The delegates were murmuring to one another, some gathered closely discussing plots and destruction all the while unaware that they were plotting their own demise by doing such. The delegates were all representatives of Alien planets, all fearing that the Empire had adopted some human high-culture ideal.
Mon Calamari had been the chosen spot to host all the delegates, most of which came to scream, whine, and hopefully at some point discuss their possibilities. The water planet was an obvious choice because of its well defended area, the fact that the shipyards provided major cover, and the planet's difficulty with invasion due to it being mostly covered in water.
Because Prognie was the Moff of the planet it was his duty to oversee the meeting but the Grand Inquisitor had much more in sight. Sitting upon a platform looking down upon the rows of seats belonging to the Mon Calamari's own assembly, the temporary meeting hall for the delegates of this Mon Calamari Convention.
Sitting beneath his seat were the two leaders of the planet as well as the representative of the planet, a Quarren, who had a unbelievable amount of hatred for humans. Prognie, despite his human affiliation, had earned the respects of the aliens for being their to open an ear as well as their mouth when it came to expressing their needs. From Duros to Mon Calamari all the way to Yag'Dhul, all these representatives had come to express a more audible concern about the large Empire and its mistreatment of aliens.
It was more than just a convention for Prognie though, it was a recruitment session. Only the best and most voiceful of the group would make it to the top, to the top of Prognie's list as he considered it.
Grand Inquisitor Prognie
The delegates had finally been seated and the Mon Calamari leaders, as hosts, were the ones to begin the first session. Standing up there was a touching speech about keeping together and standing up for the rights of all aliens in the galaxy.
When all was said and done Prognie was introduced to speak as well, standing up he moved forward toward the mic, the view would have undoubtedly been huge but Prognie wasn't able to take it all in. Any nervousness that would come from such was washed away by his lack of sight and replaced by a coldness that came with seeing darkness every day.
"Leaders and citizens of the Empire, you have all come with obvious complaints and reasons ones that I am here to listen to on behalf of the Emperor-" Prognie's speech was cut off by a delegate who quickly stood up. a smile formed on Prognie's face, it had begun.
"Your Emperor couldn't even be here in person to listen to us! It's an obvious display of apathy he has toward us, unless we are in the Core or sitting at his side like slaves he doesn't care at all for us." The representative of Fondor, who surprisingly wasn't very alien at all but had become upset simply at the lack of respect the Fondor shipyards received in comparison to Kuat's and Corellia's.
"He's too busy planning some orbital bombardment for another world simply out of pleasure, that's why!" Prognie's droid who was acting as his eyes told him that this time the representative of Sullust that had spoke next.
"I can assure you that the Emperor is not planning to bombard another world out of simple pleasure, he's doing i because one you forgot to wipe your feet the last time you visited." Prognie's dry humor did not amuse the people but he did want to keep them riled up.
"Lord Prognie, as a human we could not see how you can understand our predicament." A translator droid for the Wookiee representative spoke out.
"You're right, I do receive the dignified and fortunate clarity of mind of never having to worry about being woke up by explosions in the sky. But that's not why I am here, I am here to listen to your fears on his Majesty' behalf and find a solution to what is happening." Unfortunately none of them knew the real solution, the solution that all of them were feeling but never expecting.
Grand Inquisitor Prognie
"Grand Inquisitor-" The representative of Muunlilist rose to speak but Prognie held a hand to silence him before he could continue.
"Please, refer to me as Lord Prognie. I am not the Grand Inquisitor here, I am simply a representative of Emperor Shadow." Prognie said coolly, the Muunilist stared at Prognie for a few seconds.
"Lord Prognie, the Emperor has worked our planets and have stripped them of any valuable resource that benefits him. While his core worlds enjoy the benefit of his rule and his riches. Our planetary governments are nothing but puppets and our own planetary defenses are not what they used to be." the Muunilist went on to list other problems and grievances, Prognie had the droid mark the Muunilist's name down on his list while he listened.
"He has also threatened to bombard Roche several times for not abiding to his work expectations. We are putting out as much as we can but we cannot support his demands, it's straining us!" A verpine whose thick accent was translated by Prognie's droid. The droid took note of the Verpine's name and added him to the list. Several more aliens all stood up screaming about what the Emperor had done to their people, had his droid been useless it would have exploded from the overwhelming amount of voices and names it had to remember.
Grand Inquisitor Prognie
---Five hours after the session----
Prognie had ordered for his personal assistants to gather the names on his list into a personal meeting room. His droids had gone to work several times, going through and making sure there were no listening devices, recording devices, basically anything that could incriminate. The precautionary man was not paranoid, just aware of his enemies.
When everything had been cleared, all devices turned off or changed he felt comfortable. A large chair for him sat at the end of the table. The table was long, sitting at least twenty people including Prognie, this is where Prognie would garner support from the paranoid aliens.
