Chp-88
1.8ABY
I wanted to be happy to return to Ugea. For all that it had been the site of so much stress, it had grown on me.
It helped that the capital actually looked nice instead of being a monolith to corruption. There's only so many buildings you can gild until it becomes a pain in the ass.
The reason I wasn't happy being back there was simple. I had nearly 500 idiots on my doorstep after all.
Regardless, I decided to meet with the mob of fools on Imperial Island. I had a particular show planned for them.
Inside the tower, on the fourth floor, there was a large auditorium.
I stood at the stage's podium, overlooking the crowd as they shuffled in, bleary eyed and annoyed. It was 5 in the morning, after all, and they'd been woken far before what they were used to.
Their bland uniforms blended together in a greyish-blackish blob of boring simplicity as they moved to take a seat. I'd be insulted at the Imperial fashion sense if not for the fact that I wore the same uniform.
I think Garp is rubbing off on me.
Agreement
Once they'd finished sitting down, I started speaking.
"Hello there. My name is Las Mola, newly appointed Moff of the Myto sector. Now, as Moff, I am a very busy man. I have an entire sector to run, after all."
As I spoke, my eyes scanned the crowd. Their faces conveyed mixed emotions overall.
Some were scared, others curious. But there was one emotion that prevailed amongst the majority.
Boredom.
"However, it seems that you all have decided that whatever problems you have brought to bear before me are worthy of my personal time and attention. So, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to listen to each and every one of these statements. I will then decide if it is worthy of my attention. None are leaving this room until all of these are dealt with."
Now I had their attention. Before anyone could complain, I started speaking, PDA set on the podium and files open.
"Thrax Ulgon. Your complaint has to do with the recent administrative changes?"
The man with greying hair and a landing pad for a forehead in the 3rd row was visibly frightened, but stood up anyways, eyes filled with resolve.
"Y-yes sir. The recent changes have led to the new administrators cracking down on water filter purity, among other things. The problem is, sir, that in many places if the water purity is above a certain percentage it strips local water sources of vital minerals needed for the local agriculture."
Hmm…I checked his file, which corroborated his story. An actual reason to be here. Wild.
"Your complaint is valid. My secretary will inform the proper departments and have this problem rectified. Now please sit down."
He complied, confused as to why he had to stay but unwilling to ask questions.
Next on the list… "Jandrei Wiem. State your complaint."
The next man to stand was younger. His posture was relaxed, his mouth pulled into a slight smirk.
He had a very punchable face.
"Moff Mola, I come before you today to speak of the recent administrative changes. They were quite…radical, I believe. Myself and many here today are of the understanding that this must have been some sort of…mistake, yes? After all, you are new to the position, and the world of governance as well, so it is expected. Of course, we would be more than willing to offer some sort of monetary assistance in rectifying this mistake. After all, we would hate to leave a new friend out to dry, yes?"
Was he stupid? Looking into his eyes, I could tell he fully believed he would get away with this.
Instead of responding as he expected, I took a look at the files on my PDA.
"Over a dozen charges of bribery and collusion with criminal elements. Five counts of possession of illegal spice. Two charges of extrajudicial murder."
Jandrei froze, his smirk stuck on his face as the rest of the room seemed to quiet in sheer shock.
"This amounts to either a life sentence in prison, or death. Choose."
He finally seems to find his wits. "But-!"
"Choose."
The trooper closest to him shifts, blaster at the ready. Jandrei realizes the situation he's in. Surrounded by weapons.
Not a single person stands up for him.
"P-prison…" he says meekly, sitting back down.
Good. Satisfaction fills me for a second, just one. Then disgust. It's a quiet thing, but it's there. I've just given a man a life sentence. I did so with evidence, yes, and within a legal system, yes. But it still disgusted me.
Because I didn't have to provide proof. I could've very easily had everyone here shot. I have that power. And so do over a thousand other Moffs across the galaxy. A thousand little tyrants.
There's a reason everyone cheered for the rebels.
I rip myself from the depths of my mind with a sip of hot chocolate, and continue down the list.
One after another, names are called. Crimes are listed. Sentences meted out. Every now and again, multiple people are named at once. Those whose crimes were so intertwined, they were sentenced as one.
It happened more often than I was comfortable with, but I suppose that Jandrei had been right. Most of the people here were here together, to exert political pressure en mass.
Even rarer than the groups, however, were the mostly innocent. Those few who were here either to make a legitimate complaint regarding the purge or because they wanted to suck up to me. The former, I answered their questions and directed them to the appropriate departments.
The latter, I responded to their flattery by having any "donations" or "gifts" classified as bribery. Those who didn't have a gift I let slide.
This went on for hours.
Around mid-day, some seven hours in, I turned to Kaela. She'd decided that the gaggle of corrupt whack-jobs I was tearing apart might hide an assassin of some sort, and that she had to be here.
"Commander. It's around lunch time. You and your troops should go take your breaks. Just make sure to send up a replacement squad."
Kaela turned to me. "Sir, me and my troopers are trained for endurance. We can stand as long as we're needed."
I resisted the urge to laugh. "Commander, I helped write the local labor laws. I legally can't make you work more than 8 hours without any sort of break. Go eat lunch already. Oh, and have the replacement squad bring me up a sandwich, please."
My stomach grumbled loudly, much to my annoyance.
"Make that two sandwiches. I forgot to eat breakfast."
She didn't argue this time, knowing my stance on these things. Instead, she called up a replacement squad, and left as soon as they arrived. Once I had a sandwich in hand, I took a bite.
