Fwurg

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

When the hovercar of Empress Saret Neferti stopped it was clear she had arrived at the Praetorian Embassy. The hovercar parked close to a 25 floors high building. The embassy terrain was filled with one large building. On top of the building there is a very large statue displaying the head of Praetorian Emperor Thorios Olchazith.

The center of the building contains a large courtyard that reaches up to the 25th floor. In a circle around the courtyard there are many offices that are easily reachable for flying creatures. For some it might be interesting that the few staircases that the building contains only reach up to the 10th floor.

The building has two large wings containing the quarters and offices for most of the normal embassy staff, the left wing contains the financial staff and the right wing contains the political staff. The compound is continuously guarded by multiple Praetorians flying around it and at least one guard at every entrance.

At the main entrance Ardios Eldrilith is waiting for his guest to arrive. When the Empress arrives he makes a short bow and greets her.

"Welcome to our humble abode. I would like to say that it is an honor to receive the Veolian Empress at our embassy."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

After the hovercar came to a stop the front door opened, and a hooded woman stepped out of the vehicle and quickly opened the passenger door. A twi'lek woman wearing a simple dress and carrying a large fan got out of the car, and turned around to offer a hand to help the veolian empress step out of the vehicle.

After the greeting of senator Ardios Eldrilith, she replied: "We are thankful for your hospitality and look forward to an afternoon well spent."

While the empress spoke, a second hooded woman got out of the vehicle and joined the empress' entourage.

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"Please come inside."

Ardios Eldrilith stepped aside and waited for the security officer to check the weapons. The security officer looked at a screen that displayed a hologram of all the weapons that the guests were carrying. After the security check Ardios stepped towards the security officer.
"Thank you, we will be in my office."

Ardios looked at the group.
"Please follow me."

Ardios moved through the courtyard and stepped onto a large platform.
The platform is a large forcefield that is used as a elevator. The transparent forcefield moves all the way up to the 25th floor.

Ardios Eldrilith moved into a large office containing comfortable chairs and pillows. The walls of the room are decorated with trophy like sculptures.

"Please take a seat.
Your majesty, how was your visit on Unity so far?"

[Empress Saret Neferti]

The empress sat down in a comfortable chair, while the twi'lek woman sat down on a pillow.

"It has been an interesting experience so far. I find it interesting to see that only the newer members of the Union have an interest in speaking with me, while the established factions have studiously ignored my presence. I am at a loss as to why this is..."

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

After the Empress sat down Ardios settled on a large pillow like chair. "It is indeed remarkable. The communication with the older Union members is not as good as we had hoped it would be when we joined the Union. The newer Union members are actively trading and discussing political issues, they make sure that our Union membership is still worth a lot.

Since I was the minister of Foreign Affairs in the past term I am well aware of the mission that you will depart on in a few weeks. We admire your courage and determination for this mission. Now we have time to speak I would like to ask what you are planning to negotiate while you are there."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Maybe the older factions do not think that our small economies warrant their attention. Maybe we should leave them in that illusion", the empress smiled.

"As to the diplomatic mission; I am hoping to find out what the Slave Rebellion needs and my husband has asked me to find common ground for later, more economically oriented, negotiations.

I am also looking forward to hearing their opinion on the Hutt families, and hope that news of our granting asylum to one of their officers has reached their ears."

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"Looking at the past events we are confident that the Slave Rebellion could be a worthy ally.

Looking at the current situation they might need our help holding the Hutt families at bay.

The Praetorian Empire believes that this is the most honorable and correct approach, therefor i would like to offer our full support on this mission. If there is any way we could assist you now or during the mission do not hesitate to ask. "

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Your offer is most generous, but for now there is nothing that I would ask of you. I will tell lady Nehket to contact you should venues of cooperation open up during or after my trip.

As to the trip itself, even though I have heard some interesting things from my contacts within the Jedi temple, I have confidence in the jedi assigned to be my protectors. Between you and me, I have heard stories coming from the temple saying that children are assigned to important duties... And while I do not doubt the personal power of such a child -- they are jedi after all -- I have my doubts about their judgement with regard to politics and culture."

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"Although some of the padawans are really very young indeed they successfully completed the previous missions. They have proven to be resourceful.

I have no experience with them in person but i must agree that they are a little young for politics. It will be a great learning experience for them, they learn very fast.

The politics should not really be a problem since you and your ladies in waiting do have enough years of experience to handle this part of the mission.

Nonetheless as their commander on this mission you might have to point them in the right direction once in a while. Like any other children they still have much to learn."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Ah, very perceptive.", the empress seemed rather agitated.

