SWRPF Archive The Galactic Senate RPG - [August] *In Session*

Nubia City Spaceport

Nostalgia filled the gaps left by the diminishing romance of the scene in front of him. As they did day-in and day-out, shuttles and transports moved through the Nubia City spaceport with a quiet kind of elegance. Vice President Aduzi had spent an inordinate amount of time here, watching them. First, as a child, his face pressed against the windows in breathless awe of the bustle and importance of the executives he desired to emulate. Then, as a young man, fresh out of school and new to the workforce, he stared out of them in groggy satisfaction, knowing he was that much closer to achieving his goal. Now, after countless conferences, negotiations, and consultations, he?d come to see the spaceport for an uncomfortable, transient, but real home base of sorts for him. He certainly saw it much more than he did his mansion tucked away in the mountains. It?s part of the reason why, even if he hadn?t been on layover to another flight, he wouldn?t have objected to the odd meeting. It was one of the few times Red Protocol wouldn?t inconvenience him. Also like his memories of this spaceport, apparently the most familiar refrain in this investigation had for once proved productive.

?What, then, is the significant piece here?? Aduzi interjected presently.

?We were combing through the New Republic archives. Theory being, there are any number of identifying documents that should help us track Vedis?s history. As we?ve already reviewed in the initial stages of the investigation, all the primary sources were gone. So we had by this point shifted to second order forms of identification and tracking. Things that, while not designed for that purpose, would nonetheless serve as unique markers.

?As you are no doubt familiar, during Palpatine?s era, there was an obsession with the potential of Force-Sensitives to tip the scales of power. No one was more acutely paranoid about this than Palpatine. Wherever he could, he launched cover programs that hijacked any sort of public health initiatives as a pretext to screen midichlorian counts. Although the New Republic sealed the documents and promised to have them destroyed, even the earliest termination dates are still decades away,? said the investigator.

Aduzi took in the information a moment. The most obvious place to be wary of was the Emperor?s own homeworld. ?Vedis?s file is missing. And anyone lacking a file had something to hide,? he said, blurting aloud the result of his logic.

The other man gave him a curt nod. ?There are only a few groups that fall into that category. The first, and most obvious, is the people the program was partially designed to net: Jedi in hiding. The second group, of course, would not truly have avoided the screening so much as had their results scrubbed after the fact.?

Aduzi?s eyes narrowed ominously, the effect made even more pronounced by the epicanthic folds that distinguished him. ?Say it.?

?The file deletions of the second type would?ve been the primary way for Palpatine to protect the identity of his acolytes.?

Senator Tak Vedis was a Sith Lord. The spaceport suddenly seemed very foreboding.

---

[b]IC: Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia[/b]

When his turn to speak came, Jarath tried to hew as much to simplicity in content and style as his strategy allowed: ?My fellow Senators, I am glad to join you all once more. I am even gladder that we have an opportunity to revisit this issue of considerable importance, which has stirred strong feelings within both this body and the general populace. I certainly feel that we have improved greatly upon the flaws of the first draft, to make a more viable and efficacious proposal.

?It is in that spirit that I hope we can continue to do so before final ratification. The only major outstanding issue I see at this point is tamping down on costs. Would someone perhaps like to recommend a tax we can pair with this legislation, or else a cost control measure of some sort??

[b]TAG: Anyone[/b]

 

Nava Kree
Aboard the Thorn, - back to Coruscant

Nava turned towards the Sha'no Ryn.

"There are two bills up for vote now. If you wish, you can vote from my system here if you wish. It is secure." she said softly, as she sat back down towards the pilots seat, and looked out into the stars, thinking about what would happen next.

The Twi'lek had been staring out at the stars, since they had left Tak. Perhaps she had some thoughts of current events herself. Nava left her to her thoughts, as she had flown the ship.

The Xamster senator startled Shaâ??no for a moment, but she smiled in reply. â??Thank you, I think I will.â?? Nava gave a small nod.

Nava watched as the Senator inserted her datacard, then turned away, to give her some privacy. As she flew the ship, she heard the twi'lek ask her..

â??When do you think we will arrive on Coruscant?â??

Nava spoke softly. "Not long. Im taking every shortcut I know, to get back quickly. I dont want to run into anything out here." she replied.

â??Do you think Senator Tak can rescue your friend?â?? Senator Ryn asked. Nava gave a long pause before she finally spoke.

"Yes. I have to. Much more than friend, is he."

Nava coaxed her engines a bit harder, as she moved to get back to Coruscant. Nava had to bank hard a few times, when ships suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her level of cursing was growing, as was her chatter, but she managed to hide her tiny ship from prying eyes. It was several hours later when the blinking lights of Coruscant could be seen. By this time, Nava had sent several encoded, official documentation to her homeworld, advising them of current events, and a few other details.

"Never thought be glad to see shiny city..." Nava muttered as she keyed in her access to return her ship to its hidden access. She turned at looked at the twi'lek.

