Video - 004 - How You Like Me Now?

[iceheart_imperial]

[Her excitement has been growing, the past few days. Events are finally moving, and with that comes a significant thrill. So far it's all been a game of shadows, her real objectives clouded and hidden. Even her subordinates have no idea - none whatsoever. But there is a grand design, and even by her high standards she's proud of it. Accumulating influence, accumulating capital - these were a necessary Phase One but hardly challenging. To someone who had managed a galactic economy, figuring out investment for the United States was an afternoon's distraction. Discarding habits of a lifetime, now...that was more her style of challenge.]

[It was time for Ysanne Isard 2.0, as they put it here - no stupid coup, no insurrection or suborning of the government. No violence of any sort, as it happened. The United States was, for her at least, very much the land of opportunity. Two thrusts, and one began today.]

[When the camera turned on, she was all business, leaning against her desk with arms folded. But there were signs, for those that knew how to look. For a start, the lighting of her office, the camerawork was very clearly professionally handled. The second was she was in her red uniform - though with an American eagle where Imperial rank bars would usually go. Official, but with a visible allegiance.]

Well good morning to everybody. A couple of items of housekeeping to attend to today, but I promise some of it will be exciting news for everyone.

First of all, a number of my employees sent me a letter asking me to pass on specific congratulations to one of my investment clerks, Eric Goldmann and his wife Nancy, on the birth of their daughter, Hannah. I believe the appropriate phrase is Mazel Tov.

Which brings me to my next point. We'll be doing some reorganizing in the upcoming month. For a start, the overarching structure will be reorganized into Isard Industries, and we'll be starting up a public investment firm in addition to the work we've been doing privately, alongside the agency. My employees, every last one of you, has performed magnificently - so I'm happy to announce that I've spoken to your representatives about ensuring that these are fully unionized workplaces. I know it's not a common thing, here - but you'll have management's full backing in creating a partnership with labor that benefits us all.

[And now, it's time to move on. And the song that's been in her head the last few days comes back to her. She'd heard it, randomly, on the radio and it had stuck with her. It got the blood flowing. And after the small ripples, now was the time to throw the big rock in the pond.]

And as some of you may know, we had a major announcement in Washington yesterday. Press packets will be available on our website when I finish up here.

[She stands tall, her pride clear. Time to confound her enemies, even those who don't know they are yet. And thank you Darth Nox for riling her up - it had caused her not just anger but prompted her to re-arrange the board.]

The Empire I once called home had much that needed to change. Over the coming months, as its sole representative [No question about who has the authority here. How you like me now?] I will ensure that change comes to pass. This is a land of opportunity, of second chances - and I will bring you the best of my universe, to make our shared world a better place. As a result, in partnership with the United States government, we are launching the Galactic Training Corps Program - bringing the finest in Imperial training in peacekeeping and counter-insurgency tactics to the aid of the American military.

[An image flashes onto the screen, and it is very clearly an idealized image of an Imperial stormtrooper, standing next to the Imperial symbol surmounted by the American eagle. Images that follow from the roll-out feature a man and a woman in mock-up armor standing with high-ranking military personnel. Everyone is all smiles. This is expertly crafted propaganda, designed to appeal to American sentiments.]

I'll be providing the start-up cash and the training, with command and control of course resting with American authorities. We hope this partnership flourishes in the coming months, and the program is open to American military personnel of any branch in the service, of any gender. We hope to see the best of you, and give you our best in return - for the commonly-held future.

[She smiles, her attitude a mixture of pride and patriotism for her new land. Of course there's more to it than that. But it looks good, it sounds good. And so her Phase Two comes...to ensure against Sith power and declare herself - in her subtle way - an independent force to be reckoned with. Darth Nox had posited that they shared enemies, in essence that they served the same cause. But they didn't. And she would never play the servant again.]

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to growth and opportunity with all of you.

[How you like me now?]

Comments

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[irondad]

( Though he doesn't know about the Empire of which she speaks, Tony understands her general mien, her Presence, and of course what her message means.

Intimidation, show of strength, yadda yadda, he's well-versed in the language. )

Just what every Cold War needs. Third-Party Sponsors.

( it's lightly spoken, just this side of dry without any real accusatory tone. he's not here to pick a fight.

yet. )

[iceheart_imperial]

I'd hardly be the first. I think you could use that as an equivalent term for the entirety of the Warsaw Pact, for a start. That particular...rabbit, I think, is the expression...has been out of the hat since 1945.

