                                Star Wars 

                           Wizard's RPG Stories

          source : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/newsarchive
          upload : 10.IV.2006


     Political Platforms

     By Morrie Mullins

     As conflict mounts on Cularin, a citizens' meeting discusses the problems
and benefits of the planet's platform  cities.  The  governor,  a  Tarasin,  a
Bothan from Thaere, and other prominent  individuals  make  themselves  heard,
while none other than Yara Grugara moderates the event. Our latest  supplement
to the Living Force campaign ties in to the scenario "Lockdown on Soboll."

     As conflict mounts on Cularin, a meeting of the citizenry of  Gadrin  and
Hedrett  is  convened.  Initially,  all  is  chaos.  Then,  several  prominent
individuals make themselves heard, including: Karid Blakken;  Counselor  Westa
Impeveri's current aide-de-camp, a Sakiyan named Brug D'Shar; Governor  Barnab
Chistor of Gadrin; a Tarasin who calls herself Kaguya; Vanster Enan,  Ithorian
owner of the?Sop House? chain of cantinas on Cularin; and Mirt, a  Bothan  who
claims to have immigrated from Thaere. These six, for a  variety  of  reasons,
were called to the front  of  the  meeting  to  address  their  concerns.  The
moderator for the event is none other than Yara Grugara.

     Yara: If I could have your attention please. Your attention?

     She pauses, looking out at the crowd gathered in one  of  the  big  empty
hangars  of  the  Hedrett  groundport.  The  crowd,  restless  from   whatever
discussion has gone before, continues to simmer as  Yara  waits.  Slowly,  the
murmur settles to a sustained (if barely perceptible) communal whisper.

     Yara: Thank you. I think that you'll all agree that the previous form  of
our dialogue really wasn't getting us anywhere. Yara - - and everyone on  this
makeshift stage, which frankly looks like it's  going  to  fall  down  at  any
moment - -  thanks  you.  What  we'd  like  to  do  is  allow  the  half-dozen
individuals who seemed to have so much to say that none of  the  rest  of  you
could get a word in to discuss things in a more civilized environment.  That's
the idea, at least. Plus, with Yara as a moderator, we know that there will at
least be someone else speaking from time to time.

     Voice from crowd: How about someone else shutting up,  every  once  in  a
while?

     The communal whisper rises in volume and then settles back once  more  to
its dull baseline.

     Yara: I'm not interested in talking, actually. The panel has much more to
say on this than Yara. So, the topic: How important are the platform cities to
Cularin, and what should be done with them?

     She takes a seat to one side of the front of the stage, folding her hands
in her lap.  For  several  seconds,  the  six  panelists  who  are  seated  in
uncomfortable metal chairs at a long table look at one another,  then  at  the
audience.

     Blakken: Right. If nobody else is going to say it, I will.  The  platform
cities are a drain on the economy and a problem for the planet. We should pull
out of the jungles and not disturb anything else.

     A smattering of applause. The Tarasin panelist nods her head, but doesn't
speak.

     D'Shar: Mr. Blakken is clearly confused. From a  logistical  perspective,
there is no way to do as he suggests. Cularin is simply too populous  for  any
kind of withdrawal from the platform cities to be practical, and if he had any
legitimate experience in Cularin politics, he would know this.

     Blakken: Legitimate experience? I'm not the one  who  helped  engineer  a
fraudulent election, wampa-breath!

     D'Shar holds up his hands and shakes his head, a classic gesture of?Heard
it all before.?

     Blakken: Look, I'm not here to talk about how his boss lied, cheated, and
stole to obtain office. I'm past the point where I care. Counselor  Impeveri's
done a reasonable job since he took office, and I had no intention of bringing
up the fraud when I sat down here. But if someone else wants to make an  issue
of it to distract  us  from  the  matter  at  hand,  well,  I  can't  be  held
responsible.

     More than a little applause from the audience. It seems that Blakken -  -
the last individual to challenge Impeveri for the counsellorship - - still has
some supporters on Cularin.

     Chistor: I think the points Mr. Blakken and Mr.  D'Shar  make  both  have
merit, which only makes the dilemma more of a challenge.

     D'Shar: Both have merit? If you can't take a  stand,  you  are  a  mealy-
tongued politician who has nothing whatsoever to contribute to the discussion.
To be perfectly blunt - - shut up.

     Chistor: I will not. I said that both  have  merit,  not  that  both  are
right.  Counselor  Impeveri's  hiring  skills  seem   to   have   deteriorated
significantly if he's chosen you as his mouthpiece. No, don't bother trying to
respond, my friend. I'm going to make my point, and then you can say what  you
will. The argument that the platform cities are a drain on  Cularin's  economy
is a valid one. No platform, early in its existence, is  self-sufficient.  The
amount of traffic into and out of any city of reasonable  size  is  such  that
they can either be profitable  or  well  supplied.  Not  both.  The  point  of
building cities on platforms was that we could expand settlements  on  Cularin
without damaging the natural beauty of the planet.

     D'Shar rolls his eyes. The others watch Chistor as though hoping  he  may
eventually say something interesting.

     Chistor: The problem  is  that  our  attempts  at  being  environmentally
friendly are a drain on the land-bound settlements. I don't believe  that  Mr.
D'Shar would disagree with me that  Gadrin  and  Hedrett  both  shoulder  some
amount of burden to keep the platform cities operational. This groundport, for
example, handles better than one-third of all the cargo traffic  destined  for
the platforms.