"Senator. This ship is hidden for good reasons. Please, not tell anyone of it. Needed again, it might soon be." Nava spoke softly, as she eyed the Senator, wondering just how much trust Tak had in the woman before her.

Soon, the ship was safely docked, and with a gesture of her arm, Nava guided the way for Senator Ryn. She then sent a coded message to her bodyguard , Shawn, ...if he was still working for her, that is.

Nava sighed softly.

She had barely touched down, when her comlink went off once more. A new Senate bill. Did it not ever end? She was not about to appear in the Senate in current state, bounty hunters or NOT! And she definatelly needed to read this new bill over. Something stank about it to her. She did grin, when she noticed bill 7 had passed. But it would probably not be allowed to stand. The Senate had a weak gut.

Nava climbed into her speeder. She waited until the other Senator had left, so she could secure the area, and then headed for her own office. She could vote there, and she could figure out what to do next, while she waited for more news from Tak.




TAG:]Lauren_Solo, Xan (When available)





Tak - Hyperspace


Pol sat in his dingy cell, looking older than normal. They had barely feed him. Heck, they seemed to stay as far away from his as they could, which quickly put a damper to his escape attempts. He had searched every inch of his cell. He couldnt find a way to escape, but he did manage to expose some wiring. It smelled, it was cold. But dealing with the wires gave his mind something to do. He didnt like the idea of waiting to be rescued. Once, he had heard lots of shouting, like there was some type of fight going on, but the sound of blaster fire had quickly brought it to an end.

Pol sat, near the exposed wiring, and began to play with the wires, manipulating them, as he had been doing for the past few days. He wasnt sure if any type of intereference or signal was getting out, but it beat just sitting there, waiting....

-------------------

The Minos Sector was coming up quickly. Exiting his meditation, Tak watched as normal space engulfed the viewscreen, throwing inky darknes

 

IC ? Sha?no Ryn


As they landed, Sha?no prepared to leave her vibroblade back at her apartment before going to the Senate chambers for the first time. Senator Kree, however, had some more parting words.

"Senator. This ship is hidden for good reasons. Please, not tell anyone of it. Needed again, it might soon be." Nava spoke softly, as she eyed the Senator

?Of course. I know politicians are supposed to be liars,? she laughed softly, hoping her colleague would appreciate the situation, ?but I have no intention of saying anything to anyone about this voyage. I do hope your friend is returned soon.?

Sha?no was also worried about Tak as she wandered away to hail a taxi.


Tag: none

 

IC - Tak Vedis


Tak starting picking up something on his ships communications links. It was very faint, but it was a signal. A distress call. More importantly, it was coming from the diplomatic channels. From what he could hear, the ship was dead in space, and losing power quickly. And it wasnt too far from Tak's current location.

The message repeated...

Tak turned his vessel toward the wounded ship, being careful not to fall into a trap, after all pirates often used tactics such as these to lure prey in. A large, hulking craft lay before him, looking as though it had taken some battle damage recently... but not enough to leave it dead in space like it appeared to be.

Cautiously, he turned his ship on autopilot, allowing it to dock with the much larger vessel. Opening the hatch Tak was immediately greeted with darkness and the near total absence of sound. What had happened?

Walking down empty corridor after empty corridor, Tak once again pulled out the device Nava had given him in the hopes that if Pol was in this ship, the thing would send him a signal. It was getting too eerie for his liking.

Nothing was forthcoming from the device, but a scratching noise stole his attention. There appeared to have been a door that was magnetically sealed and scanning it, Tak detected the life support in that area had been cut off even before the rest of the ship. Unable to open it, but now certain there was life behind the door, Tak ignited his blade once again, sinking it deeply into the structure.

Once the metal had melted away a bit he could see some bodies, but there were a couple of humaniods standing and coming close to the door as the molten metal fell away. He waited for them to say something or attack...


Tag: Ktala

---

[b]IC - Ashil Furn[/b]
[i]Senate chamber[/i]


Ashil read over the note from Majority Leader Zaller. Well, of all the brazen... that... [i]man[/i] actually thought he was going to get his people back. They had obviously left the conservative party because they weren't happy, so Ashil would make sure to try to woe those people in the off session and try and get them into the GPP.

For now, as the next bill came open to the floor, she put on her best smile and nodded toward Zaller's booth, in signal she had received his message. Later, once Vedis was out of the way, then maybe Zaller would learn a lesson or two...

Ashil eagerly awaited debate to begin on the new bill.

[b]Tag: none[/b]

 

GM's OOC: Votes will begin tomorrow on SR8, so get your points in.

Also, I've noticed things are slower here. Some points on slow gaming that may or may not be important.

I'm going to say that a vote needs 5 senators (minus myself) to be legitimate. If a vote doesn't get this, the resolution automatically fails. The last vote had 8 (plus myself), so we're still good. But if it starts slipping past this critical level (of 5), be worried.

