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"Phillip, lovely to see you!" Valles Santhe states from her seat in the elegant garden by a table with a teapot and cups. "Come, sit with your mother."

"Mother." Phillip replies curtly, "I'm quite busy, what is this about."

"Well that's a fine good morning. What happened to the manners I taught you?"

Phillip rolls his eyes. "I am trying to run the company that should be mine!"

"Phillip." Valles sighs with long suffering frustration "Must you be so cruel to your mother?"

"That company should have been mine by right years ago! And all I have gotten is to run parts of it, not own it as I should."

"It's a family business and you have everything you could need or want, money, a Grand house, speeders, access to women that aren't your wife, a high ranking position, a family, everything you could possibly desire."

"All of it empty." Phillip replies brushing it off. "I want the company mother. I'm the only one you can give it to and the board is on my side, you're too old to be running it, you're slipping up and they all know it."

"Not the whole board, most of them still side with me,"

"In words, not deeds."

"Perhaps I'll skip my ungrateful son then and go to my grandson Kashan."

"If I wasn't ready at his age, he isn't either and you know it."

"You still aren't, it's not age, its your attitude."

Phillip sits down and frowns. "Kashan has a military career, he won't give it up for many years and you know it. As does Miri, and neither of them have the head for business that I do, the board won't approve of them."

Valles nods. "You have it coming to you, yet you continue to bite my hand needlessly." She holds up a sheet of paper. "My philanthropic fund was cut by ten percent. Your words don't just bite, so does your management."

"It's the economy."

"That makes sense, if your math checked out." Valles says frowning. "But it doesn't, the shipyards are full, prices are the same, and materials costs have only seen a slight increase, and, we're not paying Imperial taxes. So tell me, why has my philanthropic fund dropped since you started taking over."

"It's a flat percent of profit, so it's overall. It's the economy, like it or not, there's some stuff affecting profits that's not so obvious."

"Like people skimming off the top?"

Phillip stands in outrage. "How dare you?"

"I may dare what I wish, I'm your mother." She replies unaffected by out his outburst. "And I didn't say it was you." She states, taking a sip of tea. "But thank you for confirming it."

"I've been working on business projects trying to prepare us for the economic uncertainty."

Valles shakes her head. "And that's why you hid it from me? I want my philanthropic fund returned to its proper level, and my company's finances repaired."

"Aren't I allowed a philanthropic fund?"

"If you start your own company yes, you can waste your credits on pro-Imperial activism."

"I'll pretend not to be offended by the accusation."

"I'm no fool Phillip, and if I catch wind you're actually materially supporting them, perhaps I'll consider adopting Vanis and making him a Santhe so he can inherit the company."

"He supported the Empire!"

"Past tense. I don't care you like the Empire, well I do care, but I'll tolerate it. But if you risk Tion's autonomy and the very fragile peace I've built by materially supporting the Empire, you will force my hand, and you're no longer the only option."

Phillip nods. "Yes mother." He says through gritted teeth. "Your precious independence must be protected."

"And once again, you bite your poor mother's hand."

"What would a dog do when it is hit and humiliated again and again." He states, standing. "Good day mother."

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