Dreyan Imperium [Sci Fi Political/Character RP - IC - OPEN]

[Voxija]

On the Worth the Risk, in deep, deep, space, Captain Rachel Guberstein was contemplating this side of eternity. She was on a mission to find other star systems and chart them, to explore the universe beyond the Dreyan system.

Rachel'd wanted this job since she was a child. All of her classmates wanted to be in the military or some such, but Rachel Guberstein did not like war or military things. She preferred science and exploration, to venture where no one else had ventured, to go where no one has...

"Dirm!" By which Rachel meant Dirm Saagan. Dirm Saagan was the best engineer Captain Guberstein could wish for. Only he kept flirting with Rachel, and not in a good way. Dirm had just touched her shoulder. Rachel Guberstein turned around in her chair to see a smirking Dirm Saagan.

"Hey, Captain Guberstein. You look fine as always today."

"Saagan, you broke me out of my contemplation. If you continue this behavior, I will space you." Dirm Saagan had been threatened with spacing many times before. He knew that Rachel didn't mean it.

"Heh. You know you like me, Rachel." Dirm made kissy noises.

"I've been on this ship with you for three weeks, and I should know whether I 'like' you in a romantic way. Although you are a very fine crew member and a great engineer, I don't think I'll ever 'like' like you. And when you talk to me, call me Captain Guberstein."

Dirm Saagan was dejected, but Rachel knew he wouldn't be for long. "Yes, Captain Guberstein." Dirm slunk off the bridge.

Harald Ranuffsen ran over to Captain Guberstein. Harald was Rachel's first mate, and possibly the only person she could trust. Rachel had chosen all the crew members of the Worth the Risk from criminals in some way, and Harald Ranuffsen was a former bank robber. However, he was the best first mate Rachel Guberstein could ever hope for.

"Captain! Captain!" Harald paused to pant and wipe a sweaty brow.

"Yes, Harald?" Rachel Guberstein usually called her crew by their titles or last names, but Harald was Harald.

"Huff, huff (...) There's a leak in the bathroom."

"A leak?!?" Worth the Risk was a spaceship. Leaks were dangerous in spaceships! Rachel got up out of her seat and strode purposefully to the bathrooms.

"Dirm Saagan!" As the engineer, he was best suited for the job. Saagan turned around and said, "Yes, Rachel?"

"Go get your wrench, your general tool kit, and whatever else you think you need to fix a leak in a spaceship."

Dirm's face took on a horrified look. He knew just as well as Rachel what a leak in a spaceship could do. "Of course, captain!" Dirm Saagan scurried off.

Rachel and Harald walked to the ship bathrooms, discussing the leak.

"It's a small leak," said Ranuffsen. "When I said leak, you might have been thinking of the air going out of the ship, but in reality there's merely a small puddle of water on the bathroom floor. It should still be fixed, though."

Rachel Guberstein replied "I understand," but in her head pondered why a puddle on the floor was still considered a small leak. And then she got to thinking about other things.

Rachel's mind wandered. She wondered what you would call bathrooms on a spaceship, if not bathrooms. Restrooms? Washrooms? Loos? And why were there separate bathrooms for men and women, when, from what Rachel had seen, both bathrooms used the exact same freaky-looking space toilets.

"Heh, the captain and her first mate, walking down a hallway together. What's next, kissing?" That was Lois Vanova. She was a good science officer and a valuable member of the crew, but it seemed sometimes that Lois wanted more to be just a simple crew member...

"Science Officer Vanova, return to your post!" ordered the captain.

Vanova didn't. "What are you here for?" Lois asked Harald.

"Uh, Miss, we are investigating a leak in the bathrooms."

"Eh, toilet humor." Lois brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "I just came from the bathrooms, and I didn't see any leak at all."

Lois Vanova squeezed past the captain and her first mate and ran off to her laboratory.

"What I don't understand," said Ranuffsen. "Is why you don't space the mutinous b*tch."

"You may not like Science Officer Vanova. She may not like me. Heck, I definitely do not like her. But Lois's probably saner than me, she's the best woman for her job and she volunteered for this mission. I can't put in a complaint without feeling like I betrayed her ambitions."