I don't really care if debate on the floor grinds to a crawl. The game is at its core a voting game. As long as people care enough to write a voting post three times a month when in session, I'm a happy GM.

Of course, I would like the discussion and debate and all the other loveliness that comes with a Senate game. But, if folks don't want to write for that, or don't have the time for it, then thats fine.

-I_H

 

IC: The Senate
Location: The Senate Chamber

From within the Chamber, a low-toned gong chimed. If any of the new Senators were confused as to its meaning, inside their handbook of Senate protocol, present at each podium, they would find: (New Text As Per E.R. #1)

Voting On Bills: After the set amount of time has passed on the discussion of a resolution, a single gong chimes to mark the end of debate. Afterwards, a repulsorscreen lowers into the center of the chamber, on which the results for the vote will be displayed. Each seating area has a voting station present on it. Senators are to insert their ID card into the slot until the green light above the slot turns on. This means the station is active. Senators are then allowed to press three buttons. The red button corresponds to voting nay on the bill. The green button corresponds to voting yay on the bill. The yellow button corresponds to a neutral vote of abstain. Every Senator?s vote shall be catalogued within the Congressional Record. All amendments will be voted on in the same manner as Senate Resolutions. Successful amendments shall only be passed should the original piece of legislation be passed.?

Then, as the packet said, a floating four-sided repulsor screen floated down into the middle of the chamber and began to rotate so that all the Senators could see it. On it was the following words:

Senate Voting Session Initiated
Resolution: S.R. #8 - The Food Security Initiative

Yays: 0
Nays: 0
Abstains: 0

And with that, the system was ready to accept input.

TAG: ALL

---

[color=red][b]GM?s Overture:[/b][/color] Same as always. This period will end the day in-game. After voting, Senators can spend the rest of their day doing whatever they want. Meetings, Dinners, Smoozing, Whatever. Out of game, this period will last until Saturday or Sunday. After the voting period is over, the next day will begin and the next resolution will be placed on the floor. As always, any questions can be PMed to me.

Thanks!
-I_H

 

Nava Kree
Private Office, Coruscant

Nava got back to her office, and saw the messages that were on her screen waiting for her. Seventeen from her family, asking what was going on. Four from various other senators, and the new bill up to vote.

Nava spent the entire night studying the bill. There was something about it, that just didnt seem right. Nava couldnt sleep, so she stayed up, studying. Next morning, she dressed as she always had.

Shawn was still with her it seemed, so she and Shawn headed for the Senate Chambers. There was no whitty banter, or other small talk as they made their way there. Soon, she was in her familiar pod, and she watched as the machine came down, and flashed the info on the screen.


[Senate Voting Session Initiated
Resolution: S.R. #8 - The Food Security Initiative

Nava voted Nay on the bill. She did not feel like a debate, and thank goodness there was none. She hoped to hear from Tak soon, and what she would say to her parents.

Once voting was done, she headed back to her office.

TAG;Anyone




Tak
out there....

Tak turned his vessel toward the wounded ship, being careful not to fall into a trap. Cautiously, he turned his ship on autopilot, allowing it to dock with the much larger vessel. Nothing was forthcoming from the device, but a scratching noise stole his attention. There appeared to have been a door that was magnetically sealed and scanning it, Tak detected the life support in that area had been cut off even before the rest of the ship. Unable to open it, but now certain there was life behind the door, Tak ignited his blade once again, sinking it deeply into the structure.

Once the metal had melted away a bit he could see some bodies, but there were a couple of humaniods standing and coming close to the door as the molten metal fell away.

Several beings, seeing the lightsaber blade backed away in fear. But one, a Xamster like Nava who was in uniform stepped forward. He was doing his best to muster up his courage, as the others scrambled behind him, including a few humans in the group.

"Ah... are you here to help? Or did they send you?... he asked caustiously, staring at the light blade. He was not sure what to think , and he hoped that the man was indeed someone to help.



Brentus

 

IC - Tak Vedis
some ship


"Ah... are you here to help? Or did they send you?... he asked caustiously, staring at the light blade.

Noticing the stares, Tak turned his saber off and hooked it on his belt. "Obviously I seem to be on the right ship, just not the one I'd been hoping for. Since you sent a diplomatic emergency signal, I shall ask if a Xamster named Pol was onboard. I am looking to rescue him, I'm from the Senate, Nava Kree sent me. If you have any information on where Pol is, it would be of great use."

While they talked amongst themselves, Tak used his comm to contact the New Republic Navy and ask for assistance for those on this vessel, giving the coordinates to the Navy.


Tag: Ktala

---

[b]IC - Ashil Furn[/b]
[i]Senate chamber[/i]


Ashil inserted her datacard and voted [color=green][b]Yay[/b][/color] before removing the card and sending a message to her party members.

[blockquote]Greetings,

I trust you will all show party unity and vote for this bill. We have the opportunity not only to help those in need, but to show solidarity with the conservatives against the Senator Vedis and his populists. We must ally with the enemy, so to speak, to eliminate the greater threat of Vedis.

