Imperial Palace- Bastion- Wednesday
It was an agonizing couple days of silence and secrecy, clandestine meetings with Reige about what was going to happen, things they needed to do get set up to cut off any Moff/Sith retaliation at the pass, and how to handle public outcry. Jaina was always present, though she felt extremely out of her league as her league had always been the one focused on action and the opposite of subtlety. Tahiri was sometimes present, sometimes not, because the meetings were just as boring as being kept out of sight but at least it was a change of scenery.
Then after those couple days, when the rumors about Reige picked up momentum, they allowed Jag to be spotted at the Palace, since he had been invited by Reige for assistance on things before.
And then the next day, there was an announcement about a transition of power, and that was that, aside from waiting for the fallout.
It was the next day when Jaina came down to what was in the process of becoming Jag's office. She'd only been here once or twice when he'd been Head of State, and it made for a weird sense of nostalgia that was added to when she saw who was at the desk outside of said office.
"Ashik!" she greeted the Chiss with a smile. She gave him a hard time, but she actually liked him, and he'd been a loyal assistant to Jag, and that was the most important thing. "Welcome back."
"Good to see you, too, Empress Fel," he said in return.
Jaina actually cringed.
Ashik made no mention of it, because he was good like that. "He said he didn't want to be disturbed."
"Yeah, that works even less on me now, but nice try," Jaina said, heading into Jag's office anyway.
She found Jag at his desk, the office more or less completely empty since Jag hadn't known that he would need any of his things from Coruscant before coming here. He was leaning back in his chair, reading reports on his datapad and frowning, which also added to the nostalgia.
Jaina came around to his side of the desk and perched on the edge of it. "Looks like things are going well?"
"I have to say, I expected at least some kind of notable outcry about this," Jag said, placing the datapad on the desk.
"You're upset that there's not an uprising?" she asked.
"Actually, yes," he admitted, shaking his head. "I tried very hard to introduce democracy to the Empire, Reige continued on that path, and now it's gone and no one really seems to care that much."
"Oh." All right, she could see his point. "No one's reacting?"
"There are some not-flattering news reports, protests on a couple planets, but nothing big. I'd say that means I have more work to do, but I just declared myself Emperor," he said dryly. "There have been a few people in the administration who quit on principle, and I've reached out to them."
"Why?"
"If they have principles, they're exactly who I want to keep around."
Jaina nodded, thinking that was a pretty good point. "How was the meeting with the Moffs?"
"Oh, they are not happy," Jag said. "I didn't tell them our suspicions, of course, and I think they know they're in for some changes. But the last time they found out I was going to be in charge I had the backing of Luke Skywalker, and your father was threatening to shoot them, so they were quieter this time."
"They were quieter without my dad and uncle?"
"Instead of them I had with me the Jedi who killed Gilad Pellaeon. Yes, they were quieter," Jag said.
"Spoken like a true despot," Jaina teased, moving to sit in his lap. She used to do that a lot too. "It'll be okay, you know. Yeah, none of this is ideal, but you still have the ability to make a lot of positive changes for the people, even if they don't realize it."
"Or appreciate it," he added.
"Or appreciate it."
"That's optimistic of you, considering you don't want to be in charge," Jag noted.
She'd hugely resisted the idea, and still hated it, but at the same time she felt pretty horrible just sitting around doing nothing. "I don't. But I could maybe do some good working with the military. I've got the experience, but it should case me cognitive dissonance and make all the Rogues I've ever worked with hate me forever."
The hardest part of this was the very real worry that everyone was going to hate her forever. For Jag, it was like a continuation of his former career, and no one was going to hold it against him. But Jaina had dealt with opposition to this sort of thing all through their engagement, so it was going to be much harder.
"Wedge at least doesn't hate you," he said helpfully.
"Have you heard from him?" she wondered.
Jag nodded. "He sounded disappointed, not mad, and like we might have a stern talk in our future, but he's open to listening."