[Weirdly enough, it's not how she meant it - not that part, at any rate, and not aimed at him. It's not him she'd want to intimidate, but the princeling cultists of her universe. But it will quickly become apparent that she has studied the situation, and the United States, very well indeed.]

It's a way in which I can help, so I can. Surely, it's incumbent on all of us, where and when we can, to help?

[irondad]

Honestly, I'm surprised that's still trucking. On my Earth- ( clearly the Superior Better Earth, as far as he's concerned, ) -the Warsaw Pact dissolved in '91, same year the USSR itself fizzled out.

( Ten days after his parents' deaths, the day after the worst Christmas of his life. Hard to forget.

Tony slides his thumb against his bristly jawline, mild. )

When can we expect your run for office?

[iceheart_imperial]

[She shrugs.] I can't speak to different circumstances, but I suspect this universe's version of the KGB did a superb job of espionage in terms of science and technology, back in the 1970s and early 1980s. It's the only working explanation I have for how they made leaps forward in computing, which in turn is what has allowed them to continue to centrally plan an industrial economy.

[She laughs, briefly, at the latter.]

Hopefully, never. I have no desire to be a politician.

[It sounds truthful because, as it happens, it actually is the truth. To her, power has always been a necessity, increased in crisis after crisis as she found herself the only competent figure in the room.]

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[afallon]

"Peacekeeping"?

[iceheart_imperial]

[There is a slight pause, and a slight chuckle.]

I had difficulty with the concept at first, too. The idea is putting armed force between two warring parties - and neither party will want to attack the third, which represents significantly greater military force.

[afallon]

What an interesting excuse for an occupation.

[Not that he sounds upset by it - his tone is all dry amusement.]

[iceheart_imperial]

Indeed, but it turns out they've invented a rather new sort of occupation - namely, one undertaken for moral purposes. It came out of the disasters of the last century and a fellow named Pearson. Really quite fascinating.

Helped keep powers in check and stemmed violence. It works, strange as it sounds to unfamiliar ears. Quite brilliant, frankly.

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[ct_7567]

The American government agreed to work with you in a leadership position of the military after you've been here for a matter of months? I mean no disrespect, but your partners seem short-sighted at best.

[iceheart_imperial]

[There is just the slightest beat as she parses that. And suppresses the response to the perceived insult.]

I don't want to correct you, Captain, but I won't be. Command and control remains exclusively in the hands of the government. I'm providing the impetus and cash for the training and a portion of the equipment.

[And worm your way inside the CIA's structure as she had, see how it goes. People who would back any hare-brained scheme if it achieved other objectives they had in mind. Witness how time and difficulties simply...melt away, then.]

In truth, I was hoping you'd lend some of your expertise to training videos, or the like. The knowledge of the 501st would be a great boon to the process.

[ct_7567]

I'm an old soldier. I do the paperwork, and I watched every holo of the Senate I could get my hands on. Training, funding, equipment -- that's the stuff that dictates who wins the war. Much as soldiers like us resent that.

[ He holds a hand up. ]

I'm not accusing you of anything. It's just not what I would do in their position. And ordinarily I'd be up for some training, but I don't hold with training any men I don't intend to fight alongside.

[iceheart_imperial]

[She shrugs, her face understanding]

I am forced to work with the tools I have. If I can save a few lives this way, bring some of these ugly little conflicts to an end a little more quickly...I think I have an obligation to do so.

And that is a position worthy of a Captain of the 501st. I can respect it, easily.

permavideo

[killtime]

[ She hadn't been entirely convinced of Poe's suspicions before. And honestly, she isn't completely convinced now either — not because she trusts this woman that she's spoken to an entirety of two times, but because the Empire can't possibly be the exact same beast here as it was back home. Logistically, if nothing else. Still. Doesn't mean it won't end up being a pain in someone's ass.

Probably hers, eventually. By some damnable combination of bad luck and her inexplicably close association with half the people from the universe that spawned the Empire to begin with.

Dryly: ]

You've been busy.

[iceheart_imperial]

[She managed a small smile, and a sigh.]

I don't think I know any other way to be, any more. But things need to change, and I am in a position to do it. Thus, it happens.