Regards,
Senator Furn[/blockquote]


[b]Tag: Ktala, Sith-I-5, maninblack[/b]

 

IC: Senator Rade Kell of Druckenwell
Senate Chamber

Senator Rade Kell was faced with a serious problem, and one that irritated him to no end. On one hand, he opposed the bill simply on the principal of the circumstances surrounding its creation. Of course, Druckenwell had major issues when it came to food supply, and as such was in overwhelming agreement when it came to anything involving the concept of giving them more. But still, his party was opposed to it, and he didn't exactly have a record of supporting their views when the votes were tallied. A decision had to be made, though.

Swiftly, he made his choice. Today, when his people gave him little to no choice in it, he would support them. On the next bill, his support would be thrown behind his party. How to handle damage control having been decided, Kell irritably inserted his datacard into the slot and pressed the green button, perhaps a bit more forcefully than he had to have, signaling his reluctant vote of YAY. With that, he departed as quickly as he could, hoping to avoid having to meet the Vice Chancellor, who was not in good standing in Kell's eyes, at least for now...

TAG: All

 

Nava Kree
Private Office

As Nava fell into her seat in her office, she turned to quickly check for any messages. There were none. With a long sigh, she leaned back... and was interrupted by her comlink blink.

She looked at the sender. Senator Ashil Furn. She was already beginning to find the name annoying. She quickly read the message, which she noticed was sent out to all party members.

[ Greetings,

I trust you will all show party unity and vote for this bill. We have the opportunity not only to help those in need, but to show solidarity with the conservatives against the Senator Vedis and his populists. We must ally with the enemy, so to speak, to eliminate the greater threat of Vedis.

Regards,
Senator Furn]


THE GREATER THREAT!!!!!!!

If Nava could have thrown her console then, she probably would have, as she let fly a flurry of words that would have made a Zabakkree blush! Aly with the enemy?!?!

At first, Nava wanted to respond with a stinging memo..but she held her hand. No, there were OTHER ways to take care of such people. Going to a head with them, usually ended in defeat, Nava was quickly learning. Other, more backdoor ways tended to work better.

Nava was about to walk away, when another message came accross her screens. If it was that stupid long legs again, she swore....

Nava stopped her rant in mid thought when she saw the symbol on the screen. She contacted Shawn, and then pulled out a personal recorder, in case the message was bobby trapped. She also needed to relay it to Tak. She waited for Shawn to arrive, and then locked her door. She then let the message play.

The next picture to appear, caused Nava to grip her desk.

Pol.

She could see him in the background, and she could see a few beings standing around, but nothing that clearly showed faces. He looked alittle worse for wear, actually, he looked ticked off. He probably gave em a good fight. Then a huge shadow crossed the camera, and a voice, deep and with a strange accent spoke.

["Imagine my surprise when I found out that You were not where you were supposed to be, Senator."] Nava simply watched, as she saw a hand gesture, and a blaster appear.

["I DONT like suprises!"] Nava flinched back from the tone, automatically, even as the voice continues. ["But I do like credits Senator. Lots of them. And you better pay me what Im asking, or you wont see your assistant again. And if your not too attached to him, Im sure I can find a familiy member or two to convince you. You will be contacted."]

The screen turned to darkness. Nava sunk down at her seat. Wordlessly, she sent a copy of the message to Tak, encrypted. She turned away, and started out the window of her office, trying to think of anything she could do.

Tag: Xan




-=-=--=--

Tak - Diplomatic Vessel Tagen


"Ah... are you here to help? Or did they send you? ... he asked cautiously, staring at the light blade.

Noticing the stares, Tak turned his saber off and hooked it on his belt. "Obviously I seem to be on the right ship, just not the one I'd been hoping for. Since you sent a diplomatic emergency signal, I shall ask if a Xamster named Pol was onboard. I am looking to rescue him, I'm from the Senate, Nava Kree sent me. If you have any information on where Pol is, it would be of great use."

As Tak spoke on his comlink, the Xamster in uniform spoke in his native language. Immediately several others headed out, to access the damage to their vessel. The Xamster gestured out of their tiny 'prison' that Tak had freed them from. Stepping throught the Xamster bowed.

"Forgive me. I am sorry to say that Senator Assistant Pol is no longer on this vessel. He was taken off by the one of the many vessel that attacked us."

A few of the humans who were on board, murmored thanks, as the walked away, letting the Xamster handle things. Some were lead by other Xamsters as they were lead to a break area. The uniformed Xamster headed for the ships cont

 

OOC: I'm out for a few days. Be back on Friday.

IC: Chancellor Territha

The Chancellor smiled as her proposed bill cam forth. She knew her aides had done their research and the best thing for the galaxy was being proposed. She quickly hit the YAY button on her screen before leaving the Senate hall. Things had been tiring since she returned to duty and she was struggling to keep up. Hopefully the galaxy would appreciate the effort her office went to in order to achieve the best interest of the galaxy.

