When Novak's fleet dropped out of hyperspace in Druckenwell System, it was a seething man who paced the bridge, alternating between thanking whatever gods there were for his small fortune and cursing whatever fates had cost him two ships. The precious droid cargo had been removed from the Vengeance, as well as many of the weapons component systems that still functioned. It was a hard job working with droids who weren't precisely designed to repair or remove systems, but Novak was confident that what had been salvaged would go a good way towards repairing, in some ways, the rest of his damaged vessels. When the task was complete, the stripped vessel was set on an automated heading with reactors primed to overload. Novak wasn't about to leave the pieces sitting around for someone else to pick up.

What had been quite unforeseen was the loss of the Sunfire and its entire cargo. With the navigation systems blown, the vessel had 'wandered off' straight into Tatooine's gravity well. What was left to come out the other side, for the engines had gone to full remaining power, wasn't pretty. In fact, it was chunks of useless scrap that wouldn't be worth much to anyone but a Jawa, and even then that was stretching it. The loss of two vessels, especially the droid forces in an entirety on one vessel, was a great annoyance.

Fortunately, upon his arrival and, thankfully, not having lost any further vessels in the hyperspace jump, which seemed a miracle within itself, Novak received an encoded message from Tyra, apparently having been routed through one of the planetary satellites and meant to transmit to the Valor's transponder signal. During his downtime in transit, Novak had taken the opportunity to reactivate the IG unit assigned to him for defense. Rajek, as Novak had named him, had been a faithful and interesting companion through many escapades. If Novak had a lieutenant of any sort, Rajek would be the closest thing to it. Friend might be taking it a bit far though.

When the communication came through, Rajek retrieved it and passed information to Novak, who settled into the bridge command chair to read over the report. It appeared Tyra had been a busy little bee after all, achieving something worthwhile. There were large lists of bribes that had been paid out, swaying this person or that person to the cause. Paying for public speakers had been a large portion of that budget as well, it seemed. there were other reports, a smaller list, of certain individuals who had been persuaded through use of the Force on some matters of this and that. Mainly it seemed to be exploiting greed and preying on people's fears of what might happen if a strong and honest leader did not represent them in the New Republic Senate. It appeared Druckenwell was ripe for the plucking.

Tyra had been kind enough, it seemed, or perhaps at least wise enough not to try and double cross him yet, to transmit his codes to the Druckenwell port authority. His archaic ships were hailed and, once the transponders were verified, Novak was given clearance to leave them in orbit. He would be using his own craft to gain the ground.

Once everything was arranged, Novak met with Rajek in the hangar. With his robes newly cleaned and Rajek freshly buffed, the pair entered their craft, heading for the surface, specifically Druckenwell's capitol building, for a meeting that Tyra had set up. Now would come the specific 'selling one-self' portion. Novak's impatience was obvious as he fidgeted in his cockpit before calming himself. This had to be a good impression, after all.

Added (04 Apr 2009, 8:39 Pm)
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The modified Belbullab-22 starfighter breached the atmosphere of Druckenwell in a dive, its movements echoed by the Porax-38 starfighter to its left and behind just a tad. It was a rainy day in this section of Druckenwell and the pair of small craft had emerged into the atmosphere over one of the planet's massive oceans. It was chaotic sight, arriving in the middle of a lightning storm. Bolts of electricity cracked around Novak and his escort's craft as the pulled out of the dive, leveling some thousand feet or more above the waves and heading towards the capitol city of Druckenwell, where, amongst the rain-swept streets and government buildings, a group of powerful and influential men awaited his arrival.

Tyra Vosana truly had outdone herself, Novak thought. Her deft management of credits, raw materials and the Force along with a few bribes and persuasive speaking had landed this meeting. Now it was whether or not he could show himself as worthwhile and useful to the assembled meeting of high-placed businessmen and government officials who ran the government as a whole. The process wasn't likely to be as simple as Novak wished. He could hardly demonstrate a show of force, especially with two ships missing and an entire army.