[killtime]

[ The dryness doesn't go away, but it's not unfriendly. Habitual, maybe. ]

Well. Can't fault you for having initiative, I guess. [ Not yet anyway. That same dryness, unrelenting: ] The world could probably stand to be a better place.

[iceheart_imperial]

[One thing's for certain, she wouldn't want to play sabaac against her.]

We're in agreement, there. This world has so much potential. But so many things it needs to get past. I sincerely believe that the cultures of this planet could take to the stars and go on forever.

My goal, I think, will be gently directing them that way. To dream of space again. They did, for a time. And then forgot.

[bifroster]

[Jane thinks about this before she responds. First, she is surprised that someone was able to move so quickly with the American government. Having experience only in trying to get funding from it, she was under the impression that it was slow. Then again, Isard was a force to be reckoned with. Jane knew this right from the start.

But ... She herself comes from a bit of a military background. She's heard and seen arguments, seen propaganda, multiple sides to the same story, and something doesn't sit well with her. Maybe it was because Isard said Empire. Maybe it was because she knew exactly which world she was talking about. Maybe she knew a few pieces of the puzzle of how that empire came to be and what it cost to get there. She cannot help but wonder if there is more to all of this and how the dust will settle.]

Are your trainees going to be specially trained police for domestic support or will you be going into international affairs?

[iceheart_imperial]

[Oh, there absolutely is more to it. She's creating a cannon to aim directly at the Sith so they'll never underestimate her again, for a start. Strangely, it isn't part of her grand design at all - but rather a necessity of the moment.]

[As regards the government, well, she had her ways. She'd been worming her way into the CIA since Day One - her experience dovetailed rather nicely with their interests, after all, even if they kept her from any position of authority. For now.]

I'd point out this is merely additional training for extant units and individuals - you'll have to ask the Department of Defense about any plans for application.

[bifroster]

[Interesting. One would think that without an Empire, without the Force and many other hallmarks of their universe, they would not be at each other’s throats. Then again, personal history was hard to let go of. Even in another universe.]

Hmm. So, specialty training like snipers or bomb squad? I’m just curious.

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[hellufacade]

My, my, her lady imperial is keeping busy, I see. It is as they say, no rest for the wicked.

[ He’s coming live from some outdoor area in downtown Nonah. ]

Send along one of those packets, won’t you? I hear paper with lies printed on them burn better, and I’m plum out of kindling.

[iceheart_imperial]

[Oh, it's him. The plot thins. If she was going to hook an antagonist, it could at least have been one of the ones she actually wanted to deal with. Ah well. Best laid plans, and all that.]

[Her look becomes very carefully neutral.]

A tragedy, I'm sure. And how wonderfully theatrical of you. And after the Department of Defense went to such trouble on the program's behalf.

You won't find a word of a lie in it, though.

[Honestly, it's so much better to do your work while wielding actual facts. Nobody sees it coming, for a start.]

[hellufacade]

Oh come now, there’s little reason to exaggerate so. Besides, a nation at war can’t possibly be fully honest, less so its Department of Defense. To think, a woman who takes austerity to new, grim depths could be so naive.

[ He takes a seat at what must be a café and very rudely orders while still on video. ]

But I’m sure it all makes you feel very important and in control.

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[eightfoldlight]

[ Peacekeeping. Counter-insurgents. ]

[ Yenh generally wants to keep an open mind. Yet... and yet... memories of who and what Ysanne is have clattered around in the swirl of her thoughts, despite her best efforts. They can no longer be denied. ]

[ She knits her brows in concern for the camera as she visibly works through her options. She settles on the most dreaded of all phrases. ]

I believe we need to talk.

[iceheart_imperial]

[It's the first time in her life she's heard the phrase, and thus it comes with no cultural baggage - though she'd be a fool to miss the intonation. And it does more to set off worry in her mind than the Sith do.]

Oh. Yes, of course. Please, come by the office - I'll clear my schedule.

[eightfoldlight]

[ Yenh bobs her head, demeanor sober and serious. ]

I'll be there in an hour.

[ She cuts the feed without another word or gesture, getting up from what she was doing to attend to this. This isn't how she wanted to spend her day, but she's also well acquainted with this sinking feeling. The Warrior of Light's whole life is one big unpleasant turn of events, and the professional always outweighs the personal. ]