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[Hergalor]

​

COLUMEX

​

For thousands of years, Columex had been a jewel of the Perlemian Trade Route. It had grown quite large off of its trade empire; . The fatter it got, the hungrier it was, too; any interruption to their well-oiled profit machine demanded recourse. And, with sanctions cutting off the world from its markets in Felucia, Galidraan, Lianna, and Cadinth, among others, it was natural that they would explore outside possibilities. Much of the galaxy was motivated by fear of economic devastation. With Columex cut off from its sources of income, the oligarchical leaders of the world seriously considered joining the relentlessly expansive Sith Empire out of their own accord.

It was a thought process Hergalor togTherador, Senator of Taanab, could understand, but not accept lying down. Much of Taanab's business lied in the trade worlds on either end of the Perlemian Trade Route. Columex was a perfect stop to offload foodstuffs from Taanab; not just for the denizens of Columex, a hungry world whose main industry was finance rather than food, but also, for the rest of the Mid and Outer Rim. If the world changed hands to join the Sith, Columex would push its own economic problems up the river, cutting off the rest of the trade route from their traditional, centralized trading hub. And when you tried to mess with Taanab's money, you had to know Hergalor would be on the case.

It was a brisk, winter day when Hergalor's yacht/trawler touched down into Columex's chilly mega-cities. He was dressed the part of an Ithorian noble, covered in fine silks and golden jewelry. On those rare occasions when he was truly needed to be a diplomat, rather than a corporate stooge, he would lean into the stereotypes the galaxy held about Ithorians. Wise, mystical, sagacious; these three things, Hergalor was not. But he was shrewd enough to know when playing a part could be helpful. He hoped that he could establish himself as business-savvy counsel to the world's ruling families, jointly known as the "Board of Directors," before the Sith delegation would arrive. He spent the first two days of his visit ingratiating himself to these families: Going on long walks through the all-too-cold city, attending dry diplomatic luncheons and dinners, half-heartedly inspecting the massive spaceport through which Taanab's grains flowed. In a rare pleasure, Hergalor even got a chance to cast a line for an hour in one of the family's luxurious, private fishing holes. All in all, it was an alright trip.

But, he knew this was all meaningless theater compared to the main act. The Seven Houses of the Board would decide their fate from their own interests. Honeyed words and a proper protocol were all part of the dance, of course, but if the Sith offer was truly better than the status quo, Darth Calestis could arrive to the court as naked and aflame as he was on Felucia without a major disruption. The task ahead for both parties today was simple: Prove that your argument had more merit (i.e., more credits), and you would walk away with the leaders of Columex at your side.

The conference between Sith, FWA, and the Board was hosted in their conference room, a dark room lit only by the glow of holoterminals. Their headquarters itself was a massive structure, a glass-paneled building so high it cleared through clouds and began to scrape the stars themselves. Their clandestine boardroom, situated at the top floor of this massive building looked quite modest in comparison to its home. It spoke to the values of the board - certainly, the building was a presentation of their wealth and vanity, but their decision-making chamber was practically an altar to the God of Commerce. Stock tickers, industry reports, and financial news floated in holographic, blue text all across the room at any given moment; it was as close as one could get to mainlining the market into their own veins.

It was this building Hergalor made his way to, on the morning of the meeting. He stopped into the relatively quaint Caf shop at the ground floor, ordering an herbal tea from a hip-looking Rodian barista to warm him up. It was a shock, how cold it was here; Hergalor was completely bundled up. He hurried inside the tower, checking in with the appropriate security and reception staff before making his way to the elevator. He looked up the central hall's staircase; it ran from the ground floor, all the way up to the top. So high, the stairs disappeared out of sight long before one would ever reach the top floor. Hergalor shuddered at the thought of expending that effort and tapped the elevator button twice as he waited. As it made its slow crawl down the building, he looked around the bustling lobby, sipping his tea from a custom-made two pronged straw into both of his mouths. In truth, he cared little for the FWA as a government, but he cared a great deal about the Perlimian Trade Route. He hoped to walk into this meeting with the Sith with an open mind, that the body could constructively come to a resolution where all parties benefitted. Failing that, an agreement benefitting Taanab would be more than enough.