Putting such thoughts from his mind, Novak guided his snubfighter in to the covered landing pad, closely followed by Rajek's fighter. Emerging from the rain-splattered craft, Novak adjusted his robes, waiting as the four blaster-armed dark-blue clothed men of the Druckenwell security forces approached to meet him. The surprise was evident on their faces as Rajek descended from his cockpit. Suppressing a smile as they came into speaking range, Novak could only think how odd it must be to see an IG-100 series droid after so long. Ah, well. Stranger things happened to people every day and they took it in stride.

"Jericho Novak? I'm Lieutenant Arath Matril. Welcome to Druckenwell."

"Rather nice weather conditions today. I assume you gentlemen are here to escort us to our destination?"

"That's correct. There's a landspeeder waiting outside the hangar for us. The trip to the capital should be uneventful."

Motioning for the Lieutenant to precede him, Novak strode forwards with Rajek a step or two behind and to the left, the clink of the electrostaff striking the duracrete audible at every other step as the droid used it as a walking staff. Outside, with the curtain of rain obscuring things, the squarish lines of a modified SoroSuub V-35 landspeeder were barely visible until it pulled up and under the overhang. With the cargo compartment gone, there was plenty of room for the six passengers to enter.

Relaxing against the plush seats, Novak closed his eyes, ignoring the security men around him. It would do for the time being as an escort. Whether they knew it or not, they were carrying their future senator towards his destiny. With the rain still audible and, beyond, they crack of thunder, Darth Novak was taken in style towards the ascendancy he would have.

Added (05 Apr 2009, 5:36 Am)
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The pouring rain did little to dampen Novak's spirits as he departed the speeder, heading up the great marble steps of the capitol building. If anything, the enormous structure seemed a fitting throne for this world of commerce and production. Almost as beautiful was its solitary shipyard, far out beyond them in space, but not far from Novak's thoughts. It would bring revenue and more jobs into the fold once it began churning out Druckenwell's future defense force.

Surrounded by the small detachment of men, Novak and Rajek were led to the doors which were shadowed by a massive overhang protecting the standing guards there from the harsh elements. The security forces here seemed more alert than the men who had greeted Novak from the start. As he'd expected, he was searched for weapons; a task that proved fruitless for he'd remanded his tools of war to the custody of his fighter's cargo holding. Rajek's electrostaff, however, was taken for the time being by the guardsmen. It was nearly a joke, for they as well as Novak knew the droid could kill with its bare hands as well as any weapon.

Moving through ornate halls that were relatively quiet in the early evening hour, Novak savored the splendor and art that had gone into the crafting of the structure. Rising columns with fluted tops, wall hangings depicting various scenes or governors of the planet and decorative vases, several of which looked as if they had come from Alderwomen; all were taken in and savored. Just because his views did not equal those held by most law-abiding citizens didn't mean he was not cultured. He was no vicious, snarling Maul with animalistic horns.

Further in and up many wide flights of stairs they walked. A lift tube would have been a nice touch, but the exercise and view made the longer travel worth it many times over. Novak's haste was no longer as great as it had been when he'd first arrived in-system. Instead, he was oddly tranquil in his own way, with neither need nor wish for anger at the present moment.

Ahead and closing, the boardroom awaited, where Novak would meet his future partners of this world and upon whose fortunes and emotions he would rise. A second weapon search once again turned up no material that could be used, at least obviously, to cause harm. With this screen passed, Novak was ushered into the room, where Rajek took up a waiting stance to one side of the door.

A number of men and several females looked towards him as he entered; all well-dressed and older than he by at least eight years by the look of their faces. Tyra, oddly, was not present amongst those assembled. He would just have to proceed without her for the time being.