     D'Shar: Which means that the land-bound settlements, as  you  call  them,
actually benefit economically from the presence of the platform cities.

     Chistor: That's both the counter-argument to my  position  and  the  best
defense for my position. Yes, there is more traffic through Gadrin and Hedrett
in order to supply the platform cities. But there  is  also  a  drain  on  our
resources. The shippers and traders who come to Cularin only to drop off goods
for the platform cities ultimately contribute little to the economy of our two
cities, aside from landing fees and fuel costs.

     Vanster Enan: I must respectfully  disagree  with  Governor  Chistor.  My
cantinas attest to the fact that these pilots do more than stop and fuel their
ships. They fuel themselves as well! Double-dip Outer-Rim rumdrops! Yes,  that
is what they come to our cities for, and I tell you, they spend  credits  with
us! My business would be decimated if we cut out the  trade  to  the  platform
cities.

     A weak chorus of?Hear, hear!? from the crowd.

     D'Shar: There you have it.  How  can  you  continue  to  argue  that  the
platform cities are bad for the economy?

     Chistor: Because there is no evidence that taking away the trade  to  the
platform cities would have the slightest effect on anyone's business. I  don't
say this to call Master Enan's word into question, but it does seem to me that
he is speculating - - and perhaps engaging in a bit  of  hyperbole.?Decimated?
seems rather strong. Still, I will grant that there are benefits as well,  but
those benefits are not nearly so great as they would be if,  say,  there  were
tariffs levied on goods that pass through Gadrin and  Hedrett  bound  for  the
platform cities.

     This seems to stop D'Shar in his tracks. He reaches into a pocket,  pulls
out a datapad, and types a quick message. Seconds later,  the  datapad  clicks
and beeps. D'Shar returns it to his pocket.

     D'Shar: Ah. So it isn't necessarily that the  platform  cities  hurt  the
economy, only that they do not provide the maximum  possible  benefit  to  the
economy?

     Chistor (glancing at the pocket where D'Shar's datapad now  hides):  Does
your employer see a difference?

     Blakken: Now I see why I lost that election. I'm not slimy enough.

     D'Shar smiles. Before he can respond, Kaguya speaks.

     Kaguya: I believe there are other important matters that  relate  to  the
platform cities. We must consider the impact  they  have  on  the  animal  and
vegetable life on Cularin.

     Mirt: Oh, muffle it, you bark-lover.

     Some portion of the audience chuckles.

     Kaguya: I will not. Someone must speak  for  the  Tarasin.  The  platform
cities are an encroachment on our home. The elder generation decided they were
a good compromise when the off-worlders could be held back no longer, but  the
elder generation has been mistaken before. We are told that the platforms  are
minimally invasive. What does minimally invasive mean? It means that they sink
enormous posts into the ground, in holes fifty meters  deep,  cutting  through
roots and good soil and destroying life, and then they put  a  platform  above
the trees, to block the light of the  suns.  This  may  not  be  bad  for  the
economy, but this is bad for Cularin.

     Mirt: Freak.

     Kaguya: Go back to Thaere! Go shave the nerf-fur off your chin!

     Yara: Could we keep this civil, please?

     Mirt and Kaguya: No!

     Kaguya: You are uncivilized and smell funny.

     Mirt: You're a backward reptile.

     Kaguya: You are strange and off-putting.

     Mirt: You don't even write your own material, do you? A backward  reptile
from a backward world that can't even tell when it's being invaded.

     This earns Mirt a round of?Boos? from the crowd,  who  seem  increasingly
agitated by him. He seems completely unconcerned.

     Mirt: You want to talk problems with  your  platform  cities?  How  about
this? They provide a dozen different places for ships to land on  your  planet
without having to pass through anything remotely like customs. How  about  the
fact that you've had Thaereian military on your planet for years,  coming  and
going as they please with no controls because they never needed to go  through
your major population centers? You let them come in and set up shop,  and  now
we're all paying.

     Nervous silence.

     Chistor: That is regrettable.

     D'Shar: Very.

     Kaguya: Which leaves us needing to decide what to do about  the  platform
cities. I say we dismantle  them.  We  put  the  people  of  Cularin  to  work
dismantling the platforms, and if we need  platforms,  we  build  levels  upon
levels in Gadrin and Hedrett. Why do you live in two-story  cities,  when  the
rest of the galaxy lives on thousand-story planets? Think of all the jobs that
would be created by the dismantling of the platforms and the building  of  the
new levels!

     Mirt: I think the lizard's got an idea there.

     Vanster Enan: Will I need different permits for different levels?

     Blakken: Making things more complex is not the way to fix this situation.
We should pull out of the jungles and if there isn't room on  Cularin,  people
should go elsewhere. You can always build another city on Genarius. You  can't
re-build a jungle. More complexity and technology on a world like  Cularin  is
only going to lead to trouble. The Bothan was right the first time -  -  we're
creating problems for ourselves and for future generations.

     D'Shar: You still have  no  knowledge  of  politics.  I  will  take  this
discussion back to Counselor Impeveri.

     Chistor: Perhaps a referendum is in order.