Tag: Any

 

IC: Bellial Del'eau

Bellial rushed into her pod, she had over slept and was feeling very self-conscious about it. She had been reviewing SR#8 trying to find anything that would make the bill appealing. She had gone to sleep with no success and had forgotten to set her alarm.
She slid her card into the slot, and voted a NAY on the bill.
To her, and her constituents , the bill seemed entirely unnecessary.

Tag: Senate

 

IC: Torco Bastra

Torco stared at his screen, he wasn't reading anything, he was just staring, and thinking. He was trying to find a good reason for him to vote yay. There was no inclination for him to vote yay.

Torco slid his card into the slot, and hit the NAY button. He removed his card and returned it to his pocket. He didn't get up, he just sat there. He didn't feel like getting up, if he was needed he would get up. But for now he was just going to sit there.

Tag: no one

 

IC: Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia
Senate Chamber

It was hard to resist the self-righteosu indignation that Tak Vedis let flow so easily. It was both an obvious and a stupid path. Apparently, effective, too. But just as he recognized he could not succumb to it, he also knew that he could not let the issue go entirely unaddressed.

So, in an unusual step for the voting period, he activated his microphone. "Fellow Senators, it seems there is a sharp difference of opinion over the nature of our jobs. With that in mind, I would today like to address those of you who feel it is not your duty to show up. I would like to address those of you who feel it is not our duty to try.

"You are incredibly bold. This debate was opened with an invitation to air complaints and make improvements to what was already on the table. You refused. You've said absolutely nothing, and are now bold enough to vote against the proposed bill. Further daring us to cry hypocrisy, many of you were some of the loudest voices advocating for the need for 'compromise' and 'bipartisan cooperation' in sessions past. Many of you, in fact, were the same individuals who said that this issue was of vital importance when an alternative version of this proposal was the on the floor.

"No one expects your ready agreement. But both your constiuents and your colleagues deserve some explanation of your reasoning. If you lack the courage, then at least have enough respect for the office to make a pretense of doing your job, and actually say something. You have heard about this now, and you will all hear about this again, in your home districts, from me.

"I thank you for your time," he finished icily, clicking off his microphone and pressing YAY at the same time.

TAG: Anyone

 

IC Sha?no Ryn


Sha?no stuck her datacard into the slot and silently pressed the Nay button. She had been silent, maybe a little too silent, but she was still learning the ropes of this Senate.

When she was finished, she left her pod and immediately saw Senator Del?eau, also in the Minimalist Party, or so Sha?no had been told. ?Hello!? she called to the Calamari senator. ?How are you? My name is Sha?no Ryn, I?m from Corulag. Did you have anything planned for this evening??


Tag: Forceforever

 

IC: Senator Donnoc
Location: at home on his ship

Behind every great man is a great woman, and the lepi senator was not doing well without the two females in his political life.

Breath smelling of stale alcohol, the unwashed politician leaned out of the synthleather semi-circular couch rimming the holotable after he heard the voting chimes relayed through the speakers on the ship.
Well, I say after. We are not talking prompt here. With the speed of new frost forming on a crystal on Mygeeto's surface tundra, Donnoc leaned over to slot his card into the voting slot. One of the bottles at the base of the seating fell over, a pungent mauve fluid pumping from the opaque green vessel and into the pile carpet.

Donnoc voted Yay to Senate Resolution #8, and fell on his side, lapsing into an uneasy sleep.

Tag: no-one

 

GM's OOC: Sorry alls! I have not forgotten about you guys! The Summer has never been kind to this GM. We will advance this game to the final Senate Resolution tomorrow, so get any last minute votes in! The debate period will last until the end of the month. And then we will have the voting period in the first few days in July, followed immediately by the off season.

And that will take us into July and ready for the next period in August!

If you guys have any ideas for bills, let me know!

-I_H

 

GM's OOC: Votes include my own as Zaller.

---

[b]IC: The Senate[/b]
[i]Location: Coruscant[/i]

Slowly the clocked ticked down, as the voting period moved to a close. The floating repulsor-screen looked as follows:

[color=blue][b][u]Senate Voting Session Closed[/u][/b][/color]
[b]Resolution: S.R. #8 - Food Security Initiative[/b]

[color=green][b]Yays: 5 - *PASSED*[/b][/color]
[color=red][b]Nays: 4[/b][/color]
[color=yellow][b]Abstains: 1[/b][/color]

[b]TIME REMAINING: 00 hrs: 01 mins[/b]

Then finally the minute elapsed and the voting closed. It was another white hot resolution, with plenty of competition on the Senate floor. This did not escape the attention of many political reporters, who started to spam editorials as to how bitterly divided the Senate was.