Added (06 Apr 2009, 7:01 Pm)
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Novak enjoyed the brief moment of surprise that was quite evident on the faces of those within the room when Rajek entered and took his guard-like position near the door. The security forces had been startled as well, but they'd been much better at concealing it. These upper-class members of the Druckenwell society were far less adept at playing certain things close to the chest, it seemed. Then again, in this day and age, people didn't quite expect to see relics up and walking around. Novak paused at that thought, wondering if he would be considered a relic in his views and thoughts now. Alas, there was little he could do. He had no power to turn back time or change the past. It appeared he also had no further time to think on the matter, for a rather tall, older man with distinguished features was approaching him.

"Jericho Novak! What an honor to meet you at last. Your assistant, Miss Vosana, has spoken quite highly of you in political and financial arenas. I am Governor Lomen Ryuun. Be welcome to Druckenwell."

"A pleasure, Governor Ryuun. And who, may I ask, are your esteemed associates here?"

Turning slightly to better be able to address both Novak and the others in the room, Ryuun began pointing to the different people and naming off their names and jobs. The short and slightly balding man on the far left who looked like a jolly trader turned out to be Herman Zess, owner and CEO of Druckenwell Shipyard Corporation. That was a slight joke, seeing as how Druckenwell only had a single capital-capable shipyard, but it was better than nothing. The female to Zess' left with a pinched face, glasses and a severe case of bad makeup was Lorraine Kolth, a prominent member of Druckenwell's financial community amongst the bankers. There was Ulman Wentz, a rather slight and unassuming man who looked quite ordinary. He happened to be the current CEO of what had been SGI Systems Inc, a major producer of droid parts within the Mid-Rim area. Roland De'bronjo was the last truly important man that Novak noticed. He was manager of the BlasTech weapons manufacturing planet on Druckenwell. The rest of the people within the room seemed to be mainly associates of the primaries whom Novak had already met; city mayors and smaller business owners and such. It was the large crowd he would have to convince.

With his arrival, the grouping took seats around a large rectangular table, preparing, it seemed, for a dinner which would provide the basis for his speech and their talks. Food certainly couldn't hurt the matter. Taking a seat towards the upper end of the table, Novak had just been served when a younger female across from him leaned forwards, raising her voice slightly to be heard around the rest of the conversation.

"I couldn't help but ask, wherever did you acquire that IG-100? I had heard they were a rarity in the galaxy since the Clone Wars."

Novak could hardly repress the smile now. Letting it come forth in an easy manner, he swirled the drink in his glass slightly, some form of wine which he had no intention of drinking. "I received him straight from the production line, minus a few programs here and there and with a few upgrades that weren't stock. He's as good as the day he was made... which doesn't seem that long ago."

Slightly taken aback by the comment, which rang of its own strangeness, the female sat back, closing her mouth for the moment. Within a few seconds extra, she had turned to her left and was conversing animatedly about crops. Novak took the opportunity to assess the table. He'd begin speaking to those assembled within a few minutes. Let them enjoy their meals a little longer.

Added (07 Apr 2009, 2:22 Am)
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Dinner was a relatively pleasant affair, even if Novak did not eat the food set befoe him or drink from his glass. Too many wise and shrewd beings within the political arena had been undone by a poison placed stealthily within food that was supposedly safe. While Novak may have been recently reawkened, he certanly hadn't been born yesterday. All too soon, though, it seemed, the food was done and the small talk was drying up. This was hardly just a nice dinner with the planetary governor after all. When Ryuun motioned for Novak to stand and speak, the younger man pushed back his chair and glanced at the waiting faces.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Druckenwell government and various corporate factions, I thank you for having me here tonight. It has been a pleasure to meet most of you and have the chance to converse. I can hardly consider myself an expert on Druckenwell and its inhabitants, but I do feel as if I know you better now."

As he began his speaking, Novak was furthering the seeds Vosana had planted. A gentle, deft touch of the Force on this person or that; a simple brush or a lightly guiding finger.