@Wit @Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

Times had changed, the last time he had travelled the great galactic trade route he was just a simple son from Serenno, with nothing more to him than the small autonomy and funds his father allowed. Now as he returned to Columex, everything had changed not only a Sith but a man who sat upon the Imperial Council, only the Empress stood above him. Artorigas smiled at the thought as the small private shuttle rattled from side to side, the atmosphere of the planet blasting against its edges. The shuttle was all that had arrived at the planet, the new Councillor forgoing the usual show of force, no Star Destroyers, no fleets of ships. For the people of Columex did not respect power, no they respected money.

With that in mind, Artorigas dressed in a more

formal suit, the Captain of the shuttle had informed him that the Urban planet below was in the middle of their winter. With that in mind one of his attendants had pulled out a thick overcoat for Sith Noble, the coat itself sat on the seat to his right. To his left across the isle sat his colleague for the meeting, the young Togruta Ashla Ti. The Acolyte had made herself rather known to the Darth back on Serenno, dodging the dress code for that dreaded party.

"I hope you have chosen a better outfit today than the last time we met." He called out his eyes were currently buried within a Datapad, rows of text moving from top to bottom, for even while he was away Avillion never slept.

@Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla, dressed in appropriate local attire for the winter, peeled her eyes from the viewport window she had been looking out of. She always enjoyed the planetary approach when visiting a new world, that first look at the planet and seeing it grow as they got closer always got her excited. It probably had something to do with how long she had spent more or less trapped in the Cadre training facility as a child, but whatever the reason, enjoy it she did.

Looking at the Sith Lord seated nearby, she tugged at the mask that came with the dress, and brought it up to cover her face as she had seen in the holo-images she had seen of the locals at their balls.

"Yes Lord Caelestis." She replied in a muffled voice, not used to speaking with a mask covering her face, and stopping short as she noticed the muffled nature of her voice. "Oh wow, that isn't going to work. How does anyone speak from behind one of these?"

From the list of outfits one of the ladies at court had helped her pick out for this mission, she had picked this particular one specially because of the simple fact that it had a mask. At the time it had seemed a little funny, but now that she was actually wearing the outfit and listening to herself speak, she began questioning that choice. After the ball on Serenno, when she had been informed of the faux pas she had committed with the mask, she had joked off the fact hat she hadn't died because of a mask. But now she had to wonder if the statement would still be true by the end of this day.

@Fine Dining Set @Braden Drake

 

[Hergalor]

As the pair made their way into the building headquarters, they would find themselves flanked by a pair of security officers, clad in charcoal gray suits and sunglasses. They would ensure a smooth check-in before their meeting, relieving the pair of any weapons on their person and personally escorting them to the meeting room itself. All part of a standard procedure for such important dignitaries.

The pair would pass through the chambers of the office building until they reached the conference room. Seated around the tables were the representatives of the seven families: Tresmond, the industrialists; LeCerre, original settlers of the world; Opine, the arms brokers; Muunaval, the financiers; Lrextln, the new money; Prestaling, the dockmasters; and Norris, the "friends" of the worlds' unions. Families with different, often competing interests. Each looking for an edge over the other. Collectively, they decided the world's fate at the whims of their pocketbooks. An impressive crowd, composed solely of long-trained corporate executives who would sell their own mother for a preferential trade.

Adding to the seven at the table was Hergalor, who tapped his bronze-tipped staff to the floor as the Sith delegation entered. He looked incredulously at the pair; King Wessex was here in the flesh. An annoyance, to say the least; the Sith Lord bringing the world into his personal attention had ramifications for his own argument. Luckily, Ithorian faces are not easily read.

