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| - Lounge As your eyes adjust to the dimness of this room you notice the soft elegant music playing in the background. The sounds of music and the chatter of people enjoying themselves eases your mind and soul. Little lanterns of lights dot the room in shadows radiating the faces of the people. Large glass windows act as walls separating space from inside. Stars shine bright through the windows adding to the aura of the lounge. The tables are made of thick round glass that reflects the images of the patrons. Each table is complimented with a set of two to four black leather couches. A series of black sofa couches line the perimeter of the windows giving a birds eye view of the wonders of space. Along the back wall under a spotlight of flourescent lights is the bar. Made of elegant mahagony wood the bar runs down the length of the wall with sets of different sized glasses hanging upside down on the ceiling rafters. Decorative banners of the respected Imperial Fleet adorn the back wall of the bar. On the back wall beside the bar there is a little silver sign with the word "PRIVATE" engraved on it. A brass door knob is just noticeable under the dim light. As a reminder that one is still in the Empire two Black-clad naval troopers stand guard at the entrance to the area and the auto-blaster cannons still loom from above. A small series of steps by the window lead up to a second level which contains only a few tables and chairs. It is very hard to actually see if there is someone up there. A sign by the rail reads: Commanders and Above. Seated in one of the dark, secluded corners of the lounge, Morganna is reading over a datapad, the soft glow from the screen is illuminating her face. The lounge is all but empty and, without being threatened by overzealous Caspians, Morganna isn't quite as alert as she normally is. Rellik walks into the lounge, looking, for lack of a better term, on a mission. He certainly seems dressed for the part. With a quick scan of the lounge, he spots his target... Morganna Taszecks. He covers the distance between them. The approaching footsteps of Rellik snaps Morganna back into attention mode. Her eyes raise to assess who this new arrival is, and when she notices that it is Rellik, a familiar, almost snide, look crosses her face, "Advisor Rellik." Morganna manages to say with only a hint of a hiss in her voice, "What a surprise." The scarred woman takes a sip from a barely touched glass next to her, she has been too busy to even drink. Rellik absentmindedly fingers the blaster attached to his leg as he speaks, "It is Lord Rellik now, -Ambassador- Taszecks." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "At least Ambassador until I decide if I should reassemble Chantinelle Thistleborn." He smiles cruelly and tilts his head ever so slightly to the side. Morganna raises her eyebrow and actually manages to keep relatively polite, "Lord? What is it that you are doing now?" her voice is almost a monotone, and she locks eyes with Rellik, "And as far as I was aware, the title of Ambassador was a front, for I am still Chief Intel Officer except in the public eye." Rellik arches a brow in question of Morganna's boldness, "Are you voicing a complaint, Ambassador? I seem to recall Ms. Thistleborn doing the same before I deactivated her cybernetic circuits." Morganna furrows her brow and appears to be insulted, "Yes, I am, My Lord. I was promoted to CIO because that is where I was most suitable, I also feel that it should be Director Joir determining my rank, as he is my direct superior..." she almost appears hurt, "I worked damn hard to get where I am and I still have agents that I am in contact with..." Rellik furrows his brow, "What you desire is irrelevant. Contrary to whatever misguided and insignificant life you led before joining the ranks of the Empire, you have responsibilities to the Emperor and to the Empire. You -will- do what you are instructed." His eyes begin to burn. The scarred woman's eyes burn as well, they burn brightly. Her hands curl around the datapad and she thrusts it towards Rellik, "These are my intelligence reports, I have been far, far more productive as an agent than I had ever been in DiploServe. I was assuming ambassador status on Caspar to obtain information... While I have no Caspar to go back to, now, I am still getting information filtered through. I respect the Empire, but I don't like being punished for doing my job well!" Rellik raises his hand to strike the insubordinate woman, but stops a few inches before making contact. He hisses at her, "Insolate woman. You dare question -my- authority?! The authority of the Empire?!" He takes a calming breath and continues after the rage ebbs away, "Unless you wish to share a fate worse than Chantinelle Thistleborn, you will do as you're told and you will do it properly. Is -that- understood?" Morganna doesn't flinch as Rellik strikes