Regrad strafed left and right, keeping his head bowed and his sword angled to reflect light in the eyes of his opponants. The training holograms reacted, trying to get a better firing position, but their movements were hampered by their thick Imperial Stormtrooper armour. With neat backhand motions, Regrad brought down each of the twelve man unit. As the last one vanished, however, he felt a sudden stab of pain - no, he had not been hit.
The training simulation ended, and Regrad muttered curses as he stretched his arm, feeling the strain in his arm's muscles. He wasn't old, he reassured himself, it was just a matter of training. Everyone thought they could be the greatest warrior the moment they took up a weapon, but it took a lot more training then that. Satisfied that the strain was too great to continue for now, Regrad sheathed his blade and left the training hall of the Azguard Coalition Academy.
Yolem, ever present as his most loyal lieutenant, stood nearby and bowed. "I trust all is well, sir?"
"Not so much, Yolem. But I don't wish to bother you with my problems right now, tell me, how does the academy fair? It appears to be in working order, but I would like your opinion."
Yolem nodded. "It appears to fair well, sir, from what I have seen. The Knights here are indeed well taught in their disciplines, and our soldiers benefit from the constant training. The facility is not overly-filled at any time and maintains adequete staff, it is not over-budget or lacking in spirit and dedication. Overall, I would say it is a fine place, sir."
Regrad and Yolem stepped out into the courtyard of the academy, moving to their awaiting speeder and observing the units of soldiers marching in the early morning light. "We are perhaps prepared to face our enemies on one field of battle, Yolem, but today I prepare to embark on a mission to take on a much more dangerous foe." The solemn tone in his voice was unmistakable.
This seemed to disturb Yolem somewhat, who said "Is there some enemy, sir, that dogs us? Have some events played out that have escaped my notice? Who threatens the Coalition? Is it the Dragons, the Hapans, the Sith?"
"Worse." Said Regrad. "Much worse. Our creditors."
The training simulation ended, and Regrad muttered curses as he stretched his arm, feeling the strain in his arm's muscles. He wasn't old, he reassured himself, it was just a matter of training. Everyone thought they could be the greatest warrior the moment they took up a weapon, but it took a lot more training then that. Satisfied that the strain was too great to continue for now, Regrad sheathed his blade and left the training hall of the Azguard Coalition Academy.
Yolem, ever present as his most loyal lieutenant, stood nearby and bowed. "I trust all is well, sir?"
"Not so much, Yolem. But I don't wish to bother you with my problems right now, tell me, how does the academy fair? It appears to be in working order, but I would like your opinion."
Yolem nodded. "It appears to fair well, sir, from what I have seen. The Knights here are indeed well taught in their disciplines, and our soldiers benefit from the constant training. The facility is not overly-filled at any time and maintains adequete staff, it is not over-budget or lacking in spirit and dedication. Overall, I would say it is a fine place, sir."
Regrad and Yolem stepped out into the courtyard of the academy, moving to their awaiting speeder and observing the units of soldiers marching in the early morning light. "We are perhaps prepared to face our enemies on one field of battle, Yolem, but today I prepare to embark on a mission to take on a much more dangerous foe." The solemn tone in his voice was unmistakable.
This seemed to disturb Yolem somewhat, who said "Is there some enemy, sir, that dogs us? Have some events played out that have escaped my notice? Who threatens the Coalition? Is it the Dragons, the Hapans, the Sith?"
"Worse." Said Regrad. "Much worse. Our creditors."
***
"It is shocking how fast an entire nation's wealth can be exhausted." said Regrad, sitting at the head of another sitting of the House of Representatives. Gone was the sword and the armour, and in it's place he wore the simple robes and symbol of office of the Prime Minister of the Coalition. "The government can afford to continue on, the tax paid is a tough one but not an unfair one, and so we can for now afford our expenditures.
"The problem is much deeper then that, I'm afraid. As most of you are aware, the problem is one that will touch the government last of all. Regional economies within the Coalition have not developed adequetly to manage the strain that we have put on them to make changes and keep pace with our ideals, and the damage will not start with failing government programs or underfunded initiatives, it will start with homelessness and unemployment, with shortages and staggering debts that begin to rob us and our people of that which they earn. By the time the increased weight on our social institutions coupled with the decline in tax revenue becomes so noticeable as to effect us, it will be too late, and we will lack the ability to respond. We must put a stop to this problem now, before it escalates, so I will open the floor to ideas."
The house, with its' representatives seated around the room, felt a low ripple of whispered discussions and murmured ideas. One representative stood, and spoke in the gargling language of the Aqualish. His translator spoke for him. "Perhaps it has been our emphasis on social progression that has hurt the economy? Much of what we need tax for, societies should be able to handle on their own - homelessness, unemployment, these are issues for the communities not the galaxy."