Jax LeCerre, believing himself to be the leader of the group, took the opportunity to stand and speak. "King Wessex." A slight nod. "Welcome to Columex. I speak on behalf of our esteemed Board when I welcome you to our world." Hergalor allowed the pair a moment to introduce themselves to their counterparts before he gestured towards the two empty seats at the table.

Hergalor affixed his translator to speak. "Senator togTherador; it is a rare pleasure."

LeCerre spoke again, unwilling to let attention get drawn from him even momentarily. "We're more than eager to hear your proposal today." He folded his hands together. "If you'd like to begin."

@Wit @Braden Drake

 

[The Storyteller]

The Board of Directors was what they were known as to outsiders who had done very little in the way of research into Columex and it's place within the sector it inhabited. Seven people represented the Commonality, Columex and it's interests within the Vorzyd Cluster and beyond. When there had been a senate that truly united the Galaxy, the Commonality had held a seat, not the individual planets themselves. As before so it was now - Columex dominated the Commonality and the Vorzyd Cluster both.

As the Sith and entered and the senator for Tanaab spoke up to introduce himself, a door hidden at the back of the room opened.

LeCerre froze up slightly as a silky-smooth voice came from a hooded figure just now entering through the back of the room.

"On behalf of the Commonality... I welcome the delegates here today."

The hooded cloak was taken by a guard and an older human man with slightly wild grey hair and a beard was revealed. Dressed sharply in a suit of black with red accent lines, the man was flanked by a pair of security guards who gently guided a hover chair to a position in front of the seven families.

None of them said a word as they watched the older man take his seat with a mixture of respect and fear that the man seemed entirely comfortable with.

"I am Deadroth Greyshade and I represent the Commonality."

He did not explain what that was - or why it entitled him to speak instead of the Seven Families of Columex.

"You will make your cases to me - I will assess their worth."

Spoiler: Deadroth Greyshade

@Wit @Braden Drake @Fine Dining Set

 

[Hergalor]

Wonderful. A new, outside element appeared, apparently the master of the Seven Houses. It made the preparatory work Hergalor had done with the seven houses' leadership utterly moot, a pointless routine for the main event which had just arrived. Hergalor seized the opportunity to speak first. "Mister Greyshade. It is a pleasure." Hergalor pulled up a map of the Galactic Atlas on his data pad, highlighting the Perlemian Trade Route on its journey from Coruscant in the Core to Kakaris in the Outer Rim. "The Permian Trade Route. It funnels trade from across the Core to the Outer Rim daily. Its value is utterly incalculable; the amount of trade Its mere presence has built a number of trade worlds' economies on its own. Brentaal IV, Lianna, Deservo...Columex." He paused here, on the map, illustrating Columex's position relative to the rest of the Route. Twenty three worlds had been members of this historic route; in times of plenty, the planets were the closest of friends. In times of tension, though...

"I understand the position you are in. With ongoing hostilities, you can no longer trade down the route as is traditional; six of the twenty-three worlds in the trade route belong to the Sith Empire, all the stops past Columex on the Perlemian" He imagined this eagerness to leave was inspired by that fact. Columex was the next world in the trade route, and with Felucia now decidedly in Sith hands, the world had lost many of its downstream trading partners. With their position along the borders, too, perhaps they felt as if their safety was not guaranteed; a fear of war guided many to make rash decisions.

"In the hands of the Sith Empire, you sacrifice your basic sovereignty to hereditary lords rather than your own businesses. How do you think their rapid industrialization is financed? Their armies? Through a heavy tax burden that will fall squarely on your shoulders." Surely, it could not be volunteer efforts and good vibes alone that financed the growth of the Empire across the Rimworlds? "A concerning prospect, one where you have lost control of both your world and your bank account to correct a short-term trade interruption. One that, in mere months, will look like little more than an accounting error It would be a penny wise, but a credit foolish."