at her, she expects the smack to connect but it doesn't. She raises her fist and slams it into the datapad, shattering it beneath her hand, and extracting the datacard from it, stuffing it in her pocket, "Understood.." she hisses, but it is obvious that she has no respect at all for Rellik right now. Rellik cocks his head in an arrogant way and smiles in a patronizing manner, "Good. Now that is settled, I am here to debrief you following the voiced intent of Caspian aggression." The scarred woman is barely containing her rage, all she wants to do is throw herself across the table at Rellik, but that would ensure that she never gets her old position back, "They're declaring war because we kidnapped their prime minister." her reply is curt, spiteful and to the point. Rellik places his hand on his chin and acts astonished, "Oh really?" he face suddenly drops into a humourless expression, "Of course I know that, you fool. I sent the note to the Caspian government myself." Morganna narrows her eye and her left eye flashes, 'I managed to catch the presidential speech. I know that there are many people in their Crest that are Rebel sympathizers." Morganna's voice is growly and tense, "There was no mention of this in the speech, but they have been hiding people like Leia on their planet for months." Rellik nods affirmatively as well, "This we also know, Ambassador. I do not suppose you have any useful knowledge, like data from your sensor logs when you left Caspar. Perhaps an estimate of the Caspian military build-up?" The scarred woman narrows her eye and clenches her fist, "I'll have to extract them from my log files, but yes, I did do a scan before exiting the system. Nothing nosy as I was being watched every second of the way." Morganna almost looks defeated here, she was enjoying her position as CIO, and now she has very little drive to do anything, "I'll get it to you as soon as I can.." Rellik crosses his arms across his armored chest, "See that you do. Time is of the essence, as is to re-establish contact with the Caspian government." He looks to the damaged datapad and comments, "I hope there wasn't anything important on there" The datapad is irreparable, but there are some shards from the screen sticking into Morganna's hand and forming a pool of blood where it rests, "Everything important was on the card. That is safe." The scarred woman slowly picks the shards out from her hand, "Assuming they let me back on the planet, that is.." Rellik sticks out is hand, palm up, "The card, if you will." Morganna shakes the blood fromher hand and narrows her eye, "I was working on a communication to our agent on Caspar, that is all that is on the card. I need to finish it and send it off." The scarred woman's voice is truthful, and it's clear she doens't want to give up the card. Rellik cocks his head to the side, "You were going to hand me the datapad before you destroyed it. Now you do not want me to see what data is on it?" He smiles slightly, "Why the change of mind?" Morganna takes a long sip of her drink and frowns, "Because I was pissed off at you, and I still am." she says very bluntly, frowning. She then whips out the card and throws it towards Rellik, like one would throw a weapon, this will hurt if it hits, "Read the farking card, see if I care. It's not like any of this Intel stuff is worth anything to me any more..." her tone is very, very bitter. Rellik watches the datacard hit his armored chest and fall harmlessly to the floor. He looks at the woman and commands, "Pick up the card and hand it to me politely, Ms. Taszecks." Humiliated and broken, Morganna finds it very hard to be polite, she picks up the card and hands it to Rellik, "Here is the card...." she hisses, "Lord.." All she wants to do is ram it through his neck, it's a damn good thing no-one here can read minds. Rellik inclines his head politely and replies, "Thank you, Ambassador." He tucks the datacard in a pocket and comments, "Now, was that so difficult? It makes things so much easier for you when you treat your superiors with respect... else things tend to happen that may not be to your satisfaction." Morganna clenches her feist and growls, "May I have the card back so I can make a copy of my report? MY contact is waiting for it. I can't leave them in the dark!" her voice raises a little, she is so reluctant to go back to being an Ambassador, and she runs her hands through her hair, this whole situation is just annoying her, "Why am I officially an ambassador again? Didn't you read the report as to why I was taken /out/ of diplomacy? it's because I'm not good at relations like this, I have all the farking prissy ambassadors, I just.. hate this position.." she looks down and rubs her temples. Rellik smiles sweetly, clearly enjoying the prediciment Morganna is in, "If you ask me nicely, I may consider it." Morganna lowers her voice and her eyes, trying not to stare at the man that is slowly stealing her life and