A House Divided
Rensler - The Law Offices of Ku'lya, Kast & Vosadii LLP
Callum Rensler leaned back in chair, an old, black leather thing that couched him very nicely, and waited for the newest addition to his team to speak. It took a moment, but the young man eventually got the sense that it was his turn to talk.
“Well, there are constitutional issues implicated here,” the associate said. Obviously. He was young. Very young. They get younger every year, and I get older. “But the Chancellor’s Article IV War Powers take priority over, well, almost anything, right?” he asked. The question was tentative. “That is, if the Senate passes a statute empowering him to,” the associated added. It was the oldest of balances to strike in this sort of conversation, for the junior associate to present himself as intelligent, casually, while also subtly acknowledging that he knew almost nothing.
The Chancellor’s Article IV war powers take priority over almost everything, yes, an answer straight from a lecture given in whatever law school this associate graduated. But do the Article IV war powers allow the Galactic Senate to pass a statute empowering the Chancellor to exercise seizure of property derivatively protected by the Contemplanys Hermi and its corollary accords? Maybe. It would make sense, on its face, but the outcome would make the guarantee to Corellia of its ability to suspend its membership of the Republic worthless. The lawyers were going to have a field day with this one if it passed.
“What’s your name again?” Callum asked.
“Ben. Ben Croya.”
“Right, Ben,” Callum continued. “Did you intern with us before coming on?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s correct. I was here two summers ago. For the program,” Ben Croya said.
“So, you’re a first-year associate,” Callum said. “You’ve been here, what? Three months now?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Alright, you know the drill then. I want you to go through Horvatz’s Treatise on Galactic Constitutional Law and give me briefs on every case on the Chancellor’s Article IV war powers with respect to the Contemplanys Hermi. You know what, look for anything having to do with the Contemplanys Hermi and the Takings Clause too. And drop some footnotes on general commentary from the Treatise while you’re at it, alright?”
“Uh, sure. When do you want that by?”
“Immediately, Mr. Croya,” Callum said, pointing at a holofeed in the corner of the room. Even on mute, they could almost hear the chants as the camera feed panned over thousands of protesters on the streets of Coruscant, Corellia, and a dozen other words besides. “If you haven’t noticed, the situation is a little urgent.”
“Of course,” Mr. Croya said hurriedly. “And when you say dropping footnotes…”
“Just ask Narayana,” Callum preempted him, waving him off. Ben Croya, first-year associate, scuttled out of Callum’s office. These kids. Callum keyed a few buttons on his desk terminal and put a call through to Narayana to warn her of her upcoming visit. As it rang, her profile came up on his terminal screen. Narayana Navi, graduated from Anaxes School of Law with the second highest honors available, certificates of excellence in corporate and securities, government, and real estate law, and a fifth-year associate at Ku’lya, Kast & Vosadii LLP.
“Hi Cal,” the Mirialan said, voice cheerful and strained simultaneously. It was a busy day for all of them.
“Hey Raya, I sent down that first-year to you. Roya, I think his name was?”
“Ben Croya. He’s a good kid.”
“Sure. I have him briefing cases on Article IV and the Contemplanys, he has some questions on formatting for you, I think.”
“That’s not nice, Cal,” she said, scolding but almost laughing. Callum smirked, looking out over Coruscant through the sliver of window which passed for a luxurious amenity on this most densely crowded of worlds. Mr. Croya would find frustratingly little to present in his memo. He’d probably end up panicking a bit, Callum imagined, wondering if he were missing something hugely important that was sure to get himself fired not even three months into the job. Callum remembered being an associate.
“It’ll keep him busy. We’re paying these kids too much, Raya,” he said. “Where are we at on the backers for this thing?”
“I have a list of senators supporting the resolution ready, but I’m still compiling their financial donations over the last few months. I have a few of our guys in data analytics going over the statistics and, uh, they think they’ve found something interesting,” she said.
“Yeah?” Callum asked, perking up a little. ‘Interesting’ was good. Maybe. ‘Interesting’ could be bad, too. Very bad, if it was the wrong kind of interesting.
“We’re seeing some deviations from traditional voting patterns on this. A lot, actually. Senators going cross-message, flip-flopping. More than usual,” Raya said. “More than you’d get from lobbying under normal circumstances.”
“Well, these aren’t normal circumstances," Callum said, but thoughtfully. They were extraordinary circumstances, really, but the analytics these days had a real way of cutting through the muck and mire. It couldn't be ignored. "You don’t think people are being bought, do you?”
“No. I mean, maybe, but I don’t have anything definite for you,” she said. Callum nodded.
“Send me that list, Raya.”
- - -
So, this is an investigative mystery RP focused on corruption and politics in the heart of the Galactic Senate that will played out in-tandem with a developing plotline revolving around Corellia.
The main thrust of the RP is straightforward enough. Through the exercise of the Galactic Senate’s War Powers clause under Article IV of the Galactic Constitution, a weighty number of powerful senators have introduced a bill to the Senate floor authorizing the Chancellor to seize the Corellian Engineering Corporation’s shipyards in response to the developing Free Corellia crisis, which, it seems, is bordering on outright revolution.
The problem with this proposal is the Contemplanys Hermi, an obscure clause in the Galactic Constitution that allows the Corellian sector to suspend diplomatic relations with the Republic and temporarily declare itself a neutral, independent state separate and apart from the Galactic Republic. The resolution in question, Resolution 4-1138-95, raises constitutional issues on the grounds that the ability of the Galactic Senate to seize Corellian assets protected by the Contemplanys Hermi renders the sector’s ability to separate itself from the Republic entirely ineffective, reducing the Contemplanys to an unenforceable promise on paper.
While Corellia—and indeed, many of the more independently minded worlds in the Galactic Republic—are outraged at this turn of events, all legal precedent suggests that the War Powers afforded to the Galactic Senate take precedence over such constitutional concerns in the event of an emergency such as the one brewing on Corellia.
As irreconcilable differences are wont to do, the resolution threatens to make the Galactic Senate—and the Republic itself—a house divided.
While to the eyes of most this political drama is unfolding in the due course of politics, one lobbyist in a corner office of the politically-oriented law firm Ku’lya, Kast & Vosadii LLP senses that something is amiss, and endeavors to sift through a web of corruption, greed, and illicit profits to determine who, exactly, stands to gain from turning the Republic against itself.
If you’re interested in joining, drop a little interest-post below and feel free to either draft a full character for the RP, or participate through the drafting of a supplemental character you’ll use for this RP alone. A brief template for such supplemental characters will be provided in the near future. Obviously, supplemental characters can be drafted into fully fledged PCs whenever you like. Whatever works for you.
To make this idea work, I’d love to source some smugglers, spies, politicians, and the like for this story line. Hell, an investigative journalist would be an awesome addition. Dig up some dirt for the Coruscant Star Gazette or something. I imagine I might wind up playing most of the antagonists in this, but if you’re interested in playing a corrupt politician or businessman, an agent of the antagonists, or the like, let me know and we’ll coordinate something.
Once we have sufficient interest, we’ll kick this off with some story boarding sessions to get a sense of direction for the actual writing, and I have a suspicion the plot will take us from there.
