Interregnum/Chapter Three

Interregnum: Chapter Three

Raynar Hornnen stood beside his desk with a concerned look on his face. He glanced about the room. Everything seemed to be in perfect order. His display of droids seemed as it always did. The room was clean, cool, and had a rather pleasant smell. Last time he checked his business card still read "Czerka Corporation." Keeping those factors in mind, he could not figure out for the life of him why his store was empty. He glanced at the Korun at the other side of the office who was reading a datapad idly. He coughed once and threw his finger into the air. "Darin, I have an announcement to make," he declared, as if he had been planning to speak for some time.

The Korun stopped cleaning and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sith's blood..." he muttered in annoyance.

Raynar did not seem to notice the words at all, but looked forward, as if he were making the most of a dramatic silence. "Business is bad."

Darin shook his head at the human. He was a young man with a face that was not necessarily unattractive. He had very expressive blue eyes and nearly always wore a Czerka Corporation uniform, regardless of where he was. "Maybe if you tried harder you'd get more customers."

The human did not seem to get Darin's point. Perhaps he simply did not care or even listen. "Darin, you weren't threatened with being fired today. Why is that?"

The Korun returned to his reading of the datapad. "Because I won a bid to refit a chunk of the incoming armies. Dammit, Hornnen, we've had this stupid conversation three times today. Now you're going to be speaking about this being the biggest-."

Raynar threw his finger into the air once more, again paying very little attention to the question he himself asked just a few moments ago. "You know, Raynar, this is the day before High Day. It's the biggest shopping day of the year! That is the first thing I learned at the academy in the Corporate Sector."

"Hornnen, you've never been to D'ian, let alone the Corporate Sector."

Raynar nodded in a grave manner, although not really to his companion. "Last year on this day we had plenty of orders! I took an order for a full complement of droids. It's the truth. But this year - Nobody. Business is bad."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Hornnen, you are just stupid as -. Wait. Did you hear that?" he said, motioning for Raynar to quiet down.

"Hear what?"

"Shh... Outside... It's like a chant," Darin said softly.

The two both left their desks simultaneously and walked over to the window. The Korun put his ear to it, an action Raynar quickly imitated. The muffled chant Darin had heard before was growing in intensity. Some angry words from what seemed to be a mass of people began to become clear. The Korun gave his companion a very dire look, which after a moment of thought was returned. They opened the nearby door and went out on the balcony.

A large number of people had gathered around a large pile of durasteel crates that had been deposited in the middle of Monument Plaza. They were all chanting something and occasionally breaking out into cheers or boos depending on the mob's general mood. The more interesting thing, and the feature that had captured the people's attention, was a young Human who stood atop the pile. His trendy clothes and fashionable hair gave him away as a young member of the upper class, and he carried what looked to be a datapad. The young man also had a huge amount of the populace, be they rich or poor, fawning over him and generally agreeing with what he had to say. The executives heard him yell something dramatically, although the mass of frenzied people made what he exactly did say almost impossible to make out. Nevertheless, it sent the people into an even greater uproar. Darin gave another look to Raynar, now more worried about this young man.

The demagogue started moving his hands to quiet the group down, and managed to succeed. Hundreds of eager eyes were upon him, watching him as if he were the Supreme Chancellor himself. The young human smiled slightly as he looked about the citizens of the Republic and started to speak. "My people!" he declared in a voice that was obviously no stranger to oration, "My people, the nightmare is over! Our four month struggle is coming to an end!"

He was broken off by another cheer from the crowd. He moved his arms up and down to quiet them once more. "I have discovered a cure, yes a cure, to the pestilence. Please, silence, please. And this very cure is in the Jedi Temple! The whole, truth, yes, I cannot lie! Not about this!"

The crowd broke into cheers again. Darin; however, did not share in their revelry. Raynar looked at him quickly and looked back to the demagogue. The crowd started to chant again, albeit in several different variations. The human waved down to the mass of people once more. "My beloved kinsmen, I cannot provide this cure by myself! Indeed, I need your aid! The Jedi, they have barred all entrance to their Temple! Please, I need your aid to save you!"

The crowd exploded once more. "The injustice!" one cried.

"How could the Jedi hold back this information?!"

"I think that the Jedi made the disease, and are gonna profit sellin' the cure to us!"

The young human pointed towards the Jedi Temple dramatically, to the point where it seemed rehearsed to Darin. But during the time he opened his mouth to speak, the look on his face turned from confidence to fear. Breaking through the mass of people was a small group of Coruscant Security soldiers bedecked in riot gear, pushing down the adoring crowd and making their way steadily to him. He turned in a panic and tried to break into a run. However, he seemed to forget that he was on top of crates and fell onto the ground with a crash. During the time he was trying to pick himself up, one soldier had managed to catch up to him and held him to the ground until a second arrived and bound his hands together.

A third soldier took out a datapad and started to read mechanically, "By order of Defense Minister Jiran Damaris, I present the order for the arrest of the confidence artist Dak Muro, also of the aliases Tac Kopos and Garen Rekkon. He is to be taken Substation A-56 immediately. If anyone interferes, they can and will be punished with obstruction of justice, a crime with a penalty of no less than two years of jail time. That is all."

The other two guards lifted the human to his feet. "A-An attack on free speech!" he cried out in desperation, "Help me, my people!"

However, after his shameful capture his charisma dissipated. The reactions of the mob varied from being mildly upset at the worst to boasting that they had known it was a sham from the start. The group started to break up and go about their business, paying no attention to the human's feeble attempts to drum up an attack on the soldiers. Darin shook his head. "Looks like we missed most of it, Raynar. That's the second prophet this week. Things are starting to get ridiculous."

The two walked back into their office and went to their respective desks. Darin returned to reading his datapad, while Raynar read some receipts in an attempt to look productive. After a few moments, Raynar decided to speak up, "Darin, do you really think that young man had a cure for the disease?"

Diran made no attempt to stifle his laugh. "Are you out of your mind, Raynar? Don't you pay attention to the Holonet? The hard part isn't curing it, but - Raynar, are you even listening?"

The Korun gave the human an odd look, as the latter was staring into space, as if he were contemplating something. Diran leaned forward a little on his desk, looking inquisitively at the human. "Hey, Raynar, are you okay?"

"Diran... Business is bad!" Raynar declared, throwing his index finger in the air dramatically.

Diran slammed his fist into his desk in frustration.