her pride away from her, "May I please have the card so I can finish my message?" her fists remain clenched. Rellik removes the datacard from his pocket and then turns, leaning against the table. He produces his own datapad and insert the card. With a few taps, the data is apparently downloaded into the pad. He removes the card and slides it along the surface towards Morganna and replies, "Yes you may." Rellik laces his fingers together and smiles arrogantly. Morganna snaps the card up with her hand and places it in a pocket. Although she is trying to hide it, Morganna's face is awash with emotion, her rage has subsided and is giving way to something far more counter productive, depression, self doubt.. she has already shown that she is not a diplomat, so why do they torture her, "Is there anything else?" she asks, draining the rest of her drink. Rellik nods, "Of course. All that we've accomplished is for you to be insubordinate." He recrosses his arms, "There are still things that must be addressed." She would rather be anywhere but here, any time but now. She tries to push back the waves of negativity flowing over her, but she doesn't meet Rellik's eyes, "What else is there?" she asks with a sigh, trying to be as polite as she can, but it's hard, "Do Director Joir and Vice Director Pantek know of my.... demotion? It seems the Bureau has been left in the dark oevr its own affairs lately." Now she raises her eyes, giving Rellik a cold gaze. Rellik arches his left brow and responds, "If the Bureau didn't have to be babysat then perhaps things would go much smoother. However, since Director Joir has shown that he cannot keep his agents in line, his capacity for making decisions are in question. No, Director Joir, nor Vice Director Pantek know of your reassignment, but I am sure they will shortly." He smiles slighty and continues, "Your job will be to act as an intermediary to open a dialog with Caspia. Following that, arrange a meeting to take place. Emperor Valak and myself will most likely be attending that function. I am sure the Caspian government will be very surprised to hear what we have to say. Following that, you will be reassigned to your previous position. Is this satisfactory?" If it wasn't for the fact that Morganna's a little depressed, and hence her usual sharp alertness is dulled, she would probably be throwing her drink at Rellik right now. Instead, she just meets his eyes with a gaze that could freeze tatooine. She respects Joir and Pantek, far far more than she ever will respect Rellik, "I will still be gathering information from my agents while I am on this mission. If I am to be ambassador, it gives me the opprotunity to be closer to my agents, which is good for both of us. I will do this task." she hisses, "Provided that I am reassigned to my post as soon as it is complete. I will need to know what terms we have." Rellik taps his fingers on the table and smiles, "Terms? Why the terms are what -I- dictate. If I wish to place you as captain of a garbage scow I shall. If I wish to have you chained to my sleeping chambers I shall. If I wish to end your life, I shall. There are -no- terms. You have no choice but to perform your job in a manner satisfactory to me." Morganna snaps and narrows her eyes, "I mean our terms for negotiation with the Caspians, I have already figured out I don't have a blasted choice here!" again, that temper. She takes a deep breath and calms down slightly, but the rage is still there. Rellik chuckles, "Of course you do." He lets his face drop back to that humourless expression, "There are never any terms. With you or with Caspar. Either they agree to a meeting or they do not see their Minister in one piece again. Its that simple and I believe they know that. Remind them if need be, but I do not believe that will be necessary." The cycloptic Intel officer (As she will always believe herself to be) narrows her eye, "Very well I will contact my Caspar contact so I can get onto the planet without getting my ship blown to pieces.." The scarred woman still despises the fact that someone other than Joir is giving her orders. If it was the Emperor himself, she would understand, but not this man who she can not respect at all. Rellik tilts his head to the side in a flippant manner, "Make your preparations. I will ask the Emperor when he wishes you to leave." He inclines his head, "You are now dismissed, Ambassador." Morganna rises from the seat and frowns, "Thank you.. lord." she still hisses slightly out of a lack of respect and moves away from the table. Finally, she can have some time to herself to let loose some of this steam before having to deal with the Caspar Government. "I will be awaiting the Emperor's request." Still with a degree of her predatory pride, Morganna slinks out of the lounge. Rellik watches Morganna exit and follows shortly threafter, although clearly not following her.
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