They reached the bathrooms. Rachel saw Dirm Saagan posing cockily in front of the men's restroom with a wrench in his pocket in what was probably supposed to be a sexy pose.

"Hey girl," said Dirm. "Look it. I fixed the leak for you."

Rachel Guberstein opened the door to the men's bathroom. She felt nothing about it, since she was the captain and could go anywhere on the ship she wanted. The men's loo was sparkling clean. No puddles on the floor. No leaks in any of the pneumatic tubes that replaced lead pipes on the Worth the Risk.

"Wow..." Rachel gained a better appreciation for how well Dirm did his job.

"Yep. I took a look in the girl's bathroom as well." Dirm snickered. "There wasn't any leaks there though."

"Engineer Saagan, I am constantly amazed by how well and how fast you finish your jobs."

"Thank you," Dirm replied. "Now will you go out with me?"

Rachel was in a better mood than she was a a few minutes ago, and she responded with a retort. "No, you're ugly."

Dirm broke out into a wild grin. "Heh." The engineer walked past Captain Guberstein to the engine room.

"So," Rachel Guberstein said. "Is that the end of this leak problem?"

"Y—" Ranuffsen's eyes spied something near the toilets. "Not exactly."

Rachel's eyes widened. Oh no. "What?! Show me!"

Harald reached behind a toilet and pulled out a leek. The leek was grown in one of the hydroponic bins used to grow food for the crew.

Rachel Guberstein facepalmed. "Dirm."

[Kaledoria]

Methos Alexandris checked his new outfit. It was subtly different from what he usually wore. - Or was this just his impression, now that the election was over and a new government was uncertain? The People's Liberation Party and Progressive Party did not get an absolute majority but were close. If the Students of Creation joined their coalition or a small number of independent assemblymen tolerated their government, they could rule. And (in this constalation) given that the PLP won more assemblymen this election, he should, traditionally, be Prime Minister. It was a great responsibilty, he was aware of that. The finance ministry, yes, even the defense ministry, those were posts in the government he had aimed at. But the people had spoken.

"I want a solid government, not one that falls apart when one or two assemblymen go against the party line," he told his staff. "Therefor, I want to invite both Shameset Vhierxhmi and Reyon Melthahan to 3-party talks. At the same time, I want other assemblymen to meet with the independent ones, and tell the Progressives they can send their guys to those talks, too. I want to know, how many of them would tolerate a minority government of us and the ProP." He paused a moment, then added: "You don't have to be secretive about that. The Students should know, that this is a path we are also considering."


The 3-party summit was set for two days. Noon of the first day, first discussions were held, in the evening the leaders would meet with their party and on the morning of the next day, after another round of talks, either a declaration of goodwill or the failure of talks would be announced.

Methos greeted the other party leaders: "Welcome. Our Agenda starts with the question, whether you are still overall willing to form a coalition. The next point would be non-negotiatables, I hope this will be a short part. Third, the question of Prime Minister, then the ministries and commitment to keystone legislation. Should the acceptance of a Ministry be conditional upon a keystone legislation, we can iterate the last phases, too. Are there questions or objections to the Agenda itself? If not, we start in 5 minutes."

That Methos was willing to form a coalition was obvious. His non-negotiatables was rather soft: No expansion of the fleet in the current situation and the opening of diplomatic channels with the Kalerman Union.


Shameset was positive about Methos introduction and declared both her willingness to for a coalition and added that her non-negotiable points were quite similar to the ones Methos had spoken of.
The Students of Creation were not as cooperative. Methos reminded the their delegation that Melthahan had just recently spoken out against "Taxes, pulled from the sweat of the common man to fund wars and corporate greed" a good stance and a common ground with what the other two parties were seeking but they could not manage to convince the representing delegates to support a Prime Minister Alexandris (or Vhierxhmi though this option was only touched briefly, as Shameset herself supported Methos) openly just yet.
Luckily they did not seam ready to support the DFP wholeheartedly either. Thus, in a small break, Methos turned to Shameset: "A minority government seams like the only option. We have enough support in both the Students and the independents, that they will not all ally with the DFP to counter us even if it is also not enough to form a formal alliance. I'm ready to take the position of Prime Minister and would like the Finance ministry for my party, too. I understood, that the interior ministry is most relevant to your progressive agenda and would like you, personally, to also take the foreign ministry for now. Between the two of us you have the greater experience and probably also the better reputation among Kalermans and Keraians. That leaves defense and justice as the two remaining major ministries and a few minor ones that we can talk about at a later time. So what do you say?