"Yes, a short-term trade interruption. Because, already, the Senate has voted to strike down its galaxy-wide sanctions. And in our own Senate within the Free Worlds, you must have seen the calls for Peace with the Sith Empire that our Prime Minister supports." He referred to recent developments in the Galactic Senate and outside of it. There was a call for peace, a call for sovereignty against central Galactic government, that the Columexian leadership would no doubt be acquainted with. "If you were to join me, and others in our Senate, in becoming a part of the peace process, we could have trade normalized with the Empire shortly." Yes, Columex's reservations were shared both by members of the Galactic Senate and the Free Worlds Alliance.

"And even if this interruption proves more costly than it should, joining the Empire would not solve your problems. If the trade embargo persists between the parties in conflict with the Sith, you will lose access to the seventeen worlds that flow towards the Core. My world, not least of all, which so values yours that I have come here for as long as I am needed to help you find a solution that works best for all of us." Columex was a major trade world for Taanabian foodstuffs; from Columex, goods would be shipped across the whole Outer Rim. Losing access to that market just as the Taanab Agroecological Cooperative had made some newer investments would sink investor confidence. Likewise, Taanab's success at the market could be the success of Columex, a world that had long profited from its position as the middleman to manufacturers, farmers, and miners from across the Perlemian Trade Route. "It would not just be Taanab who suffers. You would lose the foundries of Castell, the information and technologies of Chazwa, the luxurious goods of Tirahnn. Without these worlds, who would fill your now-thriving ports with goods? Will you sink even more credits to hastily build a new trade route with the Empire's worlds, still yet unconnected through the galaxy?" He gave a moment to let the point sink in. Flipping allegiances in the middle of conflict this drastically could have unforeseen consequences to the trade lords of Columex. He hoped they would have some response prepared.

"In summary, my basic point is this. The cost of joining the Sith Empire outweighs any potential profit you could hope to make from the endeavor. If you stay the course, and lend your voice to the Free Worlds Senate, we can end this tiresome conflict with haste." Of course, he didn't imagine this would be an instant victory. In fact, the idea of Columex joining the Empire filled him with such surprise that he was more than curious to hear their take on it, the rationale that would inspire them to leave. "Now, I have lectured long enough. Perhaps the question returns to you, Mister Greyshade; what is the future of Columex that you want? What role do you see for Columex's current trade partners in the Perlemian Trade Route?"

@Nefieslab @Wit

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla had expected this venture to be one where Caelestis, as Sith Lord and an Imperial Noble, would lead the negotiations, with the acolyte there to support him in any way possible. But at the last moment he gestured for her to take the lead, excusing himself temporarily from the negotiations. Whether this was some sort of test, or a play by him to strike against another Sith Lord, she did not know. Maybe he wanted her to fail, and somehow use that against her master. Who knew what went through the minds of a Sith Lord. But whatever his reasoning, she was not going to let this opportunity slip by. She had already tasted defeat in this arena because of the intervention of one Sith Lord, she would not let history repeat itself with another.

"Mister Greyshade, Senator Hergalor." She nodded to both as she rose to her feet to speak, the mask draped across her face as a joke to bother Caelestis long gone now that the stakes had been raised. In the midst of the odd training regiment and vegan recipe she had seen on Emryc Thorne's social media profiles, she had also seen the man speak to the Senate, and she had taken pointers. "My name is Ashla Ti, and I and here to speak on behalf of the Sith Empire. The Senator makes strong arguments, speaking of finance, and the economical implications of your choice. Yet let me ask you a simple question, can you truly believe that the Free Worlds can offer the stability that any economy needs to proper?" She had no intention to match the Senator's presentation regarding the prosperity of the Permian Trade Route, and how much of the channel was now in Sith control as opposed to the Free Worlds and the New Republic. At least not directly.

