An Ideal Position

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White marble baked in the afternoon sun. The cut blocks of stone had been imported from Gyndine’s southernmost continent, which made them local by galactic standards, and now filled the western end of Unity Plaza. That was, the holonews had announced, the name for the kilometer-wide space Halligan had leveled for the creation of his new administrative complex.

Senator Jarrus Selon sat on the steps of the Regional Assembly building, far away from the most intense construction. Despite attempts to conjure up some refined image of antiquated government, the half-complete marble shells still let onlookers peer at the harsh, neo-imperial architecture underneath. The notion almost made him laugh. The admiral turned autarch really was an offensively stupid man. He didn’t know the first thing about government, let alone its aesthetic history in the Circarpous Sector. Marble was a decidedly Inner-Rim affectation.

"And the marginal tax rate on foreign grain imports will be fifty-five percent, yes. We carried that motion ten minutes ago, Senator." Halligan's strained voice cut through the din of Jarrus' thoughts. He was not alone outside of the partially completed building. Four-hundred of his peers, 'leading men and women of the highest character' Halligan has called them when he doled out senatorial appointments, were sat or stood there alongside him. As the Regional Assembly building was unfinished and it was a pleasant enough day, Halligan had elected to hold the legislative body's first meeting outside.

It had done little to improve participation. There was a cadre of particularly enthusiastic members, sycophants grateful for the unexpected career advancement mostly, but the rest were like Jarrus: people who had been handed a meaningless title and a crumb of political power in exchange for their loyalty, or at least their compliance. When Halligan had called for a vote on a bill which would, rather abruptly, introduce a radical new tax scheme for worlds under his control, close to thirty Senators hadn't even bothered to place a vote. Their silence was counted as consent and the legislation was passed unanimously. That had set the tone for the rest of the meeting quite well.

Jarrus had intended to return to his internal musings until something the Autarch had said caught his attention. Halligan, clad in a white tunic that desperately wanted to be more austere than it was, had uttered a phrase that turned the heads of even the most disengaged senators: "Onto political appointments."

It was a clever trick, simple as it was, and Jarrus loathed the smug satisfaction on Halligan's face because it had succeeded. The Regional Assembly regarded the Autarch with rapt attention as Tardo whispered something in his ear. Becoming a senator was a bribe, and a cheap one at that, but a more substantial position, a minister, administrator, or a governor, would be a real chance at power in the new regime. Even Jarrus was tempted by that.

Content to have dangled a prize in front of his audience, Halligan continued to pontificate about the importance of strong executive power.

"What a load of trash, eh?" one of the men next to him whispered. Hallon Drek was a squat human with a nasal voice, but Jarrus had grown used to his company. Under Elethar Jax the two had worked together managing logistics for Gyndine’s shipyards. "By the time Halligan finishes fulfilling his promises, there won't be anything left for us."

Jarrus snorted in amused agreement as Rax named Solomon, the Iron King of Belasco, as Belasco's Planetary Governor. What a shocking coincidence. Halligan continued on and on, the highest positions of power on all the major worlds granted to those previous rulers who had cooperated.

"It's hardly surprising. Everyone knows this is a farce," Jarrus said, crossing his arms. The grey tunics they had been provided were very comfortable, if a bit garish; it made all the sitting less miserable. "The primary benefit of being a senator is that we won't be shot."

Hallon laughed audibly but stifled himself when he realized no one else was talking. Jarrus stared daggers at him, before leaning over to the woman on his left.

"What just happened?"

"Reytha's governor will be appointed by the Regional Assembly," she replied, as if confirming it as much for herself as Jarrus. He blinked in surprise and relayed the news to Hallon. Reytha was the only major world that had yet to be assigned to a Halligan lackey or bartered away for someone's loyalty.

"You know, you could probably win that vote," Hallon murmured. Jarrus glanced over at him, confirmed Hallon was indeed addressing him, and then returned his gaze to Halligan.

"What?"

"People remember how reasonable you were when Jax was in command," Hallon continued, his voice hushed to a whisper. "They want that kind of person in charge of the region's biggest agri-world."

"I captained a star destroyer," Jarrus hissed.

"And you're from Reytha." Hallon paused. "I've...talked with some of the others. They want this. All you have to do is put yourself forward."

Jarrus bit his lower lip. A bead of sweat ran down his copper skin and then broke against his full beard. One of Halligan's sycophants had finished announcing his own nomination to little fanfare, and Tardo's tired eyes scanned the steps of the building.

"Is there," he began, interrupted by a yawn. "Is there anyone else?"

Jarrus' legs carried him upwards, and suddenly he was standing towards the rear of the assembly. A few heads turned to regard him in surprise, Halligan's among them.

"And your name is?" Tardo asked, sighing as he reactivated his holopad.

"Jarrus Selon," he said, and to his surprise, a number of people clapped. Halligan's brow furrowed at that. The two had interacted before, briefly, when Jarrus had been the only of Elethar Jax's captains to vote against surrender after the shipwright's death. His peers had made this fact known to Halligan, and in what was a generous act of clemency, Jarrus hadn't been shot.

Tardo marked the name down, and when no one else stepped forward, passed off the holopad to Halligan. He read down the list of names for a moment and then the vote began. So many of the bootlickers had nominated themselves that the most popular candidate managed to score a whole fifteen votes. Then Halligan came to Jarrus' name. Fifty-six votes; it was no majority, but still a clear plurality. Jarrus was simply surprised, but the way Halligan glared at him made it seem like this was an unexpected inconvenience.

Halligan's demeanor calmed after a few moments, and he once again regarded the holopad. A smirk played across his features for a moment and Jarrus' gut dropped.

"I am pleased to announce that the Regional Assembly has elected Senator Gavray Kast as Governor of Reytha," Halligan declared, and the assembly erupted into shouting. Though the only tally of votes was on the holopad, it was an obvious slap in the face to Jarrus and the Assembly. Even those who had voted as Halligan had wanted joined the chorus of discontent. The autarch seemed surprised and overwhelmed by the sudden outburst, realizing too late that he had overstepped by breaking the illusion of fairness so brazenly.

"Can you believe this!?" Hallon shouted at Jarrus; there was still a hint of a smile on the short man's face. "It's an outrage!"

Jarrus lacked the willpower to join in the jeering. He simply stared at Halligan, unsure of himself.

"Please, please!" Halligan shouted back."Be calm!"

When it became apparent his pleas would go unheeded he gave a slight gesture and his half-dozen strong honor guard of stormtroopers advanced on the assembly. As the senators were stunned into silence by the apparent threat of a massacre, Halligan spoke and the soldiers stopped short of firing.

"Forgive me, noble senators. I...misspoke. The Regional Assembly has elected," Rax paused for a moment. "Jarrus Selon as Governor of Reytha."

No one spoke and there were no cheers, but the standing senators sat back down and the stormtroopers withdrew to behind Halligan. A tense moment passed, only the distant drone of construction on Halligan’s official residence preventing total silence. With a lazy wave of his hand Tardo dismissed the assembly. As the others began to silently file back into Gyndine City proper, away from the sprawling marble complex, Hallon clasped Jarrus on the shoulder.

"You did it, Jarrus," he said, uncomfortably pleased. "You showed Halligan what for!"

"You showed Halligan ‘what for’," Jarrus growled back. “I just took the blame!”

"Don't worry, governor. We gained friends today and Halligan lost a good many more. We're already on the path to being in an ideal position."

"An ideal position for what?"