The Astral Drake tore through the Kasiya atmosphere unimpeded, a dark, matte black missile in the dead of night. Few could see it’s form in the starlit sky, though it’s shape took to light as it descended into hangar bay six.
A BD-unit backpack droid crawled up onto Anders’ shoulder. He didn’t need the Force to see the welcoming committee of guards and soldiers awaiting his arrival like a pack of trained dogs waiting to be let off their leashes.
“How asanine. I give them a four out of ten. Hardly organised, and I have blaster cannons on this ship that can mow them down in seconds if I so desired.”
The backpack droid beeped in Anders’ ear, and he couldn’t help the wry smile that dawned on his face.
“I know, I know. Best not to keep the Supreme Chancellor waiting.”
The ramp lowered, allowing the pressurised air to woosh out of the ship with the hiss of snake. Anders walked down. His hands behind his back, and a stern expression on his face. The soldiers and guards primed their weapons.
“The Inquisitorius is not pleased with the Taldryan Republic, not pleased in the slightest. Punishment is due, and retribution will be enacted.”
The guards and soldiers looked to each other nervously, then to their leader, standing at the bottom if the ramp undettered by Anders’ presence, was Cassandra Tyris, Supreme Chancellor.
Then to everyone’s surprise, Anders burst into laughter.
“I’m sorry, but you should have seen your faces!” He wiped a tear from underneath his glasses and strode towards Cassandra. He offered his hand out to her. “Chief Inquisitor Anderson, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Supreme Chancellor.”
Cassandra, whose expression had not changed at all despite the newcomer’s severe attempt at bad humor, uncrossed her hands and reached up with her left hand to move some of her burgundy red hair behind her ear as she shook his hand with her right. She had given the briefest of glances to her guard, whom immediately shifted to a passive stance and lowered their weapons. “To what do we owe this honor that the Inquisitorius would grace our realm, Chief Inquisitor?”
Anders smiled. He liked her. Sure, she couldn’t take a joke, but at the very least she knew how to be cordial.
“I’ll cut to the chase, Supreme Chancellor. The Inquisitorius is concerned about the amount if damage Taldryan has sustained in recent years. Stability within the Clan is a primary concern, especially with the sudden departure of the previous Supreme Chancellor. What say you to that?”
Cassandra didn’t respond immediately.
“Well?” Anders crossed his arms. “I’m waiting.”
“So you are not in the business of answering questions back then” she said as she looked at him mildly confused. “That makes for a rather one-sided conversation, does it not?”
She turned and began back towards the tower, figuring he would follow. “Fine. I’ll give a direct answer, I don’t know where you’ve heard those rumors from, much less who assumes Taldryan is in a damaged state. That could not be further from the truth, especially with the upcoming wargames to test just where our military still stands.”
Anders raised a brow. Either Cassandra was deaf, stupid, or a mixture of both. “My dear Chancellor, I think you’ll find I gave a perfectly suitable answer to your question. I am here on behalf on the Inquisitorius to investigate the state of Clan Taldryan. Please, do try to keep up. Perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere. Perhaps your office would suffice?”
She chuckled a bit. “Perhaps you should keep up with me, Chief. I am the one ahead of you. But yes, my office. Top floor.”
The office was finely lavished with tables, chairs, and a perfectly three-hundred and sixty degree view of the city below them. Anders found it all a bit over-the-top if he were perfectly honest.
He allowed her Supremeness, to take her throne. Anders placed his hands behind his back as BUDD-E beeped into his ear.
“Yes, I do agree. It is quite exposed. I don’t suppose the rumors of the previous Supreme Chancellor being shot in here are true?”
“That was a former office, roughly two hundred and seventeen floors down. This one has fully reinforced glass, reinforced structure, and an emergency descent elevator which can get me and my summit guard to the underground of the tower in less than thirty seconds.” she said as she took hold of a small glass chalice on the arm of her chair and brought it to her lips. The liquid inside was a soft teal blue color. “But yes, he was indeed shot in his former office.”
“Let me cut to the chase,” Anders took a seat opposite Cassandra, allowing BUDD-E to hop onto the desk. “How aware are you of my assigning to Taldryan?”
She raised an eyebrow as she crossed her right leg over her left. Her own BD unit hopped onto the desk, directly facing the other. “Assigning? The inquisitorius has no authority over our direct personnel assignments much less scope of range to put someone in. Not without express approval of the Consul, of course.”
It was solidly clear she knew the ins-and-outs of Brotherhood procedures.
Anders nodded approvingly. “You are indeed correct. It was your predecessor that authorised it following the war in the Saijo Sector.”
“Hm.” she briefly vocalized as she tapped several buttons on her chair. A small holoscreen appeared and ran through several files. “Do you have a copy of it? Apparently if what you state is true, it was never filed.”
Anders nodded towards BUDD-E, the little droid processing the information, sending it to Cassandra’s datapad for her to see. There, was the signed document from both Appius Taldrya Wight, and Teeby Nyrrire, first Supreme Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the Taldryan Republic respectively.
She stared at it for a moment, considering. Despite Teebu’s name being wrong, the rest seemed to check out.
“Hm. Fine then. Pair with a woman named Zaesti, you’ll find her in the lower depths of the tower. Use this keycard to get down to floor negative 76.” she said as she tossed him a black colored keycard. “She will get you up to speed, Director.”