"There you have hit the main point: I am not their commander. And I am certainly not their mother or tutor.

I do not go on this diplomatic mission to teach a few children how to behave, and my ladies in waiting are there to serve me, and me alone. It is all well and fine that this might be a good learning experience, but that will not keep my ladies in waiting or my belongings alive!"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"I am sorry your majesty, I did not mean to offend you.

Let me explain.

In Praetorian culture the highest ranking individual takes control of a mission. This means leading the mission but also taking responsibility for the actions from his underlings on the mission. In most cases this means that he or she will let them do what they are good at or he will have to provide them with education for their weak points.

When it comes to these Jedi padawans they will probably be very good in combat and they should be capable to keep you and your followers alive. But the case of politics, it will probably be one of there weaker points since they simple do not have the years of experience yet."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"I see. But the Jedi council has not indicated that they have placed the jedi responsible for my safety under my command. However, if I were to be responsible for their actions, I would require obedience to my commands, and I do not think that the Jedi council will accept this."

The empress paused for a short moment.

"Does this automatic control of a mission not pose great problems when interacting with different cultures, or when enacting missions between different factions within the Praetorian Empire? For example, as far as I have gathered the praetorian empire has no nobility, so it will be unclear who should take command.

Next to this, it seems highly unlikely to me that the highest ranking individual will always have to assume command. Let's say that you were to travel to the Veolian home world. Would you be in command of the vessel you travel on, or would it's captain be in command, and therefore responsible for the crew and passengers? Certainly the captain would be responsible if something were to happen to you?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"It is true that the Praetorian Empire has no nobility, but it is certainly not unclear who has command. All Praetorians have their place in the hierarchy with at the top of the food chain our emperor.

You could compare it with the system the Union military uses. A chain of command were a sergeant has command over a small group of 8 soldiers and a lieutenant has command over multiple sergeants etc...

The rank of a Praetorian is partially based on his titles which are earned by honorable service and good or profitable deeds.

When it comes to the example of the captain it depends on his position. If he was under my command in the hierarchy I would be responsible for his actions, but since he is under my command I would trust his training to be first class and he or she would never have come this far without being a capable trustworthy honorable individual.

In any other case I will hold his superior responsible for his actions as any other Praetorian would.

When we interact with other species we assume that they have their own chain of command to deal with things. I agree that It could be hard to say who is in command when multiple cultures are involved."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"Where does offspring fit into this scheme? I am aware that your people lay eggs, and that the hatcheries of the praetorian sport some of the most advanced genetic correction machinery currently available in the Union. But is it not true that the qualities of a newborn are unclear until it had time to grow and learn... When is the placement in this hierarchy determined?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"It is very simple, everybody starts at the bottom and everybody has the chance to grow in the hierarchy by honorable service and good or profitable deeds. It depends on the education and occupation of a individual where they start in the hierarchy although it is always at a leaf node in the tree of command."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"I am confused, if you use a tree as the metaphor for your hierarchy, would younglings not start at the roots? Surely, leafs are high up in the tree?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"Of course I should have been more clear here. What i meant was the mathematical tree that is also known as a undirected graph. I will show you an example."
Ardios showed a small example on his communication pad.



"The Root is our emperor and our children start at a leaf. The real graph has much more levels and every node can have many children in the graph."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"So... where does the wife of the Praetorian emperor fit in? Or does your culture put less emphasis on marriage, and instead has opted for the benefits of controlled genetic matching even though this reduces the chance of beneficent mutations?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"The Emperor is not married and does not have a wife. In our culture marriage is a pure ceremonial ritual. It is not necessary for a Praetorian to be married if he or she wants to be successful."

Ardios paused for a moment.

"Although it is possible and most of the genetic information is available from the hatcheries there are hardly any controlled genetic matchings. We do believe in the power of beneficent mutations, our hatcheries only remove weaknesses to diseases and genetic problems."

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"What you say seems to be at odds with the words of Attor Galeru.", the empress replied.

"He informed us that every aspect of a praetorian egg is scanned and corrected, preferably in the first year. This strongly implies that there some genetic template is used for these corrections. However, using a genetic template, even flexible ones, would limit the possible mutations to segments of the DNA deemed non-critical, as any deviation of the template would be seen as a incorrect and should therefore be corrected.

He also spoke of the correction of genetic disorders. This would be more difficult, as recognizing the difference between genetic disorders and beneficial mutations is, at least with the current Veolian technologies, nigh impossible. This would require the full development of the embryo be simulated within its native environment. This, in turn, would require more processing power than calculating the hyperspace trajectory of a large planet. Unless, of course, one would not actually distinguish genetic disorders, but just compares them to known-good templates; which won't allow room for beneficial mutations."