The fallout from this resolution was relatively mute. The agribusinesses were fine with it, because the government was working with them, instead of commanding them. Salliche Ag's PR department let out a positive review for the Senate's decision and indicated the company's interest in enrolling in the program. The anti-tax groups formed from the education bills did not care for this program, and released a statement condemning the government for wasting money on a problem the invisible hand of the market could solve.

There was still plenty of talk in the market about the situation going on on Bakura. New Republic propaganda had gained some foothold on the world, and a small band of dissidents have rallied against the government. Widely branded as a terrorist organization, they are being suppressed harshly by the Bakuran government, just within the limit of the law. Also, there was news from Correlia that a detachment from the 2nd Fleet was readying to jump to Bakura to enforce the trade sanctions upon the world.

[hr]
[hr]
Day passed to Night and Night passed into Day again.

The final day of legislation for the period arrived. It was a sunny day, which made traveling through the security checkpoints relatively pleasant. As crowd trickled into the Senate, the repulsorscreen had moved back up to the ceiling, and the Deputy of the Senate could be seen again, standing near the speaker?s podium.

Senators around the chamber were a little more tense than usual. It seemed like the commentary on a divided senate had gained credence amongst the lesser Senators. Plus, with the Bakuran crisis not resolved, the eve of conflict always brought about much tension. Although the next bill seemed tame enough, no one really knew what was going to happen.

An electronic chime rang, signaling that the next debating period was ready. The eyes of the Senators drifted back to the Deputy in the center.

[b]Hear ye, Hear ye! The floor is now open for debate on Senate Resolution #8, the Food Security Initiative. I hereby yield the floor to the Majority Leader and to the first Senator to speak on the Bill.[/b]

The man stepped back and the Majority Leader assumed his position. The empty podium beckoned to be taken.

[hr]

For the reference of the Senators, the briefing on the bill was present in their daily docket.

[b][u]Senate Resolution #9[/u][/b]

[b]Bill Title:[/b] Health Advancement & Promotion Bill

[b]Author:[/b] Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia

[b]Co-Author:[/b] Senator Veygor Zaller of Kuat
[b]
Contents:[/b] To ensure continued advancements in medical knowledge and public health, this bill proposes a series of supply-side incentives to corporations within the healthcare industry. The two arms of the proposal are the creation of ?special projects? and the creation of a ?Medical Advancement of the Year? prize. Any such corporation may apply to have a product under development filed as a ?special project? undertaken as a joint-venture with the government. Eligibility for such a classification is subject to the review of the Ministry of Health, based on their evaluation of scientific merit.

Special projects will be subject to no-notice spot checks from Ministry of Health officials on a perpetual basis

 

IC - Tak Vedis
Diplomatic ship


"Show" Roak ordered. A screen came on, with a very fuzzy signal. But even with all the static, Tak could see the symbol on the ship. It looked quite familiar. Suddenly, a beeping sounds could be heard.

"Find it!", the Captain barked out, his techs began searching frantically. The last thing they needed was a bomb on board. Suddenly, once of the technicians called out.

"Here sir!". The Captain came over to look. It was one of the console lights blinking in a pattern. The Captain looked, frowning as his ears moved in rhythm. "It sound like code." he stated, looking towards Tak.

That symbol, the same one he'd seen before - it finally clicked in his mind. It wasn't just some generic marker for blood pirates... it was a personal symbol of a certain family of pirates. The Ba'yun Briar Pirates. The ship was familiar as well, like a painful blast from the past and Tak absently reached to his hip which had begun throbbing with an unhealed memory.

The code was also a dead giveaway; it was old, very old, but had never been broken by Republic authorities. The Old Republic, that is. Ba'yun Feldar had been a very influential pirate in his time - they ruled an area of space somewhere between the Bilbringi system and the Unknown Regions known as so inhospitable that it was called the Briar Patch. He used to terrorize shipping in three different sectors and had a huge retinue of followers and sycophants.

The ships were an original design of Ba'yun and Tak hoped the old flaw in the engine design had never been discovered or fixed. It was possible, if one knew what to look for, to track the Ba'yun ships of old, despite their cloaking devices.

"I'll take care of these space rats," Tak said aloud, not even realizing he was speaking. "Code's a complex series of numbers that relies on the person at the other end knowing a combination of an archaic arithmetic called spatial physical calculaic theory with a grasp of three dimensional plane geometry."

Apparently, the message within the code was coordinates for a possible dropoff location for their victim, in the Svivren system - he wouldn't know exactly where until he arrived. Pursing his lips and running his tongue across the inside his mouth, he finally noticed the captain staring. Forcing himself out of the past, he turned and walked away. "I'll take care of it," he said over his shoulder, "no need to tell the New Republic forces when they arrive to render assistance."

Sitting down at the controls of his ship, he sighed heavily before setting course for the Svivren system.


