momslilassassin | The Galactic Senate [GFFA, Wednesday morning]

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The Galactic Senate [GFFA, Wednesday morning]

Ben pointed with his right hand to the building coming up next to them as he and Ender zipped through traffic in Ben's birthday speeder. "That's where we're heading," he said. "Aunt Leia's going to meet us at the docking bay." He smiled wryly. "We can watch the Senate debate for a while and if you still have an appetite, we can find some lunch after."

[OOC: For the other quiet repressed one. NFB due to distance.]

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"Is it that likely to strip me of my appetite?" Ender asked, holding on. He'd adjusted for the speed a while ago, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be careful.

"It depends what they're talking about," Ben said a little grimly.

"Either way, I think we should keep some sandwiches on retainer," he noted. "But I look forward to meeting your aunt."

So they could out-politician each other, probably.

"Aunt Leia is completely astral," Ben said enthusiastically as he swooped steeply to land in a parking spot a few centimeters too large on either side for the speeder to fit. Show off. "Just don't let her invite us for dinner. She can't cook at all, but that doesn't stop her from trying."

He was a show off; he was just lucky Ender didn't care.

"Which would make the Senate a possible Godsend," he said, "If it's as quick to work on the stomach as you say it is."

He was also a Skywalker and they had a reputation for flying to uphold. Ben popped out of the speeder and adjusted his cloak before glancing around for his aunt. "Over by the door," he said, grinning and walking quickly for the entrance. "Aunt Leia!"

A short woman with dark brown hair lightly threaded with gray glanced up and smiled in return before giving him a hug. "Ben! Have you gotten taller again? I thought we talked about that."

"Maybe a little," Ben said, blushing. "Aunt Leia, this is my roommate Ender Wiggin. Ender, this is the former Chief of State of the New Republic Leia Organa Solo."

"Mrs Solo," Ender returned, without a single evidence of blush on his cheeks. "Ender Wiggin. Ben's erstwhile roommate and former member of the International Fleet."

There was no point in pretending to be a regular teenager around here, as it would only hamper his chances. That didn't mean he had to tote a title like 'admiral' around.

Leia smiled at him, looking momentarily amused. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been addressed as Mrs. Solo. "It's very nice to meet you, Ender. Luke mentioned you were interested in seeing the Senate in action. I'll be happy to answer any questions that come up."

"I'm grateful you took the time to give me the show," he said, nodding. "I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into wrangling this many communities."

Leia's smile turned a bit wry as she waved her hand in greeting at a small group of Bothan Senators. "It takes some time," she admitted, "but it's better than the alternative."

"By far," Ender agreed, "And I wouldn't want to imply otherwise." He stole a look at the Bothans as they passed by. "Especially in the wake of recent events."

Professional politicians with Jedi training don't let things show on their faces unless they choose to, and Leia's expression didn't change. "Democracy in this galaxy has suffered greater blows and survived," she said evenly, leading them down a brightly lit corridor to a window that overlooked the Senate floor. "The Senate is still quite a thing to look at," she said softly. "It took my breath away when I saw it my first time. I wasn't much younger than you were."

The lack of a reaction was as interesting as any reaction at all, something Ender stamped and filed away. He wasn't here to play the high school student out on a tour, though, and while there was sense of wonder that passed over his features as he looked up into the vast senate chamber - a lot like the battle room, in its way - it was muted with a more academic curiosity.

"It is beautiful," he agreed, his eyes flitting towards Leia. "I meant no disrespect," he said, after a moment. "It's just that I suspect your problems may one day become ours, if we don't learn where we can."

Her gaze shifted to Ben, questioning. "Not the Sith thing," Ben said hastily. "Ender's people are beginning to explore the stars for the first time."

Leia relaxed slightly. "We've been communicating with each other across the galaxy for millennia," she said. "How can we help?"

Ender shot Ben a slightly grateful look. "Yeah," he said, with an apologetic hint, "Not the Sith thing, thankfully." He cast a gaze back across the Senate, taking in how huge it was, the number of planets-- had to be enormous. "Right now, I'm just mostly here to listen," he said, "We might have a Senate of our own one day - but only if it's desirable. And it has to come from the colonies themselves, not our home planet, but that's barely even philosophy right now."