"Hey, including Tahiri, that's two people who are okay with us," Jaina said, feigning brightness.
"Also Reige and Ashik," Jag added.
"Ooh, a whopping four people."
"See, running an empire isn't going too badly."
Then after those couple days, when the rumors about Reige picked up momentum, they allowed Jag to be spotted at the Palace, since he had been invited by Reige for assistance on things before.
And then the next day, there was an announcement about a transition of power, and that was that, aside from waiting for the fallout.
It was the next day when Jaina came down to what was in the process of becoming Jag's office. She'd only been here once or twice when he'd been Head of State, and it made for a weird sense of nostalgia that was added to when she saw who was at the desk outside of said office.
"Ashik!" she greeted the Chiss with a smile. She gave him a hard time, but she actually liked him, and he'd been a loyal assistant to Jag, and that was the most important thing. "Welcome back."
"Good to see you, too, Empress Fel," he said in return.
Jaina actually cringed.
Ashik made no mention of it, because he was good like that. "He said he didn't want to be disturbed."
"Yeah, that works even less on me now, but nice try," Jaina said, heading into Jag's office anyway.
She found Jag at his desk, the office more or less completely empty since Jag hadn't known that he would need any of his things from Coruscant before coming here. He was leaning back in his chair, reading reports on his datapad and frowning, which also added to the nostalgia.
Jaina came around to his side of the desk and perched on the edge of it. "Looks like things are going well?"
"I have to say, I expected at least some kind of notable outcry about this," Jag said, placing the datapad on the desk.
"You're upset that there's not an uprising?" she asked.
"Actually, yes," he admitted, shaking his head. "I tried very hard to introduce democracy to the Empire, Reige continued on that path, and now it's gone and no one really seems to care that much."
"Oh." All right, she could see his point. "No one's reacting?"
"There are some not-flattering news reports, protests on a couple planets, but nothing big. I'd say that means I have more work to do, but I just declared myself Emperor," he said dryly. "There have been a few people in the administration who quit on principle, and I've reached out to them."
"Why?"
"If they have principles, they're exactly who I want to keep around."
Jaina nodded, thinking that was a pretty good point. "How was the meeting with the Moffs?"
"Oh, they are not happy," Jag said. "I didn't tell them our suspicions, of course, and I think they know they're in for some changes. But the last time they found out I was going to be in charge I had the backing of Luke Skywalker, and your father was threatening to shoot them, so they were quieter this time."
"They were quieter without my dad and uncle?"
"Instead of them I had with me the Jedi who killed Gilad Pellaeon. Yes, they were quieter," Jag said.
"Spoken like a true despot," Jaina teased, moving to sit in his lap. She used to do that a lot too. "It'll be okay, you know. Yeah, none of this is ideal, but you still have the ability to make a lot of positive changes for the people, even if they don't realize it."
"Or appreciate it," he added.
"Or appreciate it."
"That's optimistic of you, considering you don't want to be in charge," Jag noted.
She'd hugely resisted the idea, and still hated it, but at the same time she felt pretty horrible just sitting around doing nothing. "I don't. But I could maybe do some good working with the military. I've got the experience, but it should case me cognitive dissonance and make all the Rogues I've ever worked with hate me forever."
The hardest part of this was the very real worry that everyone was going to hate her forever. For Jag, it was like a continuation of his former career, and no one was going to hold it against him. But Jaina had dealt with opposition to this sort of thing all through their engagement, so it was going to be much harder.
"Wedge at least doesn't hate you," he said helpfully.
"Have you heard from him?" she wondered.
Jag nodded. "He sounded disappointed, not mad, and like we might have a stern talk in our future, but he's open to listening."
"Hey, including Tahiri, that's two people who are okay with us," Jaina said, feigning brightness.
"Also Reige and Ashik," Jag added.
"Ooh, a whopping four people."
"See, running an empire isn't going too badly."