Tag: Ktala

 

IC: Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia
Senate Chamber

?Fellow Senators, things have been rather tense lately. Therefore, in the spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation, I would like to bring to your attention a proposed amendment to the current legislation. It is the result of long talks between myself, a Conservative, and the Minimalist Senator Bellial Del?eau of Mon Calamari. It is our sincere hope that you join us:

Amendment SR 9-1

The first sentence of the second paragraph of the contents section of SR ( shall be amended to read ?Special projects shall be subject to no notice spot checks and/or permanent observers, at the discretion of the Ministry of Healh, on an ongoing basis [. . .]?.

?In addition, perhaps we should explore stipulating that the winnings from the ?Advancement of the Year? awards are only for personal use, and may not be funneled back into career-related activity?

?With those small notes, I yield the floor. I invite my colleagues to help us work towards a favorable resolution,? said Jarath.

Hopefully, someone would be inclined to speak this time around.

TAG: Anyone

 

Nava Kree
Senate Chambers

Nava wasnt getting much sleep. Every beep of her console, comlink, or holonet news had her on edge. Shawn was doing his best, to keep up with his charge. Not that she had run off again, as she had before, but she would sometimes stay in one spot for hours, simply staring.

She refused to hire another assistant, but did call a younger aid, to assist her, explaining that Pol was on a fact finding mission.

Annoyed that the new food securities bill had passed, she could only shake her head. The big corporations were involved...which meant the plan would not last long. The fact that Salliche Ag's PR department let out a positive review, was almost certain.

With a sigh, she looked at the new proposal up for bid.
She looked at the information on her datapad:


[Senate Resolution #9
Bill Title: Health Advancement & Promotion Bill
Author: Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia
Co-Author: Senator Veygor Zaller of Kuat ]

Contents: To ensure continued advancements in medical knowledge and public health, this bill proposes a series of supply-side incentives to corporations within the healthcare industry. The two arms of the proposal are the creation of special projects and the creation of a 'Medical Advancement of the Year' prize. Any such corporation may apply to have a product under development filed as a 'special project' undertaken as a joint-venture with the government. Eligibility for such a classification is subject to the review of the Ministry of Health, based on their evaluation of scientific merit.

She skipped a few paragraphs, and read on:

The second arm of the bill creates a $5 billion dollar purse to be awarded to the research team responsible for producing the most important health/medical advancement of the year.

Funding: Spending in deficit. After special projects are released to market, revenues from the 4% collection will be set aside to pay-off initial and continued investment in these programs. All additional income will be directed to the general pool of Galactic funds as surplus.

Under, Implementation: she found:

The winner's purse for Advancement of the Year is to be given to the lead researchers and their teams as individuals, rather than the company. This provides specific incentive to individuals to pursue scientific excellence.

Non-profit entities may apply for a special project venture as well, in which case the operable parts of the agreement are only those involving heightened inspections and ethical review in return for accelerated approval and ability to pursue currently forbidden lines of research.]


Nava nearly choked as she let out a loud chirp in protest. Are they INSANE!?!?!

For that much money, and prestige..research would no longer be research for the betterment of everyone's health.

Nava shook her head. It was going to be a long day.

She prepared for the Senate chambers, and it was not so long before she was sitting within her pod once more. She still had not spoken to anyone since she had returned, and had not felt inclined to do so. She looked at the docket.

After the main bell went off, Senator Jarath stood up.

"Fellow Senators, things have been rather tense lately. Therefore, in the spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation, I would like to bring to your attention a proposed amendment to the current legislation. It is the result of long talks between myself, a Conservative, and the Minimalist Senator Bellial Del'eau of Mon Calamari. It is our sincere hope that you join us:

Amendment SR 9-1

The first sentence of the second paragraph of the contents section of SR ( shall be amended to read "Special projects shall be subject to no notice spot checks and/or permanent observers, at the discretion of the Ministry of Health, on an ongoing basis [. . .]".

In addition, perhaps we should explore stipulating that the winnings from the 'Advancement of the Year' awards are only for personal use, and may not be funneled back into career-related activity?

Wi

 

OOC: I am operating under Imperial Hammer?s instructions form the first page of the thread that we should essentially add an extra three zeroes to everything. So, if we wanted ?million? in real world terms, we?d use ?billion? in this case.

IC: Senator Jarath Natal of Nubia
Senate Chamber

Though it was impossible to miss the note of heavy skepticism in the question, Natal had reason to be pleased. First, the Senators were willing to debate again. Secondly, they hadn?t launched directly into an attack, for the moment anyway. He?d do what he could to keep up that spirit.

?You are quite correct, Senator Kree,? he said once recognized.

?By way of explanation, most scientific work of any kind, let alone major breakthroughs, is not often the result of work by a single individual. Instead, many scientific papers are published with as many as five to eight authors, and sometimes even more. It should also be understood that this award is not tax-exempt. The cumulative effect of these two points is that while the purse is admittedly quite handsome, it?s certainly not as if we will be creating minor nobility, here.