One day, Starways Congress was going to be a real pain in Ender's butt, but he didn't know about that just yet.

"You might want to think in terms of how the Corellian system works, at least initially," Leia offered. "The Senate here is broken into solar systems of planets. Each Senator represents million or billions of beings, which might be a bit large-scale for you at such an early stage. The Corellian system is unusual--it has three distinct and sentient species, and five planets capable of sustaining life. Each planet elects a leader, then those five decide on a prime minister for the system."

"Making sure that everyone's needs are represented," he noted, "In theory, at least. Most of our colonies are full of war veterans right now, but that's going to change soon."

"And the local species, should you find any," Leia said. She pursed her lips. "Since your initial colonists are soldiers, can I assume you've taken over these new planets through warfare?"

This was a moment of truth, of sorts: far away from his home, speaking to someone who was not his friend, defining the Formic war for what it had been.

"My home system was invaded twice by a species called the Formics," he said, finally. "My people are coming off of decades of fear of the skies. In the end, we took the war to them. Because we thought it would be them or us."

Intelligence shone in Leia's dark brown eyes as she focused entirely on Ender. "Thought," she repeated. "Did it turn out not to be a question of you or them?"

Years of battles against the Yuuzhan Vong played in the back of Leia's mind, memories of the clawing fear when nothing could turn them aside or away.

"I think it was a communication failure, in retrospect," Ender said, catching her eyes with his own. "I think the Formics didn't realise we were a sentient species until the end of the second invasion, because we were so different. I don't think they had been planning to come back."

His eyes flitted towards Ben. "But they're gone now. Everyone's happy."

Ben's face was suitably neutral--Leia wasn't a Jedi to underestimate--and he turned his gaze to the Senate floor so he wouldn't do anything that would make his aunt think he was going to contradict Ender.

"So you retaliated against an enemy who hadn't been planning a third attack," Leia said quietly, "and hard enough to take over some of their planets. How 'gone' are they?"

Because Force knew the Sith were 'gone' every five years or so.

Now there was a question to answer with care, as not to set off Ben's lying detector. "We destroyed their home planet," Ender said, quietly, and it was only with effort that he didn't say 'I'. "And we're currently colonising all of their other worlds."

"Are there any indications of rebellion?" Leia asked as her eyes flicked reflexively to the seats of the Alderaanian Remnant. "Taking out a planet has a way of galvanizing the survivors."

"The Formics were an insectoid species," Ender said, following her gaze for a moment. "Their entire race depended on their Queens, on their homeworld. Without those Queens, the rest of them have become functionally braindead."

He watched the seat she had looked at with a careful expression. "A legacy to build an empire on," he said, laconically.

"Most expansion comes with a cost in blood," Leia replied, turning to look at Ender. "As long as people aren't too eager to keep paying that cost, expansion is tempered with caution."

"That's what I'm banking on," he said, affably, tearing his own eyes away with a slight smile. "But you can see where it makes me eager to look not just to our own history, but to everyone else's for lessons to learn."

"I'm happy to offer what help I can," Leia said with a smile. "I've seen the Senate through several different incarnations, though I stopped being a formal part of it a few decades ago."

He nodded once with understanding. "So what will the Senate be meeting about today?" he asked.

"Are they still trying to figure out who to blame that isn't them, Aunt Leia?" Ben asked.

She shook her head. "Well, only in speeches. They are working out how to bring Corellia back into the GA without everyone going back to shooting." She smiled. "Not everything is quite as fast as your father telling the Remnant who to put in charge so he doesn't set Tenel Ka on them."

So the posturing was left, and nothing more. "Corellia broke with the GA at the start of the war," Ender said, with a pause at the end that pointed to the sentence being a question, if nothing else. "How willing are they to cooperate right now?"

He wasn't interested in rolling his eyes at people throwing the blame around.

"Fairly," Leia said. "They have their pride, of course, but that's almost all they have. Centerpoint Station has been destroyed, so they can no longer use that as leverage."

Ender nodded, thoughtfully. "Which would make their own demands what-- more autonomy within the GA? Military assurances?"

"Both," Leia said, nodding, "plus issues of trade."

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The Galactic Senate [GFFA, Wednesday morning]

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