"The Free Worlds are little more than a loose collection of planets trying to work together, and more often than not hurting each other. You mentioned the lifting of sanctions Senator," she looked at the Senator for a moment, before turning back to Greyshade, "yet it was the Free Worlds who suggested those very sanctions in the first place. The Core bled, suffering an economic downfall the likes of which hasn't been seen in decades. The trade along the Permian Trade Route that Senator Hergalor mentioned likewise suffered. Yet in the Sith Empire, who were the intended target of these sanctions suffered almost no impact. We simply turned our eyes elsewhere, to unaligned worlds, to the Corporate Sector, and ur worlds continued to prosper." She paused, letting her words sink in before continuing once more. "You mention Felucia joining the Sith Empire," once more she looked to the Ithorian before retuning her focus to the Commonality delegate, "[color-tomato]but do you know why Felucia joined the Sith? The last time the Free Worlds sent a diplomat to the negotiation table they simply walked out, not even bothered to see things through. And why, because their lies were proven to be just that. Lies. They claimed the Sith would bring war, when it was the Free Worlds who had invaded Felucia and the Sith had in turn fought for them.[/color]"

She paused, gathering her thoughts once more, before picking up once more. "The simple fact of the matter is that despite the good intentions of men like Senator Hergalor, there is simply too much uncertainty within the ranks of the Free Worlds Senate for him to offer you any guarantee that they will not act in a manner that will not hurt you in both the long and short term. The Galactic Senate is similarly full of those who seem to not know what happens out of their own little bubbles. You must have seen broadcasts of their sessions on the Holonet. Senators putting forward proposals for laws that already exist, making off hand comments about the unfortunate nature of galactic leaders surviving captivity. For every voice of reason," she gestured towards Hergalor before continuing, "there are dozens who seem to have nothing but their own agendas in mind, and sometimes not even that. Agendas that might never align with the interests of Columex." She had made sure to not to insult the Senator or speak against him. Her first attempt to gain influence within the Free Worlds had failed, and some might think she had missed her chance. But Sith did not believe in luck, rather they made their own luck. So who knew, if she could convince this man that there was more to the Sith than history had taught them, then maybe she could create another moment of opportunity. And if not, then she would try again, and again, and again. Till she finally got what she wanted.

"We do not come to offer you peace, protection, sovereignty. You already had those things under the influence of the Free Worlds. The simple fact that you are here today, listening to what we have to say, is proof that you are not satisfied with what the Free Worlds has to offer. What you have, you will keep. But we offer more. I offer you stability, and the prosperity that comes with stability. Felucia joined us, and now it grows wealthier by the day, we offer you that same chance. A chance to bring greater wealth to Columex than ever before."

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

Deadroth Greyshade was a lot of things but expressive was not one that most people settled on.

He sat within his floating chair and leaned slightly to one side as if to become more comfortable though he showed no true signs of any discomfort. Instead it was as though he was changing the angle from which he was assessing them, like someone appraising a gem from different angles to get a better idea of it's true quality.

Hergalor spoke of the Perlemian Trade Route upon which Columex sat and spoke about how the trade worked. Deadroth looked at the Senator as though he were a particularly unintelligent slug that had just crawled over one of his expensive boots. That the senator represented such an esteemed trading partner was one of the reasons why the man stayed his sharp tongue.

He made no move to answer the senator's questions turned back upon him, instead tilting his head to regard the Sith instead. That the Lord had left it to an Acolyte after making the trip was, in all honesty, rather insulting. To think that the Sith Lord in question, the Sith Empire as a whole, valued this meeting so little as to make it some kind of teachable moment.

It was a good thing, then, that Ashla Ti spoke well.

He let a silence reign for a few seconds longer before he decided to actually reply. Deadroth was kind enough to reply in the order they had spoken to him.

"Do not condescend to me about the Trade Route. I know more about the Trade Route than either of your institutions put together."

He reminded them both, though particularly the senator so he continued to address him.