[Voxija]

Shameset Vhierxhmi worried about the summit, but felt glad that she had an ally in the coalition. This government they were going to form might not be stable, but with Alexandris and she working together, the coalition would work. Shameset hoped.

In the middle of the summit, Alexandris and Vhierxhmi took a small break. She was a bit distressed, but this new government could make it work. Shameset considered the future and listened to Alexandris's suggestions.

"I agree that my party should have the ministry of the interior and the foreign ministry. I also agree that you should be the prime minister, after all, the PLP beat my party in the poll numbers. You can have the Ministry of Justice, but a thorny point is the ministry of defense."

Shameset marveled at what she was saying. A politician, giving up power! But this distribution was necessary to form a working coalition government. She wanted the finance ministry too, but a little compromise is necessary, and Shameset and her party could still achieve their aims with these ministries.

"It would be best if one of our parties, preferably the Progressive Party, got the Ministry of Defense, but the possibility of resentment among supporters of the Dreyan First Party is very high if we go through with it. I'm sure we both would prefer it if the DFP was weakened in power, but the risk of alienation is just too strong."

Vhierxhmi feared that option. She didn't like the DFP at all, but Shameset had found in her long years that politics meant being able to work with your worst enemies.

"The minor ministries can be set aside for a later date," said Vhierxhmi. "But the ministry of defense... possibly you should decide who gets it."

[Kaledoria]

Shameset was rather submissive. Did Methos' wife tell her, that his own sense of guilt was his biggest weak point?

The PLP leader was happy with the Ministry of justice. A couple of assemblymen from his party came from activism groups that had be the target of the police at some point. Some of them then switched the sides to fight The System^(TM) from the inside. At least one had been police chief of a mayor city before taking the next step into politics.

"Minister of defense ... Well, let's act like it's not about the party but the person. It should be someone with a military background because he's going to be the person at the top of the command chain unless we have a war. He should also have engineering experience because you need to understand the hardware to form an effective defense strategy. And finally he should also be a lawyer because multi-billion credit contract negotiations are going to be part of the job, too. The best candidate I can find is Vera Haubner," Methos said and plugged a cord from his wrist datajack into a nearby monitor. A short vita of a middle-aged woman appeared, "Assemblywomen from a left-leaning northern district. Was captain and -before being transferred to command staff- in a maintenance unit. She was ground forces, however, not the fleet but she made it her mission to fight discrimination and abuse in her division and argued in a number of military trials. Not a contract lawyer but she knows the legal teams in the military."

Methos thought about some of the ministries and departments they had set aside for now. Energy, family, ... education. He certainly knew good candidates for these jobs but accepted that should he get defense for his party, too, Shameset could go through it and pick what she liked. Some other members of his party would probably be upset but he was okay with that.


They spend the remainder of the day and the next, selling the deal to their parties and planing the administrative details as well as the initial projects. Methos first priority was to set up a meeting with General Secretary Aazvael Drazzeryan from the Kalerman Union, preferably at some neutral ground, possibly a civilian ship, somewhere in orbit around Jreekan or so.
Concerning Shameset's concerns about alienating the DFP voters, he suggested that in areas that the DFP considered their expertise, they should invite some more reasonable members of the opposition into think tanks to prepare new bills to bring before the assembly.