Viryn Quell seemed prepared to dig up an old speech about social responsibility, but Regrad politely whispered for him to relax. Regrad stood instead, and said. "Though it is true that cutting social programs would buy us time, it would only delay the problem that our economies are simply underdeveloped for the standards, requirements, and needs which we have put on them. To cut these social programs would hurt us more then help right now, since those that are being helped by them would be cut loose, and would contribute to the situation we are trying to resolve. Whether we have any place setting a social agenda is a debate for another time, as either way it will not help us here."
Deorit snorted, and stood from his seat amongst the representatives. "It is obvious why our economy is faltering. Regrad would have the Coalition form a war-machine to match that of the Empire, and disregarded the fact that we lack a powerhouse economy of equal strength to the Empire to maintain such a force. It is this short-sightedness that is costing us, I say!" This got several murmurs, some of doubt but others of curiosity.
"Deorit, although your stances towards militaries are more then clear, may I remind you that the government's budget is more then enough to support the military at this time, meaning that they are not dragging us down since we do not need to increase our tax or otherwise weaken our economy to support them. Besides, to cut down the army would not only hurt national unity but also put many of our own people out of work."
"Don't you see, though?" said Deorit. "Because you have these people playing soldier all across the galaxy, there is significantly less manpower at their homes to boost the economy and do the work, which is why their home regions are sputtering so."
"Although your point seems logical, if I may I would like to point out that the current problem is that there is not business or jobs in the Coalition, no work to be done or wealth to be worked for. The army and a shrewd tax plan are the only things keeping most of our service-people from being trapped in poverty."
This seemed to shut up Deorit for now, who took his seat. Regrad once again addressed the whole House. "We must not taint this solution with our own personal agendas or prejudices, as a failure here will devastate the very core of our Coalition and ruin our hopes of advancement. If we are blinded by our own personal paradigms we will not be able to see the answer to this problem, and doom our nations to recession. Let us look at all the financial records, reports, and appraisals that we can find, see if we can divine exactly where and how the problems have occured, the flaws in our system. Only then can we take action."
"The problem is much deeper then that, I'm afraid. As most of you are aware, the problem is one that will touch the government last of all. Regional economies within the Coalition have not developed adequetly to manage the strain that we have put on them to make changes and keep pace with our ideals, and the damage will not start with failing government programs or underfunded initiatives, it will start with homelessness and unemployment, with shortages and staggering debts that begin to rob us and our people of that which they earn. By the time the increased weight on our social institutions coupled with the decline in tax revenue becomes so noticeable as to effect us, it will be too late, and we will lack the ability to respond. We must put a stop to this problem now, before it escalates, so I will open the floor to ideas."
The house, with its' representatives seated around the room, felt a low ripple of whispered discussions and murmured ideas. One representative stood, and spoke in the gargling language of the Aqualish. His translator spoke for him. "Perhaps it has been our emphasis on social progression that has hurt the economy? Much of what we need tax for, societies should be able to handle on their own - homelessness, unemployment, these are issues for the communities not the galaxy."
Viryn Quell seemed prepared to dig up an old speech about social responsibility, but Regrad politely whispered for him to relax. Regrad stood instead, and said. "Though it is true that cutting social programs would buy us time, it would only delay the problem that our economies are simply underdeveloped for the standards, requirements, and needs which we have put on them. To cut these social programs would hurt us more then help right now, since those that are being helped by them would be cut loose, and would contribute to the situation we are trying to resolve. Whether we have any place setting a social agenda is a debate for another time, as either way it will not help us here."
Deorit snorted, and stood from his seat amongst the representatives. "It is obvious why our economy is faltering. Regrad would have the Coalition form a war-machine to match that of the Empire, and disregarded the fact that we lack a powerhouse economy of equal strength to the Empire to maintain such a force. It is this short-sightedness that is costing us, I say!" This got several murmurs, some of doubt but others of curiosity.
"Deorit, although your stances towards militaries are more then clear, may I remind you that the government's budget is more then enough to support the military at this time, meaning that they are not dragging us down since we do not need to increase our tax or otherwise weaken our economy to support them. Besides, to cut down the army would not only hurt national unity but also put many of our own people out of work."
"Don't you see, though?" said Deorit. "Because you have these people playing soldier all across the galaxy, there is significantly less manpower at their homes to boost the economy and do the work, which is why their home regions are sputtering so."
"Although your point seems logical, if I may I would like to point out that the current problem is that there is not business or jobs in the Coalition, no work to be done or wealth to be worked for. The army and a shrewd tax plan are the only things keeping most of our service-people from being trapped in poverty."
This seemed to shut up Deorit for now, who took his seat. Regrad once again addressed the whole House. "We must not taint this solution with our own personal agendas or prejudices, as a failure here will devastate the very core of our Coalition and ruin our hopes of advancement. If we are blinded by our own personal paradigms we will not be able to see the answer to this problem, and doom our nations to recession. Let us look at all the financial records, reports, and appraisals that we can find, see if we can divine exactly where and how the problems have occured, the flaws in our system. Only then can we take action."