?Having made that point, I?d also like to address my motivation. We always recognize a need for continued work in the hard sciences. Yet, in spite of its vital role in the maintenance of society, researchers are seldom, if ever, counted among the top income earners. They are often underpaid and under-appreciated. Every year, we lose many bright, promising students to more glamorous, high-paying positions in fields like finance or business. Or sometimes just as bad, they continue their work but move out of academia, so that their wonderful knowledge and insight isn?t passed directly on to the next generation of workers.

?Our universities can never pay these people enough for what they do. We can?t, either. But this, at least, will give them something more to hope for than a lot of pats on the back from their colleagues, and nothing else besides. I want to offer a real token of appreciation that will allow them, if only for a limited time, to enjoy some of the luxuries that would?ve been a given for them if they had not chosen to make this noble sacrifice with their life.

?In light of all that,? he finished, ?what are your thoughts??

TAG: Ktala, Anyone

 

IC: Senator Chaygte, Galactic Senate chambers
Location: Coruscant

Filming on the new proton torpedo commercial had finished for the week, and given the time of day, Chaygte had headed over to the Senate Building to surprise Senator Donnoc.

After submitting to a hand scan of her person, no doubt due to the recent security crisis, she heads inside to the Coachelle pod, and stepped in to surprise her beau.

But what? It was EMPTY! With Senate Resolution #9 being discussed?

Something was afoot!

The former Black Sun vigo sat in one of the chairs to assume the position for Coachelle until Donnoc turned up, and then she would learn the excuse for his tardiness.

?Alright, then.? She muttered as she sat at the data console to pull up some information on the bill being discussed, ?what is going on here??

She chewed the inside of her cheek pensively as Senator that she did not recognise responded at length to a question: ?-are often underpaid and under-appreciated. Every year, we lose many bright, promising students to more glamorous, high-paying positions in fields like finance or business. Or sometimes just as bad, they continue their work but move out of academia, so that their wonderful knowledge and insight isn?t passed directly on to the next generation of workers.

?Our universities can never pay these people enough for what they do. We can?t, either. But this, at least, will give them something more to hope for than a lot of pats on the back from their colleagues, and nothing else besides. I want to offer a real token of appreciation that will allow them, if only for a limited time, to enjoy some of the luxuries that would?ve been a given for them if they had not chosen to make this noble sacrifice with their life.

?In light of all that,?? the speaker finished, ?what are your thoughts???

Mine are, what the frag are you talking about, she thought to herself, hoping there were no stray telepaths in the chamber who picked that up.
She certainly did not have nearly enough information yet, to comment.

Coachelle would not be happy, she knew. And where in blazes was Donnoc?

Tag: anyone

[image=http://www.geocities.com/acenhunter/maps/chayget.jpg]

 

IC: The Senate
Location: The Senate Chamber

From within the Chamber, a low-toned gong chimed. If any of the new Senators were confused as to its meaning, inside their handbook of Senate protocol, present at each podium, they would find: (New Text As Per E.R. #1)

Voting On Bills: After the set amount of time has passed on the discussion of a resolution, a single gong chimes to mark the end of debate. Afterwards, a repulsorscreen lowers into the center of the chamber, on which the results for the vote will be displayed. Each seating area has a voting station present on it. Senators are to insert their ID card into the slot until the green light above the slot turns on. This means the station is active. Senators are then allowed to press three buttons. The red button corresponds to voting nay on the bill. The green button corresponds to voting yay on the bill. The yellow button corresponds to a neutral vote of abstain. Every Senator?s vote shall be catalogued within the Congressional Record. All amendments will be voted on in the same manner as Senate Resolutions. Successful amendments shall only be passed should the original piece of legislation be passed.?

Then, as the packet said, a floating four-sided repulsor screen floated down into the middle of the chamber and began to rotate so that all the Senators could see it. On it was the following words:

Senate Voting Session Initiated
Resolution: S.R. #9 - Health Advancement & Promotion Bill

Yays: 0
Nays: 0
Abstains: 0

Amendment: S.R. #9-1

Yays: 0
Nays: 0
Abstains: 0

And with that, the system was ready to accept input.

TAG: ALL

---

[color=red][b]GM?s Overture:[/b][/color] Same as always. This period will end the day in-game. After voting, Senators can spend the rest of their day doing whatever they want. Meetings, Dinners, Smoozing, Whatever. Out of game, this period will last until around July 4th or 5th. Then we'll move into the off-session period.

Thanks!
-I_H

 

IC: Senator Chaygte

She briefly considered Abstaining, since she really did not have enough of understanding of the resolution to vote on it, but the bill's title seemed innocuous enough.

Hah, she thought, smiling, 'innocuous'; I actually used it in a sentence. Living on Coruscant must be widening my vocabulary.

Cheered by the thought, she got out the voting card she still had, inserted it in the console's blinking slot, and marked Coachelle down as a Yay!

And if Donnoc didn't like it, he should have been here!

She extracted her card and headed out, intending to return to the Flying ***** freighter, and see if he was still there.

Tag: no-one