"Never been happier to invest in a proper on site kitchen than I am right now. Anyhow…"
I turn back to the group, weariness, hunger and a general aura of fear lingering about them.
"...let's continue."
-
In total, it had taken 13 hours and 43 minutes to deal with all 500 people there. I had hoped to keep it closer to 12 hours, or roughly 1.5 minutes per person, but many had committed so many crimes that the lists took 2 minutes at least.
By the end, they were hungry, tired, and fearful. Once it was all over, the criminals were arrested, and the innocent were let go. I could've let them go after they'd spoken, but I felt it would have a more lasting impact if they stayed and watched the whole thing.
Now they would spread stories of it. Helps reinforce the image and such.
As for me, my legs felt like shit. My exercise routine had softened due to time constraints recently, what with all the work, but I thought I did enough cardio to handle it. Seems that I didn't.
Regardless, I was back in my office once more, reclining in the comfort of my chair. It was an expensive, comfortable thing confiscated from some rich tycoon's penthouse on Edin. Darna had gifted it to me after seeing my previous chair and calling it, quote 'an affront to the spines of bureaucrats everywhere'.
With that whole fiasco finished, I had more work to get to. And first on the list was the Guild.
The Guild was now in a strange position. It was still an optional, membership based organization that was backed by the Empire. Yet, one of its member systems was now also run by the Moff of the sector.
That created a power imbalance that hadn't been there before. Sure, as the creator of the Guild I had more influence, but no actual legal power over them. No longer.
Yet, at the same time, the Minda system needs the Guild. Like the other Guild member systems, it benefits too much to be able to keep up its productivity and prosperity without it.
So I had to make a simple choice. A new Governor. It hurt, in a way, as I'd gotten used to the title. But it had to be done.
I sent the order along the chain to find possible candidates. The only real requirements being that they had to be a local. A Council member would work, though they would have to demonstrate a lack of favorability towards any one part of the system.
After that, I read through the HAVEN report sent to me. It was not a happy one.
The ever expanding reach of the Guild had initially seen slaver worlds lose profitability as the Guild created economic prosperity and connected workers to labor.
Yet, now the slaver worlds seem to be doing just fine. In fact, they seem to be making a profit! It's not in the tax forms, no, never there. But HAVEN spies confirmed that they are indeed making a profit on their products.
It screams of outside intervention. Another Moff maybe?
My first thought went to Moff Ecressys of the Velcar Sector. It was one of the richer sectors in Bright Jewel, owing primarily to the slave trade and many corporations. Of course, the poverty rate was incredibly high, but the Empire got its cut so few cared.
Moff Ecressys is an ambitious man, though that's not exactly descriptive considering most Moffs are. The thing is, if the Slaver Coalition is able to spread slavery throughout the Myto sector, that's better for him. After all, many slaves are sold from his sector to others, and I'm sure he'd love more customers. If it happens to destabilize a potential rival for the seat of Governor-General, all the better.
There were a few other Moffs of the surrounding sectors, but none of them fit as cleanly. Sure, they were all ambitious, but Ecressys makes the most sense.
Moff Surrde of the Braxant Sector and Moff Moew of the Obtrexta sector were also possible candidates, but again, neither fit as cleanly. The former was a military traditionalist of sorts, loud and angry. He put everything into his sector's defense budget, which he used to crush the many, many pirates running roughshod through his space. Though it left his people fairly poor over all.
The latter was rich, with Muunilist in the sector, and was mostly focused inwards to control the Banking Clans. While they had been nationalized, that wasn't a static state of being. Constant pressure had to be applied.
Neither of them, nor the various other Moffs, seemed as likely as Ecressys. Which is why I was even more suspicious. From what little I knew of Ecressys, while he was a spoiled, arrogant rich man, he wasn't a fool. A sector with so much slavery is like a pit of vipers with extra vipers on top, and a side of extra spicy vipers. There was no way he rose to command it all without the right political acumen. Destabilizing the Myto Sector with the Slavers Coalition seemed too obvious a move.
It took a few more hours for me to finish the rest of the work. Most of it was reassigning resources sector wide, finishing up some of my last orders as the local Governor, and so on. More attention was paid to piracy as well. It had been on the rise the last few months, and I suspected the Coalition had something to do with it.
I ended the night with a preliminary check on some pricing. I was looking into mobile space stations as part of a sector wide project. Unfortunately, considering the pricing on some of these, and the modifications that would need to be made, it would be a little out of my price range for now.
Mostly because the sector government didn't have that much money. Why, you ask?
Cause the Governors won't pay their taxes!
-
Actually proud of this chapter, cause I actually planned it out. Wrote the plan on a whiteboard, ensured the actions made sense for Las to take and that they would have impacts later, I did the whole nine yards. Sure, it could be better, but I never aim for perfection. Fulgrim did that and look where it got him. Virus bombed by a paraplegic.
Regardless, I'm happy with it. I've more concretely planned out this slaver arc. It's here to work as a sort of introduction for Las to the wider political world of the Empire. Beforehand it had all been about improving the Minda system, avoiding the hammer of the Empire, fighting pirates, etc… but with Las's promotion to Moff, he now has more things to worry about. He can't nitpick over every system. Instead, he has to fight for funding, resources, and favor all while trying to keep his morals intact. Not sure how well I'll be able to pull this all off, but I look forward to trying regardless.
Thanks for reading!
-Freefaller