The time counted down and soon all the aliens had arrived into the room, each staring at one another knowing not the purpose of their visit. Each was skeptical, but also honored to be here in the presence of Lord Prognie. Some of them owed him their lives, while others owed him their loyalty. Murmurs regarding the purpose of the meeting were vibrant, some of them afraid that they had been summoned to be killed for their disloyalty to the Emperor.
"Quiet please," the command was followed by suggestion and respect. Each voice quieted to nothing and silence filled the room like a blanket. "Now you may all be wondering why I have summoned you, some of you are afraid this is your last moment of life." The last part made Prognie grin, faces turned to a nervous smile as they looked at one another for comfort. "But do not fret, I am not here to kill any of you but offer you a new path to follow. You all know that coming to this convention is meaningless, even if I take all your complains to the Emperor he will disregard it as weakness and force you to work even harder to please him."
"What you need is a solution, one that will not only be of benefit to you now but also save you in the long run." Prognie stopped to get a feeling from everyone, most of them were inquisitive if not slightly nervous at the deal. They understood this to be treachery, betrayal of the Empire was treason and to admit so was to be destroyed and replaced.
"What I offer you all is a way out, a change for the betterment of your own systems and planets, all it requires is your trust in me." The Dark lord reached to them in the force trying to reassure them that he was not here to betray them in turn. He needed them just as much as they would need him
"Vut you ask of thisss group is treason, Lord Prognie" The Verpine from earlier said.
Prognie simply nodded, "That it is, but it's treason to this Empire. By creating our own we are simply rejecting Shadow's Empire and making our own for the betterment of our people." Prognie made sure to include himself, he wanted them to know that he was a part of this as much as they were.
"It iss possible for us to work things out, perhaps the solution is not the path to take. We could work to hiz heinouz's espectations" the Verpine responded. Prognie understood that the Verpine did not want to be caught with the worst of it. He wanted, for record, to be known as the one that wanted to work things.
There was little respect on those that hung onto the fence, grabbing a card he slid it to the Verpine as well as a datapad. "Right there is proof that you have much to fear from this Empire." The card contained information regarding how to properly subjugate the entire Roche asteroids and their production. It was old information but was kept in case the Emperor ever needed it. Prognie falsified some of the information to include reasons to make the Verpine believe he was already in immediate danger.
The plan worked, the Verpine stared at the information almost in disgust, "Diz is an outrage!" He yelled and looked at Prognie, who in turn nodded in agreement.
"There is information similar to that on all of you, information on how to subjugate you to the Empire's rule if the Emperor deems you unworthy of the task of leading. While there's not much to worry, I don't believe the Empire has any more capable Commanders on hand since Lord Acrimonous stepped down, the Empire does have many ships to try it anyway."
"But how will we combat those numbers then!" the representative from Fondor said curiously, he was right. While they didn't have the power to fight the Empire he could recruit powers that did. "That's why we need Fondor. Fondor is in just as much trouble as any, if anything it's in a worse position. The Emperor expects much from Fondor while Kuat slacks off, I need Fondor and Duros to give us the strength to combat the Empire." Prognie said it frankly, the Duros representative eyed him closely knowing that he could support them or not.
"Mon Calamari is already under my own control, which means it is beginning construction on five new ships that will not be in the Empire's control, and they are already developing new designs that will benefit us. The stronger and united we appear, the more systems that will come rallying to our side in opposition to Shadow's rule. By having three major shipyards on our side, we can prepare to fight Shadow when the time comes."
There were more whispers as people began to question what Prognie would do, they believed he was going to sell them short and have them fight his war. There was a grin of amusement, "For those of you who believe I am leaving you to fight this war. Do not be foolish, I am already plotting a means to remove Shadow. I am simply asking now for us to prepare, while I have much reason to believe that I can succeed at removing Shadow, I want a plan to be in place in case I fail. It will give me a way to knock him on his back before he can recover we will be ready to strike him back when he gets up. You all will be privy to my plans, and we will command together. It is vital that we trust one another, and it's vital that you trust me now."
The room quieted again as each began to think, the idea of removing shadow was of great interest to them all, but doing so put them all on a dangerous list. How could they fight the might of the Empire? None of them were ready for the task but knew it was necessary.
"I ask that everything that has been said be kept a secret, return to your homes angry and hopeful for change. Do not reveal anything, do not let it be known that we are plotting. Simply prepare with those that you can trust, I will be in contact with many more systems that will be just as trustful as you all. Our only future lies in change, and I promise that we will find that change in working successfully together."
Finally each representative nodded in agreement and pledged their support. With Duros, Fondor, and Mon Calamari on his side he would be able to provide his new Empire with ships to combat the already mighty navy of the Empire. Today had been productive and glorious, the beginning of a new Empire was in the midst.