[Bolslania]

Kaf was walking out of the Officers Club in the 3rd district of the West End. He and his unit had been on a home side rotation for the past 2 months, and the men were itching to get out and back to doing something. He strolled towards Ulnar Army Base, where his unit was stationed. The MPs only did a very basic security check, it was late, and everyone was tired. He saw some of the enlisted, and after a brief "hey there Captain" from them and a "Good evening men, carry on" from him, they went back to whatever they were doing. When he walked into the Officers quarters he saw Jas and another lieutenant playing cards, nods were exchanged and Kaf went into his room. He flopped in his bed and contemplated.

There was very little to do for a military man, no wars to fight. Only exploration, and that was the navy's business anyway. However They were due for reassignment so hopefully the Assembly would find something good for them to do.

[Mordka]

The DFP was in trouble, A collision was being formed between the PLP and the Progressives to take over the Imperium, and if it happens, then they could get rid of the DFP, and all that they fought for would be for nothing. There can be no co-existence with the Kelerians and Bailey knows that. If Bailey was still in the military then he would have started a coup to get it done, but losing his leg got him discharged, so he founded the DFP to gain power legally, becoming the biggest party in the Imperium. The DFP started and bought orphanages to raise the next generation of Dreyans for the future they planned to bring, they raised money to support veterans from the Keraian Wars, a war Bailey himself fought in, But there is still opposition to their goals, Bailey brainstormed on how to get more support, but then it hit him, he realised he need to get the support of the Imperial family, He knows that the PLP is against them, so to get support of the Emperor would give the DFP humongous support and show that the DFP shows the most support to the Imperium, and would not stop until the Kelerians are extinct and perpetual war with the Keraian Republic.

[Voxija]

Captain Guberstein was bored. No new star systems for several weeks. And she had to prepare paperwork, too. Why she didn't have to do it on a computer or fancy holographic terminal, Rachel didn't know. But the bureaucracy required paperwork, and so it was.

Rachel felt a stabbing pain on her index finger. The pain was familiar to Rachel. It was a paper cut, and it hurt worse than when she broke her arm as a child. Rachel Guberstein dropped the papers and ran to sick bay to get a bandage.

She was halfway to sick bay when she remembered some of the worst quirk's and foibles of the ship's doctor. His name was Klaus Reicher, and he was expelled from his university for... unlawful experiments. When the captain's crew members had serious injuries or actual illnesses, Klaus was an efficient and effective doctor, but when one merely had to consult him or get a bandage from him, Klaus Reicher could be a bit creepy.

"Hallo, mein captain." Although Klaus Reicher spoke the same language Rachel spoke, he had retained an accent from his isolated birthplace in the North. The accent made Rachel anxious a bit, although she knew there was no sane reason to be frightened of an accent!

"Come, zit down on zis bench," Reicher continued. "Tell me vat is wrong, and I vill fix it, by any means possible." Klaus grinned a toothy grin.

Captain Rachel Guberstein broke out into a fit of temper. She was getting better at controlling them these days, but not around Klaus Reicher or Lois Vanova. "I am JUST here to get a BANDAGE for my PAPER CUT, thank you very much! And I heard somewhere that the best way to be a medical officer is to reassure patients and treat them with respect and dignity, not freak them out with poor word choices! No wonder you got kicked out of university!" Rachel immediately calmed down after that, but she didn't apologize. Captains don't need to apologize.

"Zose days are far behind me," reassured Reicher. "Zo, vat did you need again."

"A bandage for my paper cut." Rachel stuck her index finger out at Klaus Reicher.

"Ah! Vat beautiful blood! Ven I vas young..."

"Bandage. Quickly, Medical Officer."

Klaus pulled out a bandage from one of his many boxes he had lying around. It was black and had a subtle motif of skulls printed on it. Rachel Guberstein did not know what to think of that, but put it on with a firm, "Thank you" and went back to filing her paperwork.

[Bolslania]

Kaf had filed a deployment request to the vast military bureaucracy. Stationing them on a exploration ship, or in the belt trying sway them towards the Dreyan Empire. Regardless, they were useless here, and they needed to put their months of drilling to use somewhere.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenants were drilling their men rigorously, focusing on ship to ship engagements and CQC tactics. After a hard day of drilling, the men were usually allowed to go into town and visit the many bars, movie theaters, and other attractions of the city