"Senator, your lecture was idiotic and almost unbearably naive at points. Yes, the core-ward planets involved in the Trade Route bring us wealth but only a fool believes that we actually followed your sanctions in the first place." he rumbled in an almost amused manner, "The trade flowed regardless. The trade has flowed through this route longer than your government has been established - longer than even the Sith have swung their swords. What I want is Credits to keep coming through my sector. And they always will. What assurances can you actually bring to me that you will not attempt to stop this again the next time your war goes poorly? The next time your assembly of bumbling monkeys manages to put two and two together and get seven?"

He eyed Sith Acolyte.

"You poke holes within the Free World's Alliance case very well. That is the only reason I have chosen not to take offense at your Master sitting the discussions out as though they were beneath him." he told her bluntly, "The senate may be inept but ineptitude is something we have always adapted to. The Republic and the Empire alike. But you are neither - you are Sith, as bi-polar a political body as has ever been. Your leaders rise not due to any skill in statecraft but their ability to stab one another with a pointy hot-sword and come so wearily often with the arrogance that their personal might means they have obtained a right to control that which their feeble minds cannot comprehend. What assurances do I have from the Sith Empire that the Commonality will not be stifled by some little man with a god-complex who will attempt to respond with the knife whenever he hears the word 'no', hmm?"

Deadroth leaned back in his chair slightly.

"And while you both ponder the questions I have put to you, consider this as well. No doubt you both have other options should diplomacy here fail to go your way." he remarked almost idly, "Do either of you deny you entertain diplomacy only because you feel as though you can simply force it to go your way later?"

@Fine Dining Set @Wit

 

[Hergalor]

Hergalor had grown accustomed to the acrimonious venom that so many leaders of government and business were fond of while speaking. He had half a mind to leave there - Greyshade's flippant attitude and lack of concern for any law implied a sense of misplaced pride. Columex's apparent willingness to throw away thousands of years of business relationships on a whim did not speak volumes of them as a trading partner, either. At the very least, it would be a cataclysmically bad look for another "Free Worlds Alliance" senator to leave mid-negotiation. Hergalor would continue, though; his mechanical translator rendered his tame, piddling voice - though one fluent in the Taanabian dialect of Ithorian would be able to hear the hints of anger rumbling beneath the vocoder. "Your government. Your sanctions. Your war. You speak as if Columex is not already a member of the Free Worlds Alliance, a member as long as Taanab has been. And as many Taanabian citizens were present at Felucia as Columexian ones, if not, fewer." That was, to say, zero.

"I am here solely as a representative of Taanab. Prime Minister Belasi has not sent me under secret orders to sway you one way or the other - so I can make no promises about our shared higher government. My point is this: Regardless of the choice you make today, your trepidation towards the Free Worlds Alliance is felt and your decision will spur an end to this one-sided conflict. If you leave, as a body we lose one of our greatest trade worlds. If you stay, your voice joins those such as mine, Onderon, and the Prime Minister - who all look for normal trade and a future where we can engage with the Sith Empire as trade partners." A future Hergalor already lived in. Negotiating a private ceasefire and trade agreement between the Sith Empire and Taanab was quite painless; it was a process he was surprised few other worlds had tried.

"I will answer your questions, Mister Greyshade, but this is not the conversation I hope to have. We are all reasonable, sapient diplomats, here. There is no reason that we should treat this as a tug of war - or one of opportunity costs. We can all stand to gain from a shared agreement. Mister Greyshade, I share your interests in credits flowing, regardless of what happens in a Senate meeting. Miss Ti, I have no hostility towards your Empire, and guarantee that the tide is changing in the Free Worlds Alliance. If your Empire's negotiators were willing to sit down with the Prime Minister, I can guarantee we would end this conflict. I would be happy to make the connection."