"The galaxy today is in an uproar of change. Why, only yesterday it seemed that an Empire with tyrannical beliefs and harsh punishments was set above us. Now it is gone, replaced by a New Republic that stands for freedom and equality. In an instant, all that we knew has changed, and for the better so far.

"With every change comes a price. The price for the galaxy's freedom, for Druckenwell's freedom, is the Imperial Remnant. The New Republic cannot be everywhere at once, liberating planets while simultaneously governing those who have joined them with fairness. It is for this reason that I fear for Druckenwell and her noble, industrious people.

"From all that I have heard, the Imperial Remnant is desperate. Every day, they lose territory, assets, personnel and supplies to the New Republic. Druckenwell is a prime site, what with your well-stocked shipyard, BlasTech manufacturing plant and other assorted wealth and production sites.

"It is for this reason that I have come to ask you, no, to beg of you, let me aid you."

Novak fell silent for a moment, deftly weaving the Force to his will. His words and initial touch had them enthralled. Now he would push on and seal them to him. They didn't need to dwell on his origins. Let them dwell instead on safety on prosperity. They would have it and more if they gave him what he wished.

"Let me place my few ships and droids alongside the well-trained men and women of the Druckenwell Security Forces. Allow me to supplement and keep safe this noble planet for the sake of its people. I would not ask for money, for I am no mercenary. I do not wish to take what is rightfully yours and belongs to you and your people.

"All that I ask, my sole humble request... is that I be allowed to represent Druckenwell and bring it forth as a shining jewel into the safety, security and wealth of the New Republic."

There, the final push. It would be in their minds now, mulling about. Safety. Wealth. Security. Three things that most sentients focused upon in their lives. Glancing around the table a final time, Novak took his seat.

Added (08 Apr 2009, 1:35 Am)
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"This is an odd request, coming from a foreigner..." Ryunn spoke slowly, obviously considering the matter at hand. Oddly enough, his mind was the strongest in the room; a rare, relatively honest man who was less corrupt than those who shared the table with him. Of course, 'less corrupt' was far different than 'not corrupt at all.' It would be a shame to have to kill the man. He was likable enough and, from the data sent by Vosana, open to new innovate ideas. The man hadn't stayed planetary governor for so many years without many tricks of the political trade.

"Odd, but I sense a certain sincerity in you, Mr. Novak. Your aide, Miss Vosana, was quite well-spoken in addition. I will not lie; all of us here know the woeful condition of Druckenwell's space forces. We have survived by staying off the radar for so long and keeping a low profile. Eventually, the Imperial Remnant is likely to take an interest in us. If we are conquered, we will, like as not, be forced into servitude. If and when the New Republic could come to our aid, we would suffer many casualties to our military and civilians in the ensuing battle.

"I realize it may be a large leap of faith... but you have my support, Mr. Novak. I speak for the people of Druckenwell when I say that I would endorse you as Senator of our people. I am sure that the other prestigious people within this room will back you as fully as I have agreed to do, so long as you keep the primary interests of the people of Druckenwell in mind. I hope you realize that, for the time being, until we can inform the entire population, that your position as Senator is official, yet unofficial. It will take several days for the news to go out and approval documents to be completed. However, until then..." Ryuun raised his glass, smiling.

"To the newest citizen of Druckenwell, Senator Novak."

The murmured assent of the members of the upper echelon of Druckenwell went around the table, amidst the sound of glasses being raised and then the contents imbibed. Amidst it all, Novak kept a modest smile, though inside, he was overjoyed and quite relieved that it had worked. For a long moment or three, he had believed he would be denied at the last moment. Perhaps some of the luck he'd once had was still with him.

"My new friends and companions, I am truly honored to be chosen. I will go with all haste before the New Republic Senate and petition for Druckenwell's entry. This valiant world will not be left to sit idly while enemies abound in the galaxy. I promise to do what is best for the people of this world, making us all safer, richer and happier than before."

Added (08 Apr 2009, 2:24 Pm)
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