The empress seemed very enthusiastic, it seemed she is talking about a favoured subject.

"If you indeed have found a way to separate genetic disorders from beneficial mutations I would be very interested in personally visiting these hatcheries and speaking with some of the staff."

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"I am not a genetic scientist myself but Attor spoke with me about the basics. "

Ardios paused to think for a minute.

"From what he told me we are currently aware of almost all genetic disorders that lead to diseases. Our genetic models contain the gene sequences for all the disorders and even include information on variations and combinations with other disorders. These models are used when our eggs are scanned to decide where repairs are required.

Attor might have made it look like that we correct every string of DNA but this is not the case, we only repair DNA of known genetic disorders. Our scientists believe that this still gives more than enough room for mutations.

When a new disorder surfaces we are capable of analyzing its impact within a few generations, after which we decide whether it is beneficial or not.

Recent developments in genetic boosting have shown that with a little bit of extra engineering the quality of life can be improved as well, resulting in the longer life span Attor talked about in his speech. Some advisors doubt this approach but Attor believes that it is worth more research.

How do your people fight genetic diseases on Mirda?"

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"We don't actively 'fight' genetic diseases", the empress started, "they are just not propagated to the next generation."

"We believe that trying to correct genetic diseases will do more harm than good, as even our extensive knowledge on the delicate interplay between enzyme activation, gene expression and what little we know of hemetism do not grant us the ability to predict the eventual phenotype.

However, we rest assured that very little genetic diseases are passed to the next generation. Stillborn children do not procreate, and malformed children are helped to move on after birth. Those that live, with diseases that manifest later in life will most likely not find a mate as others will be very reluctant to marry someone clearly marked as an inferior specimen. Diseases that manifest late in life will be hedged out due to people not wishing to marry the progeny of such diseased parents. Diseases that have a negligible impact on one's phenotype do not matter, in fact, they might even be a way out of a evolutionary local maximum.

I understand that this may sound harsh, but take into account that we have millennia of expertise in the field of genetics, and that treat such matters with the utmost seriousness. Next to this, most noble families have tracked their lineage since the written word -- though the times of chaos have rendered much of our historical knowledge illegible, the genealogical archives withstood all that the universe threw at it.

This is not to say that we are against genetic manipulation or genetic engineering, we do however strongly object to the correction of genetic problems. We see such corrections as interfering with the grand design of the universe, it is a step that leads a species away from their eventual evolutionary pinnacle. And we know the potential is there, the existence of hemetism makes such clear to all."

"I can understand how, from an outside perspective, it could even be called to be our guiding religious belief... Do your people believe in anything beyond the known, senator Eldrilith?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"We understand that the Veolians have a different view on genetics. It is interesting that your culture protects itself from genetic diseases and weaknesses in such a different way.

Some Praetorians belief that they are guided by there ancestors. They see it as their duty to prove themselves worthy to their superior and their ancestors. A honorable live is very important for a Praetorian. Most Praetorians are not religious this makes sure that our sciences have not been hindered by primitive beliefs in a long time.

Your culture is selective when it comes to genetic engineering. Are there any other sciences that are restricted by your people?"

[Empress Saret Neferti]

"We are indeed selective in what we practice, but we do not restrict the sciences. We strongly believe that even though genetic correction is not the path forward, we should pursue this subject with the same zeal with which we pursue other fields of study. One can not predict the insights that are gained from pursuing a subject, so even though we do not intend the research to be applied to improve our own lot, we do see the benefits of correcting genetic disease in other species, such as crops or farm animals.

There are few fields of study that are being restricted by law. But the perceived cultural value of some research is deemed to negative to pursue the field, or the research is being done under the cover of secrecy, to prevent problems. An example of this is cybernetics, or chimeric genetics. Extensive research is being done into cybernetics, but mostly to restore bodily functions. Augmentative cybernetics, though we understand their value, is largely ignored due to cultural implications.

You said that some Praetorians belief that they are guided by their ancestors. This intrigues me, what evidence supports this belief?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"Like all religions, it is based on faith and not on scientific evidence. Some Praetorians claim that their ancestors influence certain situations and turn the tide in their favor but I am skeptical on this. I do not believe that they still have a direct impact on our lives after they have passed away.

Although honoring your ancestors by visiting their grave and remembering them is important. We learn what they did in their lives and what they made possible for us. It is part of our direct history. We can learn from their mistakes and their honorable deeds and use this knowledge to our advantage. We strongly believe that wisdom comes with the ages, thats why our emperor is surrounded by our elders for advice and support."