he was quite clever; "Whether they agree with it or not. Our existing borders are safest when we continuously expand." as a politican the Emperor never came out and said what he wanted plainly, "Expansion by diplomacy, or otherwise. Follow," he rose from his throne suddenly and stepped off the dias, walking in almost a straight line towards his private library.

His library had floors of Bandomeer yew and the walls were stacked with open shelves filled with datapads holding a vast collection of literature and biographies. The window was floor-to-ceiling and had perhaps the best view of the Raxus skyline. The headquarters of the Imperial Armed Forces, the Imperial Security Bureau and Imperial Czerka were all visible. "I asked General Dram this same question, Altaïr-" he motioned for the Tiefling to stand next to him and look outside, "-when you look through this window, what do you see?"

@Sreeya