Hergalor, admittedly, had a difficult time actually answering the questions. Greyshade knew that the entire structure of the FWA was designed in its essence to allow for total world sovereignty. That sovereignty allowed Columex to ignore and accept regulations from higher powers at will. Hergalor doubted the Empire would have such accommodations for treason. The flip side was, of course, any Senator in the FWA could say insipid idea that wandered into their head, and bring it to vote before the headless chickens that composed the Galactic Senate as a whole. "I cannot promise that no senator will propose any pigheaded idea. I can guarantee, though, that I will kill any future bills or agreements that would stand in the face of business and trade. The Free Worlds Alliance is...malleable. It bends to the will of influential senators. Starros was that...for a moment. Now, Taanab is uniquely positioned as an investor world to quell opposition." With growing investments across the ISC and FWA space through the Taanab Agroecological Cooperative, and a growing voice in the Senate, Hergalor felt that his world could be approaching real influence. Influential enough that his advocacy for the Perlimian Trade Route would bear fruit.

He gestured to the seven families, now so quiet that it barely felt like they were in the room. "We have talked business here for days, now. This has been an extended visit, one that has kept me from governing my own world. At no point during my trip did any of you think to tell me that you held no power here? That you were secretly answering to another man? You would insult me by wasting my time, by lying through omission, to enjoy my gifts?" His eyestalks turned back to the main pair in the room, Ashla and Greyshade.

"We have been partners for generations. I have come here today as a concerned partner, an investor into your world, who has heard that you would join the Sith. Accuse me - investor - of 'naive idiocy' all you like, but surely you can see why such a drastic change would be a cause for concern for Taanab. Continue to insult me in these proceedings, and I can guarantee that Taanab will lead the exodus of businesses, corporations, and planets from your world to wiser and more stable leadership. Perhaps that will be the Empress and her Empire, which has already guaranteed trade to my world on the condition that I ignore yours. Perhaps, if you did join the Empire, I would be able to negotiate further trade deals to your world with them directly." It might make it easier, frankly. Meeting with the Sith diplomat Altaris was quick and pleasant, and at the end of it the Empire had, essentially, restored trade for Taanab to its lost Perlimian Trade Route partners. Here, he was stuck for days on a cold world arguing over nothing, his willingness to visit at all met only with suspicion and hostility. He hoped the subtext - that Greyshade would lose his sole hold over his world, regardless of whatever guarantees the Empire made - was as obvious to the Columexian as it was to himself.

"But this brings me to another point, and the reason why I arrived in person. We know that I have little say in your future, and I can do little to sway you outside of talk. My concern is, though, that the Sith have already disallowed trade through the Perlimian Trade Route already. Mister Grayshade, Miss Ti, you both likely know that Taanab has secured a separate trade agreement with the Sith Empire. One of the conditions of that agreement was that we stop trading through the Perlimian Trade Route - through Columex - and trade through the Corporate Sector. I proposed to do exactly as you do, Mister Greyshade; ignore the regulations and continue trade as usual. It was the Empire who shot that proposal down."

"Miss Ti, I mean no disrespect to your Empire in saying this, of course. I raise this point not as an easy 'gotcha,' but to illustrate my concerns. If Columex were to join the Sith Empire, would the nature of my world's agreement with the Sith Empire remain the same - that all trade must be conducted through the Corporate Sector? Or, would we be able to find a peaceable way to alter that agreement?" He hoped that the latter was, at least, possible. While the Sith incurred the short-term cost to shipping through the Corporate Sector, Hergalor was hopeful that the Perlimian could return and expand as a result of the Empire's growth. Only an entity as the Empire could transform the far-flung worlds of the Rim into habitable, investable worlds.

"There are also other options beyond staying in the Free Worlds Alliance and joining the Sith Empire, of course. If you were to become totally neutral, and thus fully independent, I would guarantee my world's planetary defense force and complement of Sector Rangers to defend yours. Taanab would guarantee Columex's independence. Or, you could offer an individual peace treaty for your world towards the Sith Empire, as Taanab has done - as you are a totally sovereign body. I am interested in creative solutions - solutions that do not involve more bloodshed between any of the three of us."

@